Greece is widely renowned for its fine cuisine, and the food in Santorini more than lives up to this reputation. Classic fresh Greek salads abound, or you can opt for the more tomato oriented Santorini Salad if you prefer. Delicious fresh caught fish dish is of course in plentiful supply. As an added bonus, the white wines here are superb. In fact, if you’re a wine enthusiast with deep pockets, you could even come here specifically for a week of winery tours!
Like any massively popular destination though, it has its fair share of disappointing and overpriced tourist trap restaurants. That’s why we have put together a list of five of our favourites, all of which we have personally tried in the name of culinary research! Each is in a different location on the island, so no matter where you’re staying, you should be able to fit at least one of our sumptuous dining recommendations into your holiday plans. We highly recommend that you book ahead for all of these, especially in July or August!
Roka, Oia
Starting in the heart of the most popular and pretty village of Oia, we found the charming and traditional Roka Restaurant. While this restaurant does not boast caldera views, it more than makes up for this with a warm welcome and prompt, friendly service. The restaurant does have some nice views out toward the sea toward the beach side of the island.
The food here was really excellent, and the menu is made up of traditional Greek dishes, complemented by a big selection of local wines. Of the restaurants we tried in Oia, this one was a clear winner.
Remvi, Firostefani
One thing you should experience is a sunset meal with views into the caldera. The general rule here is that when you have caldera views your bill will be higher, but we still recommend that you delve into your pockets and do it just once. Our bill at Remvi was indeed higher than for the others in this list, but it was worth it for the experience of seeing the golden sun setting against the cliffs and lighting up the cute little white houses as we enjoyed our tasty meal and wine.
Booking well ahead here is an absolute necessity in order to get a table along the edge looking into the caldera. In fact you can specifically request those tables with the best views on Remvi’s website.
To Psoraki, Vlychada Harbour
The wonderful To Psoraki at Vlychada Harbour is (along with Metaxi Mas) one of the island’s most consistently highly rated and recommended restaurants. The restaurant overlooks the harbour, and if you are dining in the evening as the sun sets, you will be treated to the sight of great queues of catamarans coming into the harbour returning from their sunset cruises.
This was one of the most exquisite dining experiences we had on our holiday. On the menu here is the catch of the day, priced by weight. Your waiter can take you inside and show you a selection of that day’s freshly caught fish, from which you can choose which you would like. Once cooked, it will be brought to your table and de-boned for you by the waiter. My swordfish (no I didn’t eat a whole one!) and Chenai’s Sea Bass were both absolutely delicious, and the accompanying local white wine was also one of the best that we had on the island.
The restaurant’s reputation is well deserved, the service, the food, and the wine were all exceptional.
Feggera, Megalochori
Another superb choice that specialises in seafood. Feggera is located in the quieter but no less beautiful village of Megalochori. After a very enjoyable wine tasting at the nearby Gavalas Winery we were very kindly squeezed in here without a booking. An open air seating area on the first floor of the building gave us some nice views of this lovely village.
Again we had a superb local wine accompanied by beautifully cooked fish. The Santorini salad here was a real highlight too. Thoroughly recommended.
Sunset dinner on a catamaran
Our final dinner date recommendation is not a restaurant at all, but is nonetheless a dining experience which you should not miss. Viator has numerous options to book sunset cruises with dinner. We recommend booking a catamaran cruise with a maximum of 20 total passengers, as the higher capacity ones can have a bit more of a booze cruise type vibe!
At higher price points, you could even book your own sunset cruise boat just for the two of you. As an experience which includes food, but will cost only a little more for two than a meal at a posh restaurant with wine and dessert, a small group catamaran sunset cruise is highly recommended.
We took a catamaran at 3pm from Ammoudi Bay in Oia, having been collected from our hotel in a nice modern minibus. Local wine or soft drinks were offered for the duration of the tour. We were taken all the way around the South end of the island with a couple of snorkelling stops along the way.
There were nice views of Akrotiri lighthouse, and the cliffs at Red Beach. The crew made a very good Greek salad and rice to accompany grilled chicken and Greek sausages, done on a barbecue mounted on the back of the boat! For a meal made out at sea it really was very impressive indeed, and trip as a whole was a really great experience!
After experiencing the famous sunset from our vantage point at sea, and after taking about 8-million photos between us all, Vlychada harbour was our final destination. From here, we were taken back to our respective hotels in the minibus, all thoroughly satisfied with our seafaring culinary experience.
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