Starters |
Tzatziki |
A world famous dip, usually made
with yoghurt, garlic and cucumber. More Information
about Tzatziki |
Soups |
Cretan soups are mostly homemade and delicious.
Typical soups include tomato soup, fish soup
(Psarosoupa), chicken soup and vegetable Soup. Other
classic soups are the avgolemono soupa (literally
Egg-Lemon-Soup) and Fasolada (bean soup). Those who
enjoy offal should try the popular Easter soup of
Magisitsa, which is made from those parts of the lamb
that didn’t end up on the grill; the heart, lungs,
liver, kidney and so on. |
Saganaki |
Grilled, hot cheese which is often
served in aluminium foil.
Saganaki |
Dolmades |
Wine Leaves stuffed with rice and herbs. More
Information about Dolmades |
Pastries |
These are often filled with
aubergine, cheese, curd or courgettes |
Feta |
A classic soft cheese made mostly
from sheep’s milk |
Graviera |
A hard chess made from sheep’s milk |
Olives |
Typically an order of olives will get you a small
plate of olives |
Gigantes |
A small plate with lima beans
cooked with tomato, herbs and plenty of olive oil.
Gigantes |
Chochli |
A small plate of fried snails,
usually served in vinegar and with a toothpick. |
Taramosalata |
Fish roe salad – can sometimes be a
brilliant shade of pink. More Information about
Taramosalata |
Skordalia |
A potato dip with a strong garlic
flavour. Skordalia |
Melizanosalata |
A dip made mostly with aubergines.
More Information about
Melizanosalata |
Melitzanes Tiganita |
Thin slices of aubergine (sometimes battered) fried in
olive oil. |
Spanakopita |
Pastry filled with spinach and feta
cheese - one of my favourite dishes!
Spanokopita |
Main Meals |
Souvlaki |
Meat on a skewer the roasted over a
grill. Chicken, pork and lamb are the most popular
meats. More Information about
Souvlaki |
Gyros |
A plate with meat from the gyros
machine, which is a tall, vertical spit. More
Information about Gyros |
Bifteki |
Big meatballs - this is often
translated to English as "hamburger" on the menu. |
Brisola |
A chop of meat, usually pork. |
Kotopoulo |
Chicken which has been grilled,
roasted or boiled. |
Arni |
Lamb, the main food at holidays
like Easter. |
Keftedes |
Small meatballs which are usually
accompanied with tomato sauce and chips
|
Kleftiko |
Filo Pastry filled with meat,
vegetables and feta – another one of my favourite
dishes. If kleftiko is available in one of my
favourite restaurants, Siroko in Plakias, I always
reserve a portion. More Information about
Kleftiko |
Calamari |
Squid, mostly served fried or
grilled. |
Marides |
Small fish (no bigger than 5-10cm),
eaten whole (including tail and head); often the
cheapest fish on the menu. |
Sardelles |
Small fried sardines which are
cheap and good. |
Xifias |
Sword fish, mostly served like a steak; fresh and not
to expensive. Xifias
Souvlaki |
Other fish |
Often you can go
with the waiter in the kitchen and choose a fish. The
price is mostly by the kilo and the fish is generally
different to the fish on the menu. Ask the waiter to
weigh the fish and tell you the price. Other fish
which are often available are Sole (Glossa),
Tuna (Tonnos), Red mullets (Barbouni)
and Mullets (Kephalos) . |
Other seafood |
Lobster
(expensive), shrimps, oysters and many other shellfish
are widely available in restaurants. Information
about Octopus you find here. |
Green Beans |
Cooked beans with a lot of olive
oil, tomatoes, carrots and boiled potatoes. |
Okra |
A vegetable which looks like a mini
zucchini also served with a lot of olive oil, quite
unknown in the rest of the world. |
Gemista |
Tomatoes and peppers filled with
rice and herbs, almost always vegetarian.
Gemista |
Moussaka |
The national dish of Greek is a
bake made with aubergines.
Moussaka |
Pastitio |
A bake with pasta and mince meat,
also very popular in Greece.
Pastitio |
Stifado |
Small pieces of meat in a red onion
sauce. Stifado |
Papoutsakia |
Papoutsakia means ‘small shoes’ in
English, thanks to their appearance- aubergines filled
with mince meat and béchamel sauce.
Papoutsakia |
Imam Baldi |
Similar to papoutsakia, this is
aubergines stuffed with vegetables.
Imam Baldi |
Giouvetsi |
Pasta in which looks like rice
served with meat and typically a tomato sauce. More
Information about Giouvetsi |
Kouneli |
Rabbit – this can be cooked in many
ways. |
Spaghetti |
Can be found on almost every menu.
There are four common variations: in a tomato sauce,
Bolognese (with mince meat), Carbonara (a sauce made
with eggs, ham and white sauce) and seafood spaghetti
(featuring shellfish).
Spaghetti |