Eat Like Ushi

After reading Santorini Dave's blog, I had to try this place he said was the best for seafood in Santorini. That's a big recommendation considering the reputations of To Psaraki, Giorgaris and Ammoudi Bay. Kiria Roula must be the local name as our host hadn't been there but had heard of this place down by the Vlychada bay. There's lots of parking nearby which is also helpful.

They are incredible at frying food and the fried calamari (€8.5) is the best I've ever had with crisp batter texture, tender flesh and perfectively seasoned and flavoured. It was a large size for that price too. I wanted to try the cuttlefish, as I assume it would be the same quality, but on the second visit I decided to go for what we knew was spectacular and so the calamari again. The fresh fish is also fried (€10) for a very large serve of which half were really good (the cutlet and what looked like a scorpionfish to me?) and the half a little drier but still ok. Octopus (€12) was a cold salad style in vinegar, so not worth getting. The greek salad (€6) is large to share. There is a grill out the back but I couldn't see any items for grill. Maybe you have to request it?

We went twice (which is unusual for us) but such was the quality and price. I would definitely return here if I ever make it back to Santorini.

After arriving into Perissa after a long transit, car rental and an afternoon beach session, our host suggested nearby Mezedaki which I had also conveniently put onto my list beforehand already.

They didn't have the kebabs, lamb chops or moussaka, 3 items we would almost certainly have chosen from. Ah well, at least we could branch out a bit more then.

- Sea bream - excellent grilled with perfectly soft texture and crisp skin. Overall seasoned well. I thought they said it would come with fried potatoes (which I saw and smelled from an adjacent table) but unfortunately it was fries instead;
- Santorini tomato-vegetable fritters (traditional deep fried patties) €7.5 - soft squishy insides with tomato acidity and taste. Thought they were ok with the tzatziki but nothing too special;
- Bougiourdi (kefalotyri, Greek feta, fresh tomato, spicy peppers, baked in the oven) €6.4 - very thick cheesy kefalotyri layer on top and salty feta underneath with chopped tomato and jalapeno. There's only so much of this you can easily eat and would have been good with bread, if we could stomach more food. 

Our waiter was very friendly and conversant. Traditional music played throughout.

They gave us some free mini magnum (type) things to finish off on. Very generous.

For a morning breakfast with a view in Oia...

After the long hot hike down in Oia (and before the longer hotter hike up) and a refreshing swim in some of the clearest waters on Earth, there was the dilemma of choosing a restaurant for lunch. They all look similar to be honest and cook the same food.

I'm not why we chose Dimitris but probably it just looked good, as did the grilling seafood over charcoal.

The octopus we didn't try but definitely should have. The photo is my food envy at the end of the meal. It's on the list for next time...

After the expensive high-end tourist Oia, a drive down south to the funkiest accommodation I've ever seen (at that stage of my life at least) and its pool with local beaches and views was a nice change. Unfortunately it was much cooler and windier which made beach-going a little difficult.

However the jacuzzi outside along with breakfast served overlooking a beautiful caldera view made it worthwhile. Worth the money again? Possibly not, but good fun at the time.

 Oia was never a cheap place and probably much worse now. After cooking at home for dinner at Stella's Cave House with the perfect sunset views, it was time to have one nice meal out. Ambrosia was too expensive. Nectar (which now seems to have permanently closed) was the sister restaurant without the view but still with the quality and ambience.

It was my first experience with moussaka and a lovely version at that. The lamb shank was also good albeit small for the price.

The meal was good without being particularly spectacular. I wonder how much better Ambrosia is?

After 7.5 years I'm finally getting around to uploading my photos from Greece. I'm surprised I hadn't gotten to it sooner considering I haven't made any other trips to Greece and so it was a big hole in my country tags section. Oh well, here it is...

After driving down from Oia to the funky Avant Garde suites along with the lunch stop for a souvlaki, I only had one restaurant name to visit. Back then there was only one good blog for Greece/Santorini which unfortunately I can't find and credit (was Matt Barrett?) and The Cave Of Nikolas was the target. It was a quite evening and before the real advent of Google Maps and thus finding this place in the dark was impossible until a local directed us lost looking tourists driving on a dark road.

There are some starters but the real highlight is picking the fresh seafood from containers inside the restaurant.