Welcome To Mykonos – Who’s Hungry?
When my wife Alex and I made our first trip to Greece in 2021, we loved the people and their culture – and of course their food!
As part of our trip, we spent three days on the island of Mykonos – which has a reputation as the Greek party island – partly because there are great beaches all over the island!
This is the Santa Marina Resort where we stayed – and it is phenomenal…and we chose a unique way to arrive on the island – by Greek Ferry – take a look:
As you can see, a gorgeous island – and one of the fun things to do is a “beach walk” – moving from beach resort to beach resort – and then popping into one of the island’s best beachfront restaurants for the freshest lunch!
From Mykonos – Our “Food With A View!“
I launched this “food with a view” series to highlight some of the great meals we’ve had in the most beautiful surroundings, which leads us to this Mykonos beach that is renowned for the freshest food on the island!
Welcome to Nikolas Taverna!
Alex does an amazing job researching our destinations, and she discovered Nikolas Taverna – famous for their fresh fish – for the past 50 years, they have served what Nikolas caught that morning, in fact the menu says so:
“The Fishes Are Daily Fished By Their Own Hands!”
That’s all we needed to read!
That means you are seated, then you have to check out the daily catch and decide what to order!
Look at how fresh the fish is – caught that day! That’s Nicolas behind his son as Alex chooses our lunch:
We chose a local Sea Bream…then waited for our feast to begin:
There is nothing better than sitting on the edge of the Aegean Sea on the Greek island of Mykonos as they bring out our incredible lunch, beginning with fresh ceviche dotted with sea urchin:
The freshness of the seafood, with the creaminess of the olive oil and hint of lemon was delicious…
Next up was a dish we had seen in various places, and is still so unique:
A Sea Urchin “Salad!”
Yes, we found this dish at many restaurants in Greece, and while it’s called a “salad”, it’s really just huge chunks of sea urchin served in a broth…and you are given crusty bread to slather it all up!
The brininess of the urchin with the broth and crusty bread was so delicious…oh, and if you were wondering what we were enjoying it with – since it was 90 degrees out, this hit the spot – Greek beer:
Next up: a traditional Greek Salad…cucumbers, green bell pepper, red onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta cheese with sprinkled basil…
We also ordered a traditional side dish of beets and “Horta”…which we found out means any green vegetable served as a side dish! This had a little olive oil and lots of lemon, and the beets were creamy and satisfying as well…
Then our fish arrived…it was beautifully de-boned for us, and came with grilled zucchini slices, fresh copped tomato and fresh lemon as well…as with the entire meal, it was fresh and delicious, with just a nice hint of smokiness…Alex shared this montage of our “food with a view”…
Nikolas and his family do a terrific job – the atmosphere is relaxed, and eating at the edge of the Aegean Sea is magical…
After our “food with a view”, we walked to another resort for a drink…and in keeping with a theme, I had – get ready for it:
The “Pelagos” – Vodka Infused With Sea Urchin!
Well, I had to right? It’s the drink on the right:
I said Mykonos was a party island, so it’s not unusual to see this happening in front of you on the water:
I love the “hovercraft surfboards” I’ve seen everywhere…they do a nice job navigating the yachts!
We had a blast to say the least – and Mykonos is an island that never stops surprising you! Here’s proof:
This happened one night as we were having drinks at our hotel!
Mykonos was so much fun – thanks in part to an incredible new restaurant called “Mykonos Social”:
An incredible meal on a very special day for us – click here to see what we ate and what we were celebrating!
We also headed into town to see some of the island’s unique arhitecture:
The island has these windmills sitting along the bay, and you can walk right up to them before sitting on the edge of the Aegean for a meal:
Yes, the next night we also watched an incredible sunset from a restaurant in Mykonos Town:
Oh, and the food at Kastro’s was incredible! Here’s a look at the fish stew we ordered:
Click here to see what we ate!
I just made a special Greek dish called “Plaki” – which uses fresh herbs and vegetables to create fresh flavors:
This terrific fish dish was part of a cookbook club I contribute to…see how to make it yourself at home!
I also showed you our “food with a view” from the highest point in Athens:
That’s the city laid out below..see more pictures and some video here!
These are just some of our many adventures in Greece – if we weren’t enjoying the food, we were seeing their history up close:
It all began with a trip to The Acropolis to see The Parthenon – a walk through history to be sure!
You can see much more of that adventure by clicking on my story here:
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Categories: Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
johnrieber 
What a delicious post!
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This is just what I needed to see after a spring snow this weekend. I’ll never forget being in Bora Bora and eating Mahi-mahi that had been ‘cooked’ by marinating it in lime juice.
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I have just had Saturday morning breakfast – guess what > now I would so like to be sitting on Mykonos beach at the restaurant so vividly described by you here 🙂 ! One can see the freshness of the fish off the photos and I am peagreen about the sea urchin salad as the beasties are quite difficult to access and very expensive here. And ‘home cooking’ – both the ‘Greek salad’ and the beetroot one look as if they came out of the kitchen now . . . truly a meal to remember from an enviable sun swept beachside . . . thanks . . .
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Thank you fro the note! There are many who do not like sea urchin but I love them and while expensive here, not TOO bad and worth a break once in a while…a restaurant in New York makes a sea urchin pasta dish that is sublime….
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between the food and the view, my idea of paradise –
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I think my best party days are probably behind me. I can’t hang with the young ones as well as I once did, so maybe Mykonos wouldn’t be the best place for me. However, you described in exact detail how I want to one day spend my retirement. “… and one of the fun things to do is a “beach walk” – moving from beach resort to beach resort – and then popping into one of the island’s best beachfront restaurants for the freshest lunch!” Yes, sign me up. I’m in.
Looks like a fabulous place to visit. I’ve heard amazing things about Greece. I don’t know how feasible it is there, but a friend with some Greek background keeps talking about retiring there. I suspect he’ll come to his senses when he looks at the dollars and cents, but still interesting. 🙂 🙂
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Thanks for the comment, and know that Greece is AMAZINGLY INEXPENSIVE! Your friend could find a place on one of the myriad of islands and live very well! While Mykonos is the party island, we didn’t go for that and just enjoyed the late nights at our resort on the water!
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It sounds amazing. Inexpensive and fun. Even better.
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And they are incredibly nice, love their country, and love visitors…and so much to explore!
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I hear Mykonos is beautiful and the food is scrumptious…..chuq
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I haven’t been to Mykonos, but have done the same thing in Greece, Crete, and Turkey. Wander along to the row of restaurants, select the fresh fish you like the look of, and relish that ‘cooked from the sea’ taste. Fond memories!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes Pete, it’s the best way to enjoy food! Thanks as always for sharing!
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