I know food isn't at the top of everyone's list of vacation priorities, but it ranks pretty high for me. And here again, Milos delivers a great experience. When we arrived at Milos, the guy at our hotel told us that easily 9 out of 10 restaurants on the island were very good or better. After our six days on the island, we had to agree.
Let's be honest-- it's easy to find delicious food in Greece, so it would have been surprising if Milos didn't have lots of good food. The only places where it gets a little tricky are spots with lots of tourists, where the restaurant owners know they'll have customers even if the food is mediocre and expensive. Santorini and Plaka (in Athens) come to mind. Milos definitely doesn't fall into this category.
What in particular can you look forward to eating on Milos? Well, they've got all the usual suspects: greek salads, zucchini fritters, tzatziki, lamb, calamari, grilled fish, etc., etc.
What have we here? From left to right: greek salad, grilled fish, fried eggplant, fried calamari (never had the whole squid intact before) and tzatziki (invisible on the white plate except for the olive in the middle).
So... mostly unremarkable, but there a few dishes unique to Milos, or nearly so. If you've heard of Santorini's NTOMATOKEFTEDES (tomato fritters), they're also available on Milos. They're similar to zucchini fritters, if you've had those, but with tomato instead. It's basically tomatoes drained of juice, mixed with some onions, feta, flour and fried. Not really mind-blowing, but pretty good, and one less reason to endure the crowds of Santorini.
They also have something called KARPUZOPITA (watermelon pie). It's a tart-like dessert where the filling is watermelon cooked down to a sweet paste. This one didn't blow me away either, but I'm not really a dessert person.
This is where we tried the watermelon pie (though you can't see it here). It's a very cute dessert shop in Plaka (Milos). My mother-in-law was thrilled, both by the desserts, and the fact that she had seen the shop (and its owners) on a television show.
One thing I did love about Milos is that Adamas had a couple of pastry shops with spinach pies, (several varieties of) cheese pies, ham and cheese pies and desserts. When I made my first trip to a Greek island (Seriphos in maybe 1995), these pastry shops were the Greek standard for a quick breakfast or lunch. They seem to have gone out of fashion, so I was really happy to find these places in Milos. One of them in particular had really out-of-this-world delicious pastries. It's called Mileiko and it's almost immediately where the ferry drops you off in Adamas.
The spinach pies and and bougatsa (sweet, creamy, filo-wrapped dessert) were amazing. If I'm reading the last line of that sign right, they also had clam sandwiches. Not really my cup of tea, but if clam sandwiches appeal to you, I'm sure theirs is delicious
.
Another unique food from Milos is a cheese called xynomizithra, or sour mizithra. Mizithra is a reasonably common cheese in greece, but this sour version seems to be a local specialty. The closest thing I can compare it to is the typical goat cheese you get in America, soft, creamy and a bit salty. The xynomizithra is just a little creamier with a hint of sourness. I also thought it tasted sort of like an extremely thick tzatziki, without the garlic. Most restaurants in Milos offered it as an alternative to feta on Greek salads. I highly recommend it, with the salad or without.
A final thing we noticed on Milos is that all the real restaurants (excluding souvlaki & pizza places) brought out free dessert for everyone after the meal. At different restaurants, we were served ice cream, watermelon, yogurt with cherries, and lime mousse. We thought it was a Milos tradition, but when we got back to Athens, we noticed that many restaurants there have started serving free desserts as well. Our best guess is that it's a product of the economic crisis. The restaurants are offering a 'sweetener' to encourage people to eat out despite the hard times. I have to say, I like the new tradition.
Let's be honest-- it's easy to find delicious food in Greece, so it would have been surprising if Milos didn't have lots of good food. The only places where it gets a little tricky are spots with lots of tourists, where the restaurant owners know they'll have customers even if the food is mediocre and expensive. Santorini and Plaka (in Athens) come to mind. Milos definitely doesn't fall into this category.
What in particular can you look forward to eating on Milos? Well, they've got all the usual suspects: greek salads, zucchini fritters, tzatziki, lamb, calamari, grilled fish, etc., etc.
So... mostly unremarkable, but there a few dishes unique to Milos, or nearly so. If you've heard of Santorini's NTOMATOKEFTEDES (tomato fritters), they're also available on Milos. They're similar to zucchini fritters, if you've had those, but with tomato instead. It's basically tomatoes drained of juice, mixed with some onions, feta, flour and fried. Not really mind-blowing, but pretty good, and one less reason to endure the crowds of Santorini.
They also have something called KARPUZOPITA (watermelon pie). It's a tart-like dessert where the filling is watermelon cooked down to a sweet paste. This one didn't blow me away either, but I'm not really a dessert person.
One thing I did love about Milos is that Adamas had a couple of pastry shops with spinach pies, (several varieties of) cheese pies, ham and cheese pies and desserts. When I made my first trip to a Greek island (Seriphos in maybe 1995), these pastry shops were the Greek standard for a quick breakfast or lunch. They seem to have gone out of fashion, so I was really happy to find these places in Milos. One of them in particular had really out-of-this-world delicious pastries. It's called Mileiko and it's almost immediately where the ferry drops you off in Adamas.
.
Another unique food from Milos is a cheese called xynomizithra, or sour mizithra. Mizithra is a reasonably common cheese in greece, but this sour version seems to be a local specialty. The closest thing I can compare it to is the typical goat cheese you get in America, soft, creamy and a bit salty. The xynomizithra is just a little creamier with a hint of sourness. I also thought it tasted sort of like an extremely thick tzatziki, without the garlic. Most restaurants in Milos offered it as an alternative to feta on Greek salads. I highly recommend it, with the salad or without.
A final thing we noticed on Milos is that all the real restaurants (excluding souvlaki & pizza places) brought out free dessert for everyone after the meal. At different restaurants, we were served ice cream, watermelon, yogurt with cherries, and lime mousse. We thought it was a Milos tradition, but when we got back to Athens, we noticed that many restaurants there have started serving free desserts as well. Our best guess is that it's a product of the economic crisis. The restaurants are offering a 'sweetener' to encourage people to eat out despite the hard times. I have to say, I like the new tradition.
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