Eating and Drinking
"Then, when you have drawn a full measure for Zeus Saviour, you must drink an old wine, bearing on its shoulders a head hoary indeed, a wine whos wet curls are crowned with white flowers, a wine begat of wave-girdled Lesbos." - Archestratus
So, in antiquity, Lesvos was famed for it's wine. Regrettably very little is now grown and produced on Lesvos, although we do believe there is a new venture in the village of Xidera.
There is some truly wonderful food to be found on Lesvos. The cuisine shows Turkish influences as well as the more usual Greek fare. The fish is good and of particular note are the local sardines from the Gulf of Kalloni.
A note about Greek eating. Try and cultivate the habit of just ordering a load of dishes you like and abandon the northern European practice of having a starter and then a main course. This is the way the Greeks eat and we find it far more enjoyable.
The local drink is ouzo. Lesvos ouzo is widely considered to be the best in Greece and the islanders are justly proud of it. There are many different brands available, try as many as you can and see which suits you best!
You can also get the usual retsinas and other Greek wines, although it's a sad fact that good wine can be hard to come by away from the Greek mainland. One wine that has been improving greatly over the last few years is the white from Limnos. We would strongly recommend you try this if you see it. Also good and widely available are Makedonikos, Rose Boutari and the Tsantali wines.
Most of the restaurants we list in this section are in the Molyvos area, for the simple reason that these are the ones we know best.
Your Recommendations
We can't possibly get round all the restaurants on the island, particularly those that are only open in the summer. If you have a favourite restaurant or bar that we don't list, please email us and let us know about it.
What to Eat
A lot of Greek foods are familiar to us, but a few might need some explaining to encourage you to try them.
We often get asked about how easy it is to be a vegetarian on Lesvos. Actually there are a lot of dishes available which are perfect for vegetarians. We indicate these with a (V)
Courgette (Zucchini) Flowers (V) - These come either stuffed with cheese and deep fried or stuffed with rice and baked. Both varieties are delicious.
Imam (V) - This is aubergines (eggplant), cooked in oil and tomatoes with cinnamon.
White Beans (V) - These can be served either as a vegetable dish with a tomato sauce, or as a salad dressed with olive oil.
Stifado - This is a stew of beef and onions in a thick sauce. It is traditionally made with rabbit however and there is a little taverna on the road to the airport that sometimes still serves it this way.
Stuffed Tomatoes (V) - These are stuffed with rice, vegetables and spices and baked in oil. If you are vegetarian it's probably best to check that they don't add meat to the mixture. Most places don't however.
Ladotyri (Oil Cheese) (V) - This is a locally produced cheese, which is normally sold cut into thin rounds and deep fried.
Feta Saganaki (V) - This is feta either fried as above, or baked with a tomato sauce.
Exochiko - This is pork stuffed with cheese and garlic and baked in foil. It is sometimes served with a wine sauce.
Chorta (Boiled Grass Salad) (V) - This doesn't sound very appetising in its usual translation, but is in fact made with a variety of wild greens and can be quite delicious.
Prices
We won't refer to specific prices, but we grade the restaurants as follows:
€ Good and cheap
€€ Moderately priced
€€€ Getting expensive
All things are relative, even the expensive is far cheaper than most places in northern Europe.
