Captain’s Bar
A perennial favourite of Simon Pegg, there’s more pictures of the lad on the walls of this bar than there probably is in his Nan’s house. Unfortunately we didn’t get to witness him getting pissed up on the Captain’s brilliant cocktails because he was (selfishly) away filming Mission: Impossible 6 with the Cruisemeister General. Captain’s does some amazing cocktails though, perfect for a pre-dinner bevvie, or for later on and into the night.
Gourgouris Grill
If you don’t have one of the fantastic Gyros from Gourgouris while you’re here then you might as well just stay at home. At only €4, these absolute beauties are the size of a small baby and are packed with salad and your choice of filling. Perfect for a beach ‘snack’ while roasting in the sun. They also do some fantastic sit down meals too, including a Greek Platter for 2 which could happily feed 4 and excellent meatballs courtesy of someone’s mum.
Makis
When someone mentions they are off to Makis for some food, don’t get all excited about the possibility of scoffing a Big Mac and 20 Nuggets, because they are off to Makis – one of the town’s best restaurants – serving up dishes that will get you much fuller than anything the Hamburglar can get involved in. You can expect great value for money here, and fantastic service – with their meat platters standing head and shoulders above most places you will find in town.
Akri Bar
Another fantastic cocktail bar here, with a menu of drinks longer than some editions of Great Expectations. There’s pretty much every drink you can ever think of on here, including some cracking White Russians, and plenty of heat-soothing slushy numbers. They’ve got a Happy Hour between 6pm and 9pm, when all cocktails are €5.50 – try and resist that!
Il Destino
This extravagant Italian place, just near the sea front, may not be the best restaurant on the island – in fact it might not even be the best Italian, but what they have managed to do is create pasta dishes which are pretty phenomenal. So good in fact that I happily paid money for them – something I am usually loathe to do with pasta (because I can make it at home for next to nothing). They also do pizzas, which again are excellent, although they could do with a bit more sauce on them.
Apostolis
You can’t go much wrong with Apostolis – it’s great value for money, the portions are massive and the booze flows more freely than Rapunzel’s dandruff. There’s also a majestic outdoor area with a little play area for any manky sprogs that you may have in tow. Fantastic for a load of smaller Greek meze dishes – as well as their brilliantly succulent traditional souvlaki dishes.
Nikos Bakery
We visited here most mornings to pick up a huge pastry in which to soak up the booze from the previous nights’ endeavours. They have a great range of both sweet and savoury pastry products, which would put Mr. Greggs to shame – if that is even his real name. They also naturally do plenty of fresh bread, perfect with some cheese and tomatoes down the beach for a stress-free, cheap and tasty lunch while basking in the heat.
TUI operate flights from Manchester to Kefalonia between May and October starting at £319pp return.
