Tinos Restaurants: Where to Eat on the Island

Where to eat on Tinos

Tinos serves its best food in Tinos Town and in the bays around the island, and the eight places below are the ones we rate from eating there in person. Tinos Town lines up harbour restaurants such as Epinion, Poseidonia and Symposium, the west-coast bays of Isternia and Kardiani hold To Falasaki and Anemos, and the beaches of Kionia and Kolymbithra add Zambia and the Drakonisi snackbar. Pyrgos in the north pours the best coffee in the Cyclades at Fuego. Each place is described below, ordered by our rating, and every score is our own.

Anemos is our favourite restaurant on Tinos so far. It sits on the beach of Kardiani Bay - the one on the right as you drive down, where there are two beaches next to each other - so a spectacular view comes guaranteed. Every dish looks like it should be framed on a wall rather than eaten, and there are many appetizers, different cheeses, salads, pastas and plenty of fish. The tyrokroketes, the tzatziki, the tuna salad with fresh dill and the baked bread with tomato and feta are to die for, with fresh herbs on everything, and the toilets are clean too. Our verdict: worth a detour, 10 out of 10.

In the beautiful bay of Isternia there are two small restaurants directly at the sea, and the second one, nearest the water, is really super. It has many original, well-cared-for dishes on the menu, such as beetroots with creme fraiche dressing and all sorts of special salads, and the food looks spectacular, like pictures from an expensive cookbook - yet the restaurant is absolutely inexpensive. The one drawback is coffee: no cappuccino, only a very small espresso or nescafe. Our verdict: close to perfection, 9,5 out of 10.

Epinion is one of the best restaurants in Tinos Town, set in the harbour. Its specialty is a dish of several different sorts of fried balls, among them tomatoes and courgettes; Anna herself came up with the idea, so it is called Anna's Balls. The rest of the food is tasty too and the service is really friendly, and the restaurant is fairly large, with tables inside as well as outside on the terrace overlooking the sea. Our verdict: worth a visit while in Tinos Town, 8,5 out of 10.

Zambia is at the beginning of the beach of Kionia, in a small street 50 metres off the main road that runs along the beach. They serve a great red house wine and run a traditional, professional kitchen, and the restaurant is popular with the Greeks, with many people of Tinos as regulars. There are good meat dishes, many appetizers and friendly service. Our verdict: good, 8,5 out of 10.

Symposium is a stylishly decorated restaurant where you can sit outside on one of the terraces and have a glass of wine or eat something nice. It stands on the left side of the narrow, busy shopping street that leads from the boulevard to the church, a little way in. The building is two stories high, and parallel to the first floor is the photoshop owned by Yorgos Vidalis, who also owns the restaurant; the first floor also has internet with smooth music in the background. Quality matters to Yorgos, and his prices are reasonable and not expensive. Our verdict: reasonable to good, 7,5 out of 10.

Poseidonia stands on the harbourfront of Tinos Town and belongs to the hotel above it. There is a variety of small dishes for appetizers, including artichokes, tzatziki, cheeses and different salads, plenty of choice for the main courses, and a nice breakfast with good coffee served all day long if you like, along with friendly service. Our verdict: reasonably good, 7,5 out of 10.

Drakonisi Snackbar is on the beach of Kolymbithra. The small menu covers salads, omelettes, great tzatziki, and several small dishes of fried vegetables, souvlaki and meatballs; they serve Lavazza coffee and the bread is fresh, with a nice view of the beach. Our verdict: reasonable to good, 7,5 out of 10.

Fuego is close to the bus station in Pyrgos, just above the children's playground. We only had coffee and drinks here, but the coffee was the best we had in all the Cyclades: made from freshly ground beans and served hot in an enormous cup with a big glass of cold water. The service was very friendly and the seats really original, made of slices of trees and branches, and the clean toilets are worth a visit because they are funny. Our verdict: if you like coffee, you go to Fuego.