The good news is that prices in Kos restaurants are very affordable. In an average tavern a good dinner with wine and dessert usually costs 15-20 EUR per person. In a restaurant you'll have to pay 50-60 EUR for the same set of dishes, and the portions will be very large (you can take half a portion or one dish and two sets of utensils).
The best restaurants in Kos include Petrino, Broadway, Stadium, Efkalipty, Ampavris. Restaurants located on the main streets tend to be overpriced. We also recommend avoiding places where organized tour groups are brought for lunch.
There are many national restaurants in Kos, such as the Chinese Far East (specialties include seafood rice and beef in sweet-and-sour sauce). Turkish cuisine is offered by Arap (they say it has the best kebab in Kos). The restaurant El Paso is very popular among Russian tourists in Kos for its Mexican cuisine with budget prices and large portions.
The taverns in Kos are specialized:
- fish, or psarotavernas (Brasosca Fish Taverna, Nik the fisherman), offer cooked fish and seafood;
- Meat, or psistaria, specialize in meats cooked over an open fire. For example, pork chops (brizola), lamb ribs (paidakia), cutlets (bifteki) are very popular here. All this stuff is grilled or spit-roasted and served with maratopités (flavored tortillas with fennel).
Kos will be remembered for its pastry shops (zaharoplastio), where you can try traditional Greek sweets: baklava (baklavas), rahat loukoum (loukoumades), halva and others. As you can see, the Turkish influence has not gone away for Kos!
Prices in Kos cafes are affordable. So, for 10-15 EUR for two people you can spend a wonderful and very "sweet" evening.
By the way, a little trick: if you want to taste the most delicious local coffee, look closely at the visitors. The best coffee is in that Kos cafe where elderly locals sit at the tables! Another tip: be wary of "gift" dishes, which you are supposedly treated with by the owner of the cafe or tavern. As a rule, the "treat" is a dessert of not the first freshness, which will be included in your bill.
It should be taken into account that in summer, from 14:00 to 16:00, most restaurants are closed, you can have a snack only in small cafes and taverns. In large restaurants, the menu is duplicated in English, but before ordering you need to clarify the name of the dish. Tipping is not obligatory, but if you like the service, you can leave a small amount (1-2 EUR in a tavern or 10-15% of the bill in an expensive restaurant).
