Halkidiki: 10 Delicious and Affordable Places to Eat

Halkidiki has loved a culinary resurgence during the last decade. New places are at all times opening, rising competitors, whereas even established eating places are upgrading their requirements. Nevertheless, this has resulted in increased costs. Fancy delicacies and stylish eating places undoubtedly increase the price of eating out, however there are nonetheless locations, each well-known and obscure, previous and new, that intention to cook dinner with native substances and real ardour. For roughly twenty to 25 euros per individual, you could have every little thing from sardines and steamed mussels to juicy meatballs, delectable stuffed veggies, Macedonian meat pie, conventional pasta, and traditional baked lamb.

Kafeneio o Nikos

That is the primary espresso home that opened within the village of Nea Fokea. Since 1928, it has been serving the each day wants of locals and passersby all yr spherical. Third era homeowners Nikos Aivaliotis and his spouse Eleni proceed to serve each day cooked dishes akin to stuffed greens and rooster with okra, whereas additionally preserving some very previous recipes, akin to meatballs in sauce, and providing scrumptious seafood meze, with sardines and anchovies from native fishermen being among the highlights. Nevertheless, tsipouro comes first. “I take advantage of grapes from the Peloponnese to make my very own tsipouro, with or with out anise. It’s my ardour, and yearly I’m anxious to search out the fitting grapes,” says Nikos, who produces 2.5-3 tons yearly.

Grigoris Grill Home

Fani Karagianni, spouse of Grigoris, the proprietor of the namesake grill home in Afytos, was adamant about not together with their place within the report. “I don’t need any publicity; we have already got too many shoppers and might’t serve all of them. We are able to’t discover sufficient workers for service; do you perceive?” Since 1997, they’ve been serving top-quality grilled meat. Handmade pork and rooster souvlaki, charcoal-grilled rooster breast, and beef meatballs with natural eggs are the principle points of interest that draw folks to their stone-paved courtyard. The setting can be charmingly nostalgic, with honeysuckle, geraniums, and different potted crops evoking the essence of a bygone Greek summer season.

Balatsos Ouzeri 

The Balatsos household restaurant, which has been a fixture in Kryopigi for twenty years, is positioned within the heart of the city, beneath two huge mulberry timber that seem to kiss. It started as a espresso store and developed into an ouzeri, serving as an everyday gathering place for locals. The menu provides a pleasant mixture of seafood (recent anchovies, sardines, pink mullets, and squid) and conventional grilled meats (souvlaki, lamb chops, and meatballs). The number of salads served alongside the fish or meats on the menu is especially wonderful. Highlights embrace the bulgur salad with shrimp and the combined inexperienced salad with grapes and mint.

Aknos restaurant 

Aknos, a hidden gem in Pefkochori’s previous sq., off the vacationer path, is nicely value visiting. Positioned in Halkidiki’s hottest vacationer space, it resists the development for quick meals and overpriced gourmand delicacies by serving home-cooked meals and high quality grilled meats. The restaurant takes satisfaction in utilizing many PDO merchandise, like as Halkidiki feta cheese, and sticking to completely grilled meats and conventional dishes like Macedonian meat pie. Standout dishes embrace egg and potato with aged Macedonian cheese and smoked paprika, “gioufkadia” pasta with grated graviera cheese, and chef Evmorfos Arnidis’ signature zucchini fritters. Additionally they supply varied Greek wines, beers, and spirits.

Ilia’s Canteen

12 years in the past, Ilias Skavendzos constructed a canteen out of driftwood on Xina Seashore and embellished it with spectacular photographs, together with one in all a white shark taken within the neighborhood in 1973. The menu is easy, and he flatly refuses to serve french fries: “Wholesome consuming above all,” he says, laughing. His restricted provides are regionally sourced. Paliouri fishermen present sardines, squid, and octopus (when obtainable), whereas meats akin to pork souvlaki, rooster, and pancetta are sourced from butchers from close by villages. “I get 2-3 kilograms of every little thing each day, till it sells out. I don’t wish to preserve second-day meat or fish,” he states.

Klimataria Taverna 

Klimataria is one in all Halkidiki’s oldest tavernas and a preferred gastronomic vacation spot. Because the Akarastos household established it in 1963, it has served the identical delicacies of home-cooked dishes, spit-roasts, and grilled meats. From oven-baked pig knuckle and conventional lamb “psima” (baked with greens) to stuffed eggplants, okra, and beef stew, there’s something for everybody right here. The veal liver is great, as are the lamb chops. The menu is supplemented by a wide range of cheese appetizers akin to bouyiourdi and grilled kefalotyri, in addition to recent salads, greens, and spreads.

Arsanas Restaurant 

Michalis Delithanasis nonetheless reminisces concerning the small shipyard the place he spent his childhood and which closed completely in 1992. Solely 4 years later, he reworked it right into a year-round restaurant, specializing in high quality and steady culinary evolution. Regardless of a number of gourmand choices, the menu additionally options many inexpensive and scrumptious dishes, akin to savory fish of the day, salted mackerel and anchovies, and fried zucchini with garlic dip. Highlights embrace shrimp and mussel saganaki, fried anchovies, and succulent grilled calamari. The restaurant’s hallmark dish, nonetheless, is its marinated fish.

Stelios restaurant 

Stelios Melissis now runs the household restaurant that his father Konstantinos opened proper on the seaside in Toroni in 1962. Since its inception, its philosophy has remained constant: inexpensive costs and recent substances to make sure high quality meals for all. The menu contains each day specials akin to combined greens (tourlou), stuffed grape leaves (dolmadakia), meatballs, and recent fish which might be primarily sourced from fishermen in Porto Koufo. The grilled sardines with olive oil and lemon are notably scrumptious, and the fried anchovies pair completely with the budget-friendly retsina. The setting is easy: plastic chairs, two pine timber for shade, and the ocean.

Akrogiali Restaurant 

The grandfather of Dimitris Sarris, the present proprietor, established this seaside restaurant in Olympiada in 1924. The in depth menu options steamed native mussels, recent greens, selfmade spreads, and their famed honey-glazed octopus, which is sautéed after which deglazed with wine and honey. Sea bream, pink mullet, and cod are additionally obtainable at inexpensive costs ( round 50 euros per kilo), as are modern surprises like sea pastrami (availability depends on the day’s catch). Pair your meal with fairly priced, regionally bottled wines, with the costliest bottle costing not more than 23 euros.

To Tzaki Grill Home 

Dimitris Tsiontos, father of present proprietor Giorgos, established a delicatessen grill home in Palaiochori, a village positioned 550 meters above sea degree close to Arnaia. Right here, hospitality is mixed with high-quality substances and low costs. “If the kitchen lights are on, I’ll feed anybody who comes,” Giorgos says. He will get his chickens and meat from Galatista and Palaiochora, and his mom, Mrs. Vasiliki, nonetheless makes the burger patties with a secret combination of pork and beef to maintain them tender. Grilled meats embrace rooster, native sausage, steak, and pork stomach. The fries and dips are selfmade, and the salads are made utilizing regionally sourced substances. The value-to-quality ratio is hard to beat.

This text was beforehand printed in Greek at gastronomos.gr.