Favourite restaurants

[smoosh]

Ha ha ha!  I can imagine!  Nothing like a cold beer on a warm day!  I can't wait!

I've always made an effort to drink the local beer wherever I've travelled.  Keo in Cyprus is a matter of cents per bottle in some places...whereas Hansa in Norway set me back almost £5 per bottle! 

[blondegirl]

My daughter went to Sweden and said that was very expensive too.  Our friends went to Norway and said the drinking laws were very strict there.  People were taking their duty free with them!  You could only buy a limited amount there.  I bet they dont have the sort of problems there with underage/binge drinking like we do in the UK.

Perhaps the UK could learn from other countries where the problems are not so rife in certain areas like alcohol.

[smoosh]

I think you could be right there!  I think the attitudes towards drinking are different too.  My Mum's family is from Cyprus and they are ok with younger people drinking beer and wine with a meal - as such she never had any trouble with me growing up (my brother was pretty much ok but had the odd night where he'd made himself sick!).  I don't think any of my cousins or anything were problems to their parents with binge drinking either - it's just a different way of life, especially in the Mediterranean countries!

I was in Norway for a few months and the standing joke there was that the only people who could afford to drink were the street drunks as the Norwegian social benefits system is so good!

[suecharl]

very hard to recommend best,they are all good!My 11 year-old daughter,for reasons as well as she liked the food,liked Kostas on the beach,because of their little dog Strewby(who has a lovely little story written on the first page of the menu)and you can watch the lovely sunset.We ate in a different resaurant every night(except twice in Kostas)and enjoyed every meal

[smoosh]

Heard lots of good things about Kostas so we'll definitely have to try them out!  It's not far from our hotel too which is always a bonus! 

I haven't heard one bad review about a restaurant in Arillas so far! 

[Cheryl2307]

Smoosh - last week four of us had large gyros, two portions of chips (which we didn't need!!) and a drink each - total cost of meal 20 euros!!  Mythos is about 3 euros for a large one, ouzo and sprite about 2 euros and shorts like vodka, jd etc about 4 euros.

On average, we paid about 16 euros for breakfast then didn't really need to eat again until the evening and the most we paid for a meal for the four of us with drinks was 61 euros, average cost was about 50 euros including tip.  Portions are large and we never really bothered with starters or puddings because we just couldn't have eaten it all.

Don't know how much the wine is, sunbeds and brolly on the beach were 7 euros but I would say your 80 euros a day will be plenty!  Enjoy!!

[smoosh]

Oooo thanks Cheryl!  Sounds great!  I think we'll probably be fine! 

I was just worrying about running out of money - that can ruin your holiday!  And the food is always a big consideration for us, which is why we avoid the British-touristy resorts as far as possible when we go away!  Why eat English breakfast and sausage and chips when you're abroad!?!  Especially in Greece where the food is so great!

That probably explains why I put on half a stone on our last holiday in Italy...  Oh dear, back on the Weight Watchers on 9 September!!! 

[smoosh]

Ooo and I should say - shameless plug but I'm sure lots of people will be interested - my cousin Tonia presents a show on Discovery Realtime called My Greek Kitchen.  Any fans of Greek cookery should definitely watch it!

She's in between series at the moment but repeats are being shown.  The 2nd series features a load of my family - my grandfather has a starring role in at least 2 episodes so hope you enjoy it if you catch it! 

[Eileen]

Hi Smoosh...shameless plug not   I'm surprised you have kept it quiet so long...I'm sure I would just love to let the world know I had a famous relative!

Is Tonia the absolutely gorgeous Greek Gal?  I think I've seen this programme a couple of times a while back.

Do you think you could ask her to do a plug in her next show for the 'Arillas Song'?!!!   O.K shameless question I know blatant brass neck I've got eh?

Eileenx

[smoosh]

Yes she is gorgeous - sickeningly so, you just have to not stand too close to her at family events!  Especially not in a bikini on hols in Cyprus!!  I was brought up with all the food she prepares on the show, my Mum's a great cook and if anyone gets a chance to see it and spots a shiny headed man called Uncle Eddie cooking Kleftiko or picking vegetables from his garden and generally grumbling that's my grandfather!

Request noted and will be passed on!!!  Ha ha! 

[Shuey]

Hi Smoosh

Please let us know nearer the time when it is on.  If it is during the day i will need to set the video up. 

Thanks   
Shuey

[smoosh]

Hi Shuey

It's usually on on a Tuesday evening when the series is new, I think it's on at 8pm on a Tuesday then repeated on Sunday at 9pm.  Not sure what they're doing with the repeats - seems a bit ad hoc!

You can get some of the recipes off the website though I think...?

www.discoverylifestylebroadband.co.uk

[smoosh]

Right!  I've just found out and 2 episodes are being shown on Discovery Realtime at 12noon and 12.30 on Saturday!

[Shuey]

Excellent i will have to tune in!

Many thanks.

[Crawsue]

We have tried nearly all of the above,and would agree with the consensus. Porto Fino is our favourite lunch place, ice cold beer,excellent easy food and the old guy who runs it looks a bit "rough" but is a real diamond geezer!! Brouklis is very authentic Kostas very welcoming with good food and portions,and Thalasa a bit more "contemporary" and a wee bit special but make sure you are not in a hurry anywhere--the Greeks dont do fast food! Especially Thallasa ( see other strands) We go out on the 3rd for a week cant wait.Have read all the reports about lunch up at Afioanas ,so that's a must do as well !!! We havn't tried the Captains,but we will definately put that right next week. Enjoy,Crawford & Susan.