Mykonos Restaurants: Where to Eat in Chora, Platis Gialos and Agios Ioannis

Marco Polo Restaurant sits in a small side street off the square with the school and supermarket in Mykonos town. The food and service are mostly fine - the lamb chops, chicken souvlaki and tzatziki were all fine, though the beetroot salad had far too much garlic and the white house wine was warm and watery. The one persistent fault is the bread, served in cut pieces rather than whole, meaning it has been on other tables before; three years on they still served old bread you pay for, though fresh bread exists in the kitchen, so we send it back. Our verdict: needs better house wine and fresh bread for everybody, 8 out of 10.

La Playa is a beach snackbar in Platis Gialos and a cheap exception in a pricey village, with good but inexpensive pitas, breakfasts, homemade soups and fast food, and the same view as the expensive restaurants next door. Our verdict: good, 8 out of 10.

A Mode Mio is an Italian restaurant on the school square opposite the supermarket in Mykonos Chora, with a wide choice of pizzas and pastas and a delicious house wine. The bread is real, warm Italian bread with garlic-butter, olive and sun-dried-tomato dips; the tuna pizza and the Galina chicken pizza were very good if heavy on cheese and light on tomato sauce, and a free dessert closes the meal. Our verdict: good to very good, 8.5 out of 10.

Traversada Snackbar sits opposite the harbour car park in Mykonos town, serving sandwiches and pastries filled with feta, tomato and other fillings. It is cheap, the coffee good (2 euro in 2006) and the service friendly. Our verdict: good to very good, 8.5 out of 10.

Cafe Express stands near Manto Square in Mykonos harbour by the taxi stand, an expensive place for a drink as many Mykonos restaurants are. The coffee costs 4 euro (2006) but is good. Our verdict: too expensive, 6 out of 10.

Meonidas Snackbar is one of the pita places in the busy shopping streets of Mykonos Chora, with cheap (2 euro in 2006) and delicious pittas and a few seats outside. Our verdict: good to very good, 9 out of 10.

Macharoni used to be one of our favourite places, relatively cheap and good, but the service varies year to year with changing staff. In 2006 an arrogant waiter mixed up the plates and kept us waiting 45 minutes for our food without an apology, and the owner told us the restaurant would be sold or closed the next year. Our verdict: anywhere between a 1 and an 8.5, depending on the staff.

Bellissimo Restaurant, with its football trophies, sits along the road through Agios Ioannis, serving coffees, sandwiches, hamburgers, pizzas, spaghetti, fruit juices, milkshakes and salads. Soup sticks come with olive and garlic dips instead of bread, and the Illy coffee is good but arrives without a glass of water. Our verdict: reasonable to good, a 7.5 out of 10.

Giavroulas Restaurant sits about 50 metres along one of the streets off the school square, an unshowy but cozy and affordable place with good food. It has a small choice of appetizers plus chicken, veal, liver and salads; the chicken souvlaki is very nice, though the house wine tastes more like sherry and the meat dishes come without vegetables. Our verdict: good, an 8.5 out of 10.

Music Cafe, in the harbour of Mykonos Chora, has a large menu despite its name. The breakfast is nice and not too expensive, with bacon and eggs for 8.50 (2006), cheap for Mykonos. Our verdict: good, an 8 out of 10.

Cosmo Cafe is a small cafe and snackbar around the corner from Fabrika Square, the main bus station, where we often had breakfast. The bread is whole, fresh and served with butter, and a glass of water comes with the coffee, though the coffee could be stronger and the bacon is sometimes over-fried; it is cheaper than many other places. Our verdict: reasonable, a 7 out of 10.

Apollon Restaurant in Mykonos Chora served us a club sandwich with smoked chicken and fries, but coffee and some dishes are really expensive - water that costs a euro elsewhere is 4 euro here, and coffee 5 euro (2009). The service is correct but plates are cleared very quickly, even before you finish, as if to free the table, which we found unpleasant. Our verdict: the food is okay, but much too expensive, a 6 out of 10.