Fancy restaurant or humble eatery. Which one tickles your taste buds.?

Hi Stvasile, and what a relief it is when they listen and hold back on the offensive herb. For me it's quite enough that the offensive oregano is going to be on the meat and the cheese, without it going in the salad as well, as that one really is a bit too small to start picking it out. I find they are more likely to forget in a bigger place too. Over here it is rare to have a trained chef anywhere except the city, but in the restaurants Mama in the back instead of being able to produce a few homemade dishes for the customers, is having to cope with the extensive menu that her sons or husband will want to impress the tourists with, and she will be out of her depth cooking for such large numbers.

Hi Zandi, you've gone and tickled my taste buds now with your talk of different types of food being available, I tend to always prefer the local basic kind as they seem to represent the culture more. We don't have the choices of food though which your country offers, probably only in Athens. Here it tends to be the same food in most places, but with a much wider choice in a restaurant, which in no way are reminsicent of the fine places you speak of with impeccable cuisine. One thing always remains a given in Greek eateries, and that is the slowness of the service.

i am not trying to praise myself in cooking, but my wife only became a better cook when we started living together. i came from a family of good cook, my grandmom, father, mother, brothers. we learned how to cook while still young because my father's mom runs a restaurant before, when she was still young. but since i am working, my wife does the cooking and we can say she's the main chef. but i still help her if i am at home or when there are special occasions.

Most admirable neil, seriously. The ineptness of some men in the kitchen is beyond belief. Growing up with a restaurant in the family is a handy way to get involved. Greek men don't cook at all as Mama has always done everything for them, but they often handle the 'grill' much as American men will do the barbecue. As I believe that men should not be pathetic creatures who are clueless in the kitchen I have my son help out and taught him firstly how to cook an omelette. The Greek male opinion on this was I was doing the wrong thing as it's not manly to do such things in the kitchen and some woman will do it for him.

A fine response Neil but with one question added - who does most of the cooking at home? Apologies if my presumption that you are not the main chef is totally wrong. There's only myself and my son to cook for but of course it is daily, and for him several times, as a hungry boy. I do like to cook but certainly enjoy someone else cooking for me more, which is why I appreciate being taken out for a meal, but do prefer to be taken to a cheap place with atmosphere than a fancy place where I would be aware of the prices, even though someone else is paying.

I know u get tired of me asking u questions, lol. Only way i know to find out about something. I do know eggplant & like them very much. My bigmama was very fond of them. I like to batter them w/meal & fry them & sprinkle parmesan on them when i take them up. Thanks for explaining it to me. U are a good niece & have alot of patience w/your old aunty. I don't mind fast food every once in awhile but i sure couldn't eat it all the time like so many people do here. My son & grandson came today & he wanted to order a pizza so we did. I love pizza & hadn't had one in a long time so i really enjoyed it. Have a good one.

Since when did my sensible Aunty start spouting rubbish, never bored of answering a question with a chat for my favourite aunty as you well know. Over here we put lemon on our fried aubergines, there's a suprise, and I like plenty of pepper on mine. Fast food is one food I never took to, it's not real food in the first place but mainly rehydrated stuff like the potatoes they call French fries and I even dislike the smell. The Greek equivalent of fast food is a round pitta bread stuffed with souvlaki meat (skewered pork from the grill) with tzatiki (a cucumber and garlic dip), raw onions, and tomatoes and chips. It is known as a pitta gyros. Hugs. your neice. (final dental visit tomorrow evening, I'm getting braver by the visit.)

Yassou Aunty, well here in Greece an aubergine is a melitzane, but in America you call them egg plants. They are pretty much the national vegetable of Greece and are generally served fried as a starter, or baked in the oven usually with the addtion of tomatoes. Also a central ingredient of the national dish of Greece, mousakkas, which is similar to a lasagne but uses aubergines instead of pasta and has a cinnamon cheese sauce on top. Rather delicious. I loathe fast food and we only have one such place in town, which is the Greek equivalent to a MacDonalds but much more healthy with lots of salads on offer. I sometimes take my son in for the inevitable chicken and nugget childrens meal, and suffer it as they make an exceptionally good coffee there. I think if my choice was between fast food and fancy then I'd be inclined to eat at home as well, but our little tavernas are very cheap and welcoming, with good home made food.

Hi Archie, so you're the taverna rather than restaurant type. Over here, apart from in the cities both types are quite informal though it is quite amusing to see very dressed up tourists stopping in a back street place to enjoy a bit of real local culture and of course not having a clue what they are actually going to eat. As we mainly eat outside there's never really any need to dress up for either type.

Hi malpoa, I know exactly what you mean, sometimes I just welcome the thought of someone else doing the cooking instead of me. We don't tend to use the nicer restaurants much as they are mainly geared up for tourists and have either less atmosphere or rather too much. The Greek haunts are much more informal. If there are children with us we need to make them sit still more in a place with foreigners eating wheras they'll be encouraged to table hop between friends in a local place.

It sounds like most big cities with lots of variety and choice and indifferent staff. Our only choice when eating out is Greek food, and especially in winter there isn't a menu to be seen and we'll just be told what there is that night or have a look in the pans.

It is a diffrent scene altogether here...No tourists or very few, so that is not an issue at all...Also people here are great foodies so we got many restaurants which serve food from across the world...Recently a japanese food section opened, though I didnt try it yet. 3* restaurants are affordable, neat, their quality is good and service is good. But 5* and 7* are like a bit over the top. Unlike in foreign restaurants where people are polite irrrespective of their star of restaurant, here it is the lower the star, the degraded their service...I do not stand that behaviour...You ask the waiter what is on the menu, he answers looking somewhere else, least intrested to serve you!!!

Hi cher, I only eat out when someone else is paying as on a tight budget watch at the moment but I'm more than happy to go to the cheaper places as they aren't picked because of price but because of the food and atmosphere. I never see that makes whomever I's with look cheap but I would think it pretty stupid to go to an overpriced tourist restaurant.

thea...I think I gave the wrong impression, Global dining is only available if I get off this Island, which is expensive as I must take a Ferry. To get to our biggest metropolis, Vancouver (host of 2010 Olympics)..and where the best multi-cultural foods are (and only 14 miles away, as the crow flies across the Ocean) is about $120.00 return...paying that kind of money, you then need to eat at McDonalds....which I hate! If I go to Victoria, about 23 miles away, across the ocean...it is only about $48.00, but it is staid ...Britain at it's best, once removed! Multi-cultural foods...not sooo many, but there is a wonderful Greek Restaurant there (expensive) but it has thrived handily since opening in 1974! On this Island, they hold us hostage to high prices....especially in the summer, as there are only a few; one Pub, 2 roadsides, one filthy outlet...and one so high-end, you need to re-mortgage your house. Eating out is NOT much of an option, here! So many of us try cooking cultural foods at home! We really need a happy "taverna" here. Take care, and with the 12 hour time difference, hopefully your Dental visit is over! Cheers!

Hello pergammano, I'm jealous of your food choices there, in this end of Greece the choice is Greek, Greek or Greek, no foreign options at all, and sometimes I really do get Greeked out with it all. In my 2 villages which I live between one is really just tourists restaurants and high priced to me, they aren't fancy particlarly as are all outdoors but they aren't to my taste. In the fishing village it is hardly touristy as practically nothing to do there which suits me fine, and I have two favourite places there. Up where my man lives there's tourism starting at the beach about 20 minutes away but it's strictly Greek tourists so much more fun as very informal. Luckily my dinner is always free when i go out, as if I'm just in the fishing village one of the fisherman will say come and eat, and a Greek man never lets a woman pay. Being able to smile again in public was good, but I still have that last dental visit to go as Kostas phoned and postponed me till tomorrow after I'd psyched myself up.

Are you a Greek tourist?

Hi zeph, when I get taken out then my son comes along too. My man has been told not to drive for the last three months because of a leg thrombosis so we haven't been going out much when I'm up there, we send my son off with his son who is older to go out and eat while we get some peace, but now he's driving again the boys were in one car and went off to eat somewhere and then go to a festival and we got to eat out alone. After the long drive up there I refuse to drive anywhere else that day, particularly up dark mountains. The owner might have got the aubergine as that area only has Greek tourists and no one ever mistakes me for Greek, so maybe because he was pleased I could speak Greek he went out of his way to oblige.

Hi Rainegurl, I must say sampling foreign foods was one of the best parts of travelling for me too, and I'd always try and look out for a busy local spot where the local people ate to sample the real thing rather than a tourist version. I remember in fact a strange restaurant in the mountains in Turkey where the tables and chairs were placed in a shallow river, I can't remember for the life of me what I actually ate there but the place itself certainly stands out in my memory. I hope you manage to sample one of our Greek tavernas one day.

Hi pinaybigbucks, when I've travelled I've tried both kinds of places but the food is alway better at the little family run places which care more about the food and people enjoying themselves, than in good presentation or fancy decor. Greek food does vary a little from area to area, but moussakas remains the national dish, I often cook it at home in the winter. Greek food though is best enjoyed in a big group so all the food is put in the middle and everyone has a bit of everything.

Hi Lucky, well moussakas is basically lasagana with the pasta replaced by the aubergines, and a good helping of cinnamon in the cheese sauce, but I'm sure that Greek moussakas came before lasagne. In Greece we don't really ever sit down to 3-4 course meals, if there's a few people or a large group it's the best way to eat as lots of mezes and salads are brought and put in the middle of the table to share (like starters I suppose) and then it's up to the individual if main courses are wanted as well, but often they are put in the middle of the table too if things like calamari or fish. And the tables in either sort of places are never cleared and the plates pile up, as Greeks are quite happy to eat their hot food cold, so the plates remain for hours.

Hi artistry, I don't really understand the first part of your response, apologies there. I find the most fun is had in tavernas with atmosphere rather than elegance.

I understand perfectly now artistry. Thanks for the explanation. Whilst probably never overcoming my fear of the dentist it is no longer abject terror now I've been worked on three times by the gentle Yoanna, but on my final fourth visit last night she wasn't there and husband Kostas did the deed and the fear level rose a little again. If everyone could luck out and find a dentist as good as Yoanna I expect fear of the dentist could be erradicated.

....Hi thea09, I was just referring to the fact that you went to the dentist like you should have, and my fear of the dentist kept me away. That's all. I love restaurants and I love good food. :o) Take care.

Hi MsTickle, this got revived today and I'd no idea I'd let you sit unresponded to all this time, apologies. That does sound dire if you eat at KFC, we don't even have any out here, not Greek food you see and Greeks are particular about that, don't trust any foreign foods at all. Tavernas are wonderful places, I love it when they write out the bill on the paper tablecloth at the end of the night and make people so welcome. Often the food takes ages to arrive (a bit like my response)but we all expect that as Greek service is slow, famous for it, which is why it's so amusing to see tourists asking if their order has been forgotten as they haven't wound down enough to enjoy the laid back Greek life style.

Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks eh thea. I'm rather addicted to going through the KFC drive through each time...but doing it a lot less these days on my way home, I have the same thing too. I'm quite reclusive these days and have as little contact with people as I need. Your descriptions of life in your village make me yearn to visit. Do you speak Greek fluently?

well I speak well enough to be understood as most people are not bothered when I speak in the wrong tense or put the wrong verb ending on. Unfortunately my accent is pretty appalling but at least I go round slaughtering it well which is more than most foreigners do. I have more of a problem understanding back, it's okay with friends as they can see when I've lost the plot and substitute a word or explain a word, but yesterday I was hampered rather at the petrol station by asking a question in Greek to the man with the money bag and then rather losing his explanation. I interupted to ask him to slow down and then heard the grizzly details of why all the emergency services were landing on the edge of the petrol station, before actually noticing the scene of carnage just out of view.

Hi Hatley, glad to hear you got to enjoy Spires again, it's nice when you go back to eat at a place and they remember you and your food preferences. Most places I go to are familiar with my loathing for oregano so remember not to throw it on top of everything. And they always make you feel at home. Aubergines are indeed what you call eggplants and are about the national vegetable here and are used in many ways. What you would call ratatouille would just be oven baked aubergine here.

Hi jellymonty, I've never been to a fancy London restaurant but love to read AA Gills restaurant reviews which do show that snobbery loses out to good food in often in the fancy type. I always tend to think the longer the menu the less likely the food is to be really fresh. I'm more at home in the low key tavrnas where more than likely the owner will plop down at your table for a chin wag rather than waiters hovering.

Hi Tantrums, our local tourist restaurants are very high priced to me and lack the atmosphere of places packed with Greeks. Lots of Greeks use our cheapest local taverna which is filled with fishermen as daily regulars, the only problem is all the clothes smell from the grill afterwards so it's best to put on anything good.

you are right..though sometimes you wonder how come they are so cheap? road side stalls are also popular. every such food joint has a specialty of its own and some have earned a reputation. people drive for miles just to eat at such places.

Hi vandana, I've never had any problem in sending something back if it's not right, I'd rather have it right at the start than leave it. For an example many Greek places serve only luke warm food as Greeks have no problem eating it like that, in fact most prefer it. But if it's meant to be hot I want it hot, so usually just politely ask them to pop it into the microwave. They always remember after that and I get hot food. Also if I specifically order food without oregano on the top then I will tell them as soon as they bring it and have it changed, if I forget to order it without then it's my own fault and I have to try and scrape it off. I remember indeed your pickle addiction. Here you could enjoy tiny anchovies if you don't mind the saltiness as they are in a vinegar, picled olives and pickled peppers. If you've never seen it you'd enjoy the TV programme 'Hell's Kitchen' where terrible food comes from the kitchen, we watch it on You Tube