28 Best Restaurants in The Saronic Gulf Islands, Greece

Set right on Mikro Kamini, a leisurely 15-minute walk from the port (or 5 minutes by mule or couple of minutes by water taxi), this fully renovated 18th-century fortress is a popular bar-restaurant offering some of the most fortifying dining on the island. Castello is the only place where you can find sushi, or if you are craving a snack, try the catch of the day served with wild greens and saffron. Its multilevel café serves breakfast, coffee, drinks, and snacks and is the ideal spot for enjoying Hydra sunsets over the best apple martini on the island. Renting a sun bed for the day on the beach right in front of Castello will set you back €5.

The charming young trio of owners—Yiannis, Kostas, and Alexandros—have imbued this beach taverna just 100 feet from Vlichos Beach with energy and attentive service. The traditional taverna fare includes favorite Greek dishes like ntakos, prawn linguine, and lively salads, which all go perfectly with a glass of house wine or a cold beer. The all-white surroundings (with cool-blue undertones) contrast gloriously with the injection of color from the surrounding pink bougainvillea. At the back of the taverna, you will find the headquarters of the Hydra Diving Center.

Spetses's best restaurant has been morphing and evolving since it first opened 25 years ago, and the owner, Giorgos—a local who grew up on the island working in his father's taverna—still loves what he does and it shows! Everyone from fishermen to Hollywood headliners know him by his first name, and a meal here is not to be missed, not only for the innovative upscale Mediterranean dishes and thoughtful wine list, but also for the dreamy seafront setting and candlelit tables on a little pier jutting into the bay.

This spot where Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas once danced is a vision in minimalist island stone and white. The restaurant/bar is set in the high-ceilinged Hydra Nautical Club and the deck outside, which affords an exquisite sea view. Gourmet sefood dishes, and lively salads are the light standards that will help ensure you keep the energy levels up if you choose to stay on and dance the night away as the night time revelry kicks in and cocktails start flowing

Don't leave Hydra without some traditional almond macaroons in your suitcase. The Tsagkaris family, led by octogenarian matriarch Anna Tsagkari, have been lovingly making them in their workshop for more than 70 years.

Ask a local to name the best restaurant in Aegina, and the response is invariably Vatzoulias. In summer the garden is a pleasant oasis, scented with jasmine and honeysuckle; in winter, nestle inside the cozy dining room to dine on expertly prepared taverna classics. Eggplant in garlic sauce or zucchini croquettes are can't-go-wrong starters. Continue with a dish such as veal in red sauce; thick, juicy grilled pork chops; or moussaka, oven-baked eggplant and potatoes with ground meat enlivened with cinnamon and a wonderfully fluffy béchamel. In winter try the hare stew. A 10-minute walk from Aegina Town center gets you to this rustic taverna where only dinner is served, and only on four evenings a week, usually Wednesday and weekends.

Seafood is the word at this famed taverna run by Antonis and his sons, and the octopus grilled in front of the establishment lures bathers and other visitors who tuck into options ranging from teeny fried smelt to enormous lobsters. People-watching is as much of a draw as the food, since the tables afford a view of all the comings and goings of the harbor's small boats as well as some sleek yachts. Other than splurging on the bouillabaisse here (expect to pay around €50 euros per kilo for sole, mullet, grouper—you name it), most dishes here, such as the veal and onions or briam ("vegetables in the oven") rarely exceed €12.

This seafront taverna, the oldest and most established one in Ayia Marina, has been here since 1950, when Kyriakos Haldaios brought out a gas stove and started frying fish and fries under the pine trees for local sunbathers. Today, it is owned by his grandson, also named Kyriakos, and offers traditional Greek specialties like moussaka, the famous dish of layered eggplant and ground meat, and plenty of fresh fish, especially gilthead and sea bass. In the summer these are served in the spacious veranda overlooking the crystal-blue waters.

Kodylenia's Taverna looks like a whitewashed fisherman's cottage on a promontory overlooking the little harbor of Kamini, with a veranda terrace charmingly set with folkloric pennants and communal tables—it's the perfect perch to catch some sublime sunsets. It is also an irresistibly alluring (if a little pricey) place that has enraptured town folk and off-duty billionaires alike. When there, peek into the kitchen below the terrace to see what's cooking: a whole fish may be chargrilling and, when available, order kritamos (rock samphire), the urchin salad, or share an order of fresh-caught grilled squid in tomato sauce.

This highly regarded restaurant and music "boit" is right on the water in Dapia and is the all-time classic bar and nightclub of Spetses (running since 1975). The food in the restaurant is pretty decent, too, and it's probably one of the better choices on the island. Lounge in the veranda's comfy armchairs surrounded by maritime antiques and savor the predominantly Mediterranean cuisine and cool cocktails, accompanied by piano music and a romantic view of the yachts moored in the quaint old port.

Since 1945 O Skotadis has been serving a large selection of mezedes for starters and mostly fresh fish mains (a good option is the fried katsoula fish, cleaver wrasse), usually to be accompanied by ouzo, the classic Greek anise drink. See if you can snag a table (reservations are best) on the second-floor terrace with its panoramic view of Aegina's harbor. Don't forget to try the large fresh salad with caper leaves.

Sit on the waterside veranda and savor seafood mezedes and fresh fish right from the sea in one of the more affordable restaurants on this sometimes overpriced (for Greece) island. As the very friendly waiters will tell you, the house specialties are the fish soup, astakomakaronada (lobster with spaghetti), and a kind of paella with mussels, shrimp, and crayfish. Magirefta (oven-baked dishes) include stuffed aubergines; oven-baked lamb; and roast scarpine fish with tomato and garlic. Expect to pay around €50 per kilo for the fresh grilled fish (compared to €60 in other fish tavernas). The chef makes a mean baked apple for dessert, but before you order, know that mini portions of baklava, karydopita, and spoon sweets with yogurt are on the house.

The half-Greek, half-Danish host of this taverna in Kamini, the second-largest village in Hydra, likes to cook for and entertain all his visitors himself. Being the life of the party that he is, by the time you leave after a heartening dinner, you will feel as if you've made a new friend. Theo cooks Greek and international dishes with a twist, as evidenced by the chicken souvlaki marinated in lemon and sage, and the pork fillet with Roquefort cheese sauce.

You don't get the swish, trendy, and inventive modern island styles here, what you do get though is a traditional Greek taverna with swift service and good value for your money, which more than make up for a lack of atmosphere. Pass up the grilled dishes for the goat slowly cooked in a clay pot and oven-roasted potatoes lightly flavored with lemon and oregano. Not to be missed: the small homemade cheese pies for starters and the fried kalamari.

Christina and Manolis, the former owners, have now passed the baton to their son Constantinos, who has modernized the home-style Greek dishes served here, in his traditional old Hydriot house with stone floors and wooden ceilings, where time seems to have been standing still since the 1950s. If it's available, try the fresh fish that is prepared to perfection. It's a good idea to arrive before 9 pm for dinner; there are only 20 tables under the open-air vine-covered pergola upstairs, and they fill up quickly.

For a light bite, try this harborside ouzeri restaurant, a hangout for locals as well as tourists, where warm yellow walls are decorated with stencils. Except for the 30 varieties of ouzo, everything is homemade, including palate-pleasing Vouta Vouta (Dip Dip), a dish of shrimp and spicy sauce, and the real don't-miss dishes: custom omelets for breakfast and baked apple in cognac. Reservations are recommended in the evening during the summer months.