The sinewed bulk of Exohora’s millennial olive tree is living proof that the world's healthiest oil has been produced on Zante for centuries and most of the local specialties – including meltingly rich beef stew sofigadoura and garlic-laden aubergine dish skordostoubi – are doused in it. Other unique homegrown ingredients include sweet white Belousiotiko onions and the tiny wild strawberries which colour the hillsides in spring. Round off any meal with the island’s spicy sheep cheese ladotiri and sherry-like Verdea wine and you’ll agree that the gastronomy of this island, where Apollo once strolled, is fit for the gods.
For further Zante inspiration, see our guides to the isalnds's best hotels, nightlife and things to do.
Blink and you’ll probably miss this tavern whose half a dozen plastic-cloth-covered tables are plonked on a bamboo-covered strip of concrete which is almost on a level with the slopping water of Zante town’s kaiki boat-dotted port. Once a hangout for the local fishermen, today this is one of the town’s best (and most expensive) seafood restaurants where globetrotting owner Giannis has incorporated numerous culinary influences to create hearty, flavour-rich dishes based on local recipes. Highlights include the cuttlefish in a garlicky, tomatoey Verdea wine sauce and the pan-fried fried sardines covered with crunchy sesame seeds.
Contact: komis-tavern.gr
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: £££
Best table: There aren’t many and they all have feet-in-the-water port views
Eucalyptos
Set in the peaceful poolside garden of one of the island’s oldest hotels, this delightfully bucolic restaurant – named for the island’s oldest eucalyptus tree which still grows here – was one of the first on the island to source ingredients locally and only feature traditional local dishes and regional – mainly organic – wines on the menu. Enthusiastic owner Maria Lougari – whose parents opened the hotel back in the ‘Nineties - is on hand to chat (and chivvy the waiters) as you dine beneath silver-leaved olive trees on succulent lamb and pasta giouvetsi, veal, onion and tomato stew moscharistifado and other traditional dishes.
Contact: castellihotel.com
Reservations: Advised
Prices: ££
Best table: In warm weather pick a table near the pool
A common gift from a man to his lover in ancient Greece, the humble kouneli – rabbit – is a staple of Zante cuisine. Stathmos (meaning ‘stop’) in Zante’s old Chora bus station doesn’t look like much, but this cheap and cheerful sidewalk café is locally renowned for its kouneli stifado rabbit stew: the tender rabbit chunks are marinated overnight in red wine vinegar with spices, fried in olive oil then slow cooked in a garlic-rich tomato and wine sauce. Other specials chalked up on a board daily include their salted cod served with skordalia – run like a rabbit if you want a lunchtime seat.
Contact: 00 30 26950 24040; facebook.com/stathmos.ktel.gr
Reservations: Not required
Prices: £
Best table: Any that you’re lucky enough to get
Ladofanaro
Locals flock to this popular fish restaurant overlooking the warm shallow waters of Amboula beach, which is an easy drive from Zante town. Dishes (served to stocky tables topped with blue linen tablecloths and wild flowers in vases) are cooked over the charcoal grill, or baked in the oven and served in earthenware crocks. Try the shrimp saganaki sautéed in olive oil, deglazed with fragrant aniseed ouzo, then cooked in a spicy feta and tomato sauce, or the grilled red bream, whose smokily crisp crust – which splits to reveal the tender meat inside – is served with rough cut, lemon drizzled potatoes.
Contact: 00 30 26950 62655; facebook.com
Reservations: Not required
Prices: ££
Best table: On the beachside, especially when there’s a cooling sea breeze
Diachroniko
This is one of the island’s best farm-to-table restaurants. From the apple-cheeked Asimina tomatoes in the hearty sauces, the lamb in dishes like the delicious parchment-baked kleftiko, to the wines served straight from the barrel, every ingredient used to create stewed or roasted dishes at Diachroniko (the name means ‘timeless’) are grown right here on the Plessas family’s farm. Located in Skoulikado, it's a pretty village bright with bougainvillea in the foothills of the forested Vrachion mountains. They also make their own crusty bread baked in a wood-fired oven, so you can mop up the juices, too.
Contact: taverna-diahroniko.gr
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££
Best table: Anywhere in the shade
Lithies Organic Farm
Surrounded by olive groves and banana palms, the Giannoulis family’s organic restaurant in the courtyard of their working farm is a cluster of tables covered with red-and-white chequered cloths scattered across a terrace spiked with huge olive millstones, where chickens cluck contentedly and goats bleat and skitter beneath the silver-leaved trees as you sup on specialities such as slow-cooked rabbit stew (kouneli kokkinisto) in a blood thick red wine sauce, or katsoika lado rigani – goat stewed in olive oil and rosemary – served with the farm’s own wine straight from its oak vareli.
Contact: lithieshouses.gr
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££
Best table: On cooler evenings the covered terrace offers welcome shelter
Taverna Stavros
It’s a long and winding drive along boulder-studded mountain roads to reach this homely taverna with cosy brick interiors and exposed beams about 40 minutes drive from Zante town, but it’s well worth the effort to enjoy some of the island’s best country cooking. Set in a dramatic spot, 800 metres above Kampi hamlet (and overlooking the minute hamlet’s gigantic cross) on a rocky outcrop jutting out over the cobalt sheet of Ionian Sea far below, the sunsets here are as spectacular as their specialty: the hearty home-cooked beef stew stifado.
Contact: 00 30 26950 48481
Reservations: Not required
Prices: ££
Best table: For the best views sit close to the terrace railings (not for the faint of heart)
Taverna Scloubou
Only two kilometres from Laganas’ notorious nightlife strip, the Lykouresis family’s farm restaurant in the outskirts of the beach resort of Agios Sostis, where they’ve been serving traditional homemade dishes since the 1990s, is another world. Seated beneath olive trees and palm fronded parasols – and surrounded by bright pots of geraniums and sweet smelling herbs – you can choose from freshly made dishes chalked up daily on a blackboard. The most popular options include white wine-baked lamb kleftiko, richly filling cheese and egg saganaki, and kyria Lykouresis’ home baked moussaka which is served bubbling hot in individual pots.
Contact: sclouboustaverna.gr
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££
Best table: Close to the kitchen, if you don’t want to wait too long when it’s busy
Taverna Porto Limnionas
The mountain village of Agios Leon, with its red roof-tiled houses clustered around a stocky 14th-century church, is the gateway to Porto Limnionas, one of the island’s most secluded fjord-like bays along Zante’s picturesque west coast. A narrow road surrounded by seal grey rocks and spiky wild thyme leads down to the bay’s eponymous taverna, surrounded by sweet-scented pine trees where the friendly owners grill fresh-caught calamari over a charcoal fire, or whisk up bowls of prawn-spiked linguine as you sit and sip on their homemade tsipouro. Portions are huge, so order wisely.
Contact: 00 30 26957 72072
Reservations: Not required
Prices: ££
Best table: Sit by the charcoal grill and be bathed in those wonderful odours
It’s not the easiest place to find, but the drive through olive groves and arid scenery to seek out this laid-back tavern, with views over to Marathoni island where endangered Caretta-Caretta turtles come to breed, is well worth the effort. The décor is eclectic – crazy paved pillars like the backs of turtles and ropes hanging in random loops from the ceiling – but the sea views are spectacular and the small menu of seafood dishes - crunchy shrimp fishcakes fried in olive oil, grilled squid served on a skewer, or fresh octopus with lightly seasoned pasta – are equally impressive.
Contact: votsalo-greek-restaurant.business.site
Reservations: Not required
Prices: ££
Best table: On the edge of the terrace with views to Marathoni Island
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