Chios Taverns with Chian cuisine

H cuisine of Chios is not one of the local cuisines of the country that have a reputation or that have been clearly impressed in the minds of taste lovers, such as the cuisines of Crete, Corfu, Sifnos, Tinos. Nevertheless Chios has all the prerequisites to stand out for its cuisine, because it has a range of products (meat, cheese, wild herbs, pasta, fish, pastries, drinks, sweets) and a stock of local dishes.

In 2018 we suggested 5 taverns of Chios where h Chian cuisine starred, often in the company of Asia Minor, and where food was a pleasure. In 2019 we visited Chios and located 3 other Chian taverns, while we also honored some traditional cafes that kissed us with beautiful appetizers.

The tavern of Hoxha

Ο Hotzas is the most popular tavern of Chios. The most historic tavern of Chora started in 1882 as a distillery and distillery of the Linou family. Along the way, a few appetizers were added, later it became a tavern and at the end of the 20th century, in the 1990s, the baton was taken over by Giannis Linos and the tavern was formed in its current form in the family space where the Linu distillery used to be housed.

As a child in the tavern, Giannis lived in the cooking of his grandmother and mother, "The small saucers shared by the poor customer of the store" and did not want to change the style. Of course the same inspired empirical cook in addition to the dishes of his place, such as hand spaghetti with fresh tomato and chicken sauce or rooster and the classic dishes of political cuisine such as lachmatzoun, fried aubergines with yogurt, handmade kebab, Smyrnaean soutzoukaki, hunkiar begni, he has created his own spellies. From these we singled them out exquisite yahni beans with his own mandarin puree.

Amber tavern

The Amber tavern is one of the best taverns in the country. The reasons are few: The boss of the family here, o Manolis Tsichlas, has been working at Fish ladder of Chios, which means the catch is breakfast and comes fresh from work and is cooked in the shop at noon. In the kitchen the lady Mary she cooks with her sweet hand, frys and bakes. In the service the Nicoleta, one of the two daughters of Manolis and Maria, sociable, hospitable, loving makes everyone feel at home.

The appetizers are mainly seafood… turbot that cleans in front of you Mr. Manolis, fried shrimp, spicy mussels, sardines in oil of incredible taste, boiled octopus, cod plate and God has it… You do not order… like seafood or land… you do not have personal plates, you share flavors and sympathy ελλην Greek philosophy!

Taverna Apomeros in Kampos

At peak of Kampos in Chios and specifically in the area Caves Is located tavern Apomero. Name and thing because indeed - especially at the time it was built - the tavern is located in a secluded spot, complex enough to reach through the straits of Kampos. But at the end of the route, the spectacle compensates you, because from here you have the whole view of the area, the citrus gardens, the labyrinthine streets with the high walls built with incense stone, the imposing mansions and in the background the sea and the Cesme.

Among the foods stand out: Kopanisti locals with pie and roasted tomatoes, fennel meatballs (meatballs dominated by fennel = fennel), feta cheese (in a crust sheet with sesame and honey), stuffed wipes (meat pies with yogurt sauce), lyocafi and mastic (sun-dried tomatoes with mastic and cream) hand spaghetti with braised meat, the daughter's pork (pork, chicken, fresh mushrooms and peppers in the hull, in Arabic pie with sweet sauce) and from the meat tender kontosouvli) and classic kebab or yogurt.

Taverna Asteri in Avgonyma

Η Taverna Asteri is located in Eggonima a medieval settlement of just 14 inhabitants, which is built on the main road of western Chios at a distance of 16 km from Chora. His houses, where half a century ago lived 40 families, built of stone, became tasteful accommodation while the view of the sunset, are unique motivations for modern travelers. The village has two taverns, one in the square and the other at sunset in Asteri. The creator of Asteri was George Costalos. A cook on Chandris' ships, he had a good reputation, in fact many captains barged in the ships where his master was a cook. Nowadays the tavern is a purely family affair. Now the tavern is run by his children, thank God, five fighting children.

The food is Chian, with their top malathites wonderfully made pseudo meatballs with minimal flour and strong flavors of zucchini, wild lettuce, cucumber and fennel. They follow the wine rooster with the hand spaghetti, the kid in the oven with sage, the 'nun', chickpeas with rice, as eaten by monks, but also beans with their sauce, or homemade dolmadas, without missing kokoretsia, cottages and meat on the grill.

Tavern - Restaurant To Kentriko in the city of Chios

The main streets of the ports usually house catering centers for the general public, have a tourist character and often debatable quality of food and services. The Tavern-Restaurant Central in the port of Chios is clearly a brilliant exception. His bet Iron Trikila, to pick up one of the three most historic buildings in the port of Chios, to do his hobby in his fifties, professional activity and to turn a tavern into a high quality restaurant, and all this within a year, seems to have succeeded and It is no coincidence that Central became the center of gourmets in the city.

His dishes are dialectal, with a beautiful setting, a wide variety of dishes in a spacious environment and careful aesthetics and with very good service. I stood out from his dishes, his salads in a barley nest, his pasta with seafood (from the most sophisticated such as lobster spaghetti to the humble spaghetti with sardines - a dream), fish from the nearby fish ladder, but also local meat. I loved what is shown turbot, one of the most impressive flavors of summer.

Passa fish tavern in Lagada

At a distance of 16 kilometers northwest of the city of Chios, 20 minutes drive is the picturesque village Dingle. Around a beautiful creek -like a fjord-, on one side there is a pine grove and on the other side the settlement, with its pier, fishing boats and sailing boats that find safe shelter there.

Among the restaurants and taverns located along the beach stands out the oldest fish tavern of the village, the fish tavern of Passa, which for years holds the scepter with its traditional seafood delicacies and its fresh fish. Some of the delicacies: whole (octopus ink), pudding, shrimp pie (the excellent dish shown), grilled octopus and tender squid in the pan.

Makelos Tavern in Pytios

By auction o Nikolas Georgoulis in 2018 took the Makelos Tavern, the most famous of the village, which for almost a year was closed, for the purpose of Pitios which is now known for hand spaghetti to become equally known for its history, its sights and especially its identification with the livestock life of the island κουζίνα The kitchen in the tavern Makelos serves, among other things, the classic hand-made spaghetti, braised goat, in the oven or on the spit, malathrites, kopanistopites, patty Pitiano with pumpkin and snails with oatmeal, kopanisti with kritama and pickled beans and of course meats on the grill.

"The first concern for this year was the tavern" Makelos "to regain its place among the gourmets of Chios", Nikolas began the story. "But we came to Makelos for Pityos and not to Pityos for Makelos. In the course of time, our goal is for the settlement, in the heart of central Chios, to be among the main destinations for every visitor of the island ".

George's cafe in Pityos

In Pitios There are two cafes, which reserve for the visitor some small but unexpected surprises. The first is cafes of George in the center of the village, opposite the impressive Primary School that was transformed into a beautiful and functional hostel that would be envied by many tourist destinations.

George's Cafe in the winter offers coffees and soft drinks, but from Easter until autumn, George's niece arrives as Persephone, Evi Katsioni which with the magic hands brings out 3-4 appetizers that are to lick your hands.

Cafe of Fekos in Pityos

One hundred meters from the entrance of the village, in the second square of Pityos, on the road to the Castle, is the cafe of Stelios Fekos, the only thing left of the ten that existed - side by side - fifty years ago.

Small built in a medieval building, it is probably the most puppetry of Chios. It does not have opening hours, but it is worth an attempt to visit, like in a museum, because luck can reserve for you, elixir dates (Chian trumpets), azure, cheese and tomatoes all produced by Mr. Stelios Fekos.

Snack-Bar Drosia (tavern of Daphne) at the Waterfall

Ο Cataract is an authentic fishing village, in the SW of Chios, in Mastic villages which is known for its fish, its seafood and its taverns on the sea. Its tavern stands out among them Daphnis Makra. After all, few know her as Snack-Bar Dew which is the official name of the store.

Forty-something years, in the pan, winter-summer, Daphne and her daughter Flower, offer fresh fish, from their boat, with nets, gillnets, mainly for the red mullets that come every night for the next day's frying.

Maria Cafe - Agios Georgios Sykousis

The Maria's cafe in the neighborhood of Prinos in Agios Georgios Sykousis is one of the most characteristic cafes of Chios. Coffee in the morning, ouzo in the afternoon and a plate of food in the evening. Many times during the year there are opportunities for a party and of course the people of Sykousi do not miss them.

I happened to be there on Shrove Monday in the Dionysian custom of the Dead. The participants are smudging - the custom of smudging is based on the old years - where nowadays, in the smoke from the fire they throw a few drops of ouzo to make it smell fragrant! While in the narrow but hospitable chamber of the tavern there was a commotion, in the alley from outside they cleaned the litany of the litany, made the banners with the heads of the slaughtered rams, scaled the frame of the deceased and prepared for the procession of the "dead".

Coffee-Ouzo Geragides in Kardamyla

The village Cardamom, in northeastern Chios and at a distance of 27 km from the city, is one of the most famous villages of the island as from there come many shipowners and sailors who are distinguished in world shipping. Kardamyla is divided into two villages, the Ano Kardamyla, the old village built on the hill "Mountain of the Old Woman" and the Marble on the beach.

In the Central Square of Ano Kardamyla and between the stone houses with traditional architecture, narrow streets, cobbled alleys, under the thick shade of age-old plane trees and by the river Bell, it is located coffee ouzo Geragides - the hawks were aerial, fairies that frequented ruins and bridges -, of Maria Makrinou which turned the traditional cafe into an ouzo restaurant. The cooking is great and great from the hands of the cook Marias which years in the store gives its best. You chose the fried beans, crab meatballs, braised goat with hand macaroni, rabbit stew.

Have a good trip to fragrant Chios and good snacks in the beautiful taverns and its unique cafes!