CAFÉS
Circulo Cooperative
This well-appointed café, with a beautiful mosaic floor, a library and lots of board games, serves freshly ground coffee from the Athenian coffee roaster Misseyannis and aromatic blends from The Tea Route. Cold-brew coffee also available.
INFO: 6 Vasileos Konstantinou and 17 Kokkinou • Tel. (+30) 27520.470.90 • Open 9:00-3:00 • Prices: coffee at about €4
Le Café, Fougaro
The all-day café at Fougaro also operates as a restaurant in the evening (in winter, it also serves lunch). It offers contemporary Greek cuisine and adds a creative touch to traditional Greek dishes, such as pork with vegetables and celery root in egg-lemon sauce.
INFO: 98 Asklepiou • Tel. (+30) 27520.473.47 • Open 9:00-1:00 (closed Monday and Tuesday) • Prices: meal €23-25 per person
© Dimitris Vlaikos
© Dimitris Vlaikos
© Dimitris Vlaikos
DON'T MISS:
- Syntagma Square in the heart of the town.
- The old parliament building
- The Trianon theater in a former mosque
- The exquisite archaeological museum are located here, alongside numerous cafés.
- A visit to the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, a temple of folk art and fashion, is also recommended.
WHERE TO EAT
Karamanlis
Eighteen Greek dishes are prepared daily at Karamanlis; standouts include tomato beef stew, chicken in lemon sauce and baked lima beans. The oven-roasted lamb is a specialty. The lamb ribs are excellent in winter. The popular Peloponnesian dish of roast pig with crispy skin is also on the menu.
INFO: Cnr Bouboulinas and Syngrou • Tel. (+30) 27520.979.99 • Open daily 12:00-24:00 • Prices: €12 per per person.
Kastro Karima
Hidden in the backstreets near the bus station, it serves traditional Greek cuisine (the light and fluffy moussaka is excellent), along with other Anatolian specialties, such as crispy falafel and aromatic tabbouleh.
INFO: 32 Papanikolaou • Tel. (+30) 27520.252.79 • Open 12:00-24:00 • Prices: €10-15 per person.
Anoka
This alternative Nafplio hangout serves juicy, super-sized burgers with ground beef, buns from the nearby bakery and hand-cut fries. The place is an aesthetic wonder with exquisite musical selections that make you forget you’re sitting opposite the army camp.
INFO: 64 Asklepiou • Tel. (+30) 27520.250.32 • Open daily 18:00-1:30 • Prices: €10 per person.
3Sixty
Among the clever and creative Mediterranean concoctions, the rice patties with herbs and salmon stand out. Some patrons swear by the ossobuco, which was a little too salty for our taste. The excellent wine list highlights Peloponnesian labels. After dinner, enjoy a cocktail at the bar next door – the Skyfall is delicious.
INFO: 26 Papanikolaou • Tel. (+30) 27520.280.68 • Open daily 9:00-24:00 • Prices: €20-25 per person.
© Dimitris Vlaikos
FOR FISH ON THE WATERFRONT
Arapakos
At this seafood restaurant, which enjoys a fresh sea breeze and long history, one can taste some expertly grilled fish (the sea bream is prepared to perfection), fresh salads and vegetables. Anything out of the frying pan is always good. Nevertheless, some of the appetizers we sampled (shrimp saganaki and orzotto) were good but not extraordinary.
INFO: 81 Bouboulinas • Tel. (+30) 27520.276.75 • Open daily 12:00-1:00 • Prices: €25–40 per person, depending on the order.
Savouras
The front-of-store display case with the fish arranged on crushed ice is a trademark. The stand-out appetizers include steamed mussels, and for the main course, there is baked orzo with small fish, bream or mullet, in addition to grilled fish.
INFO: 79 Bouboulinas • Tel. (+30) 27520.277.04 • Open 11:00-0:30 • Prices: €20–45 per person, depending on the order.
Noulis
You can tell something good is happening the moment you walk in: the olives and good olive oil are produced by the owners themselves. Tasty meze, traditional Greek dishes and Anatolian treats. It is famous for the kebab and dolma (stuffed vine leaves), among other things. Courteous and discreet service.
INFO: 8 Moutzouridou • Tel. (+30) 27520.255.41 • Open 13:00-15:00 and 17:30-21:30 • Prices: €20-25 per person.
© Dimitris Vlaikos
© Dimitris Vlaikos
ICE CREAM SHOPS
KOUSTENIS
The Koustenis family makes excellent ice cream the old-fashioned way. “We prefer to use Greek ingredients. For example, we get hazelnut paste from Pieria to make the Ferrero and use fresh fruit,” Giorgos Koustenis says. Try the mastic with pieces of syrup-soaked kantaifi, walnut with cinnamon, strawberry cheesecake, fig, nocciola and parfait, which is made with heavy cream, meringue and pastry cream. | INFO: 16 Vasileos Konstantinou, Tel. (+30) 27520.253.01 • Open daily 10:00-1:00.
ΑNTICA GELATERIA DI ROMA
Look for authentic Italian flavors like Zuppa Inglese (cream, sponge cake and alchermes, an Italian liqueur), Cassata siciliana (cream with pieces of fruit) and the sorbets, such as chocolate with chilly, which starts out innocently enough in the mouth, but ends with a subtle sweet burn. At the gelateria, you will find semifreddo sweets – tiramisu, slices of panettone filled with ice cream and panaccota. | INFO: 3 Farmakopoulon and Komninon, Tel. (+30) 27520.235.20 • Open daily 8:00-3:00.
FOR BREAD AND SWEETS
Katsoulis Bakery
An old bakery with three outlets in town, it offers good bread, cookies, sandwiches, sweets and pasta. The younger generation has modernized the business model, signed agreements with producers for contract farming and sowed its own wheat so every stage of production can be controlled.
INFO: 69 Argous and Spartis • Tel. (+30) 27520.963.74; 43 Sidiras Merarchias • Tel. (+30) 27520.280.17; Harilaos Trikoupi and Aghiou Andrianou • Tel. (+30) 27520.288.86.
Sweet House
This old school patisserie makes a chocolate cake that will remind you of your childhood. In its unusual profiterole, the choux are not immersed in chocolate cream but in white cream with pieces of sour cherry. Also try the arzentina, a white cake sprinkled with toasted almonds.
INFO: Asklepiou and 1 Marathonos • Tel. (+30) 27520.284.26
© Dimitris Vlaikos
© Dimitris Vlaikos
© Dimitris Vlaikos
WHERE TO SHOP FOR LOCAL GOODS
Mallios traditional pasta
In the mornings, Anastasios Mallios prepares trahanas (frumenty), traditional egg noodles and the local goges pasta. You will find all types and all shapes of trahanas here: Cretan-style (fine gratings or in larger pieces with fingerprints on the dough), Cypriot-style (like rusks) and Lesvos-style (like tiny cups). You will also find fresh butter (perfect for goges) and tasty cheese, including yellow goat milk cheese and dry myzithra.
INFO: 6 Polyzoidou • Tel. (+30) 27520.289.59 • Open daily 8:00-22:00.
Eklektopoleio
A showcase for some of the best products in Greece. Local produce include the Karya sheep milk yogurt, Elatos feta from Schinohori in Argos, and another sheep’s milk yogurt option, the Ek Voskis from Argos. The Fisis Filema spoon sweets are also from Argos; the small sour cherries and bergamot are particularly delicious.
INFO: 27 Sidiras Merarchias • Tel. (+30) 27523.067.67 • Open Monday-Wednesday-Saturday 8:45-15:30, Tuesday-Thursday-Friday 8:45-15:30 and 17:30-21:30.
T’Anapliotiko Bakaliko
The small liquor section features wines from regional producers, including the Papantonis and Manolakis estates. Other special products include Kollia homemade pasta and the outstanding Loukas’ sourdough bread from Nea Kios and mavragani (or Senatore Cappelli) bread. The proprietors’ own graviera cheeses stand out among the other goodies from all over Greece. The real dilemma here? Choosing to have your graviera with chili flakes (a perfect accompaniment for tsipouro) or truffle.
INFO: 29 Plapouta • Tel. (+30) 27520.267.64.
Nafplio farmers market
The local farmers market is held every Wednesday and Saturday, starting at the fire station and extending to the Endekati junction. Wild greens, artichokes and every vegetable imaginable, as well as fish, honey and local seasonal fruit and all this with the Palamidi fortress towering above • From 7:00 to 14:30.
Haftas butchers
The oldest butchers shop in town dates back to 1890. The beef comes mostly from northern Greece and the poultry from Pindos, while the lamb is local. The shop makes its own sausages from veal, pork and spices, as well as pork for the spit and meat-stuffed filo parcels.
INFO: 12 Bouboulinas • Tel. (+30) 27520.211.04 • Open weekdays 8:00-21:00 and Saturdays 8:00-18:00.
Originally published in Kathimerini’s Gastronomos magazine
PRODUCTS FROM NAFPLIO
MILK OF THE MOREA
To Gala tou Moria (“The milk of the Peloponnese”) is the brand for the dairy products made by the Eastern Peloponnese Cattle Farmers’ Cooperative. What makes this milk different is the very short interval between milking and processing. “In one or two hours after collection, the milk is at the factory. That allows us to use milder processing techniques to retain the milk’s nutritional and organoleptic features,” explains coop chemist Giannis Douras. This year, the coop installed two automatic milk vending machines in Athens. The coop has also opened a butchers shop in Argos that sells meat from its own producers. | INFO: Butcher shop in Argos: 2 Karaoli and 1 Paschalinopoulou, Tel. (+30) 27513.015.86. • Milk vending machines in Athens: 111 Patision and Trias, and 29 Velvendou, Kypseli. • For suppliers in Athens, Tel. (+30) 694.769.7009.
ZEOS BEER
Zeos Brewery makes three main types: lager, pilsner and black weiss. At the helm of the operation is Canadian brewer David Wood. “We use water from the region, two types of barley and three types of hops and we import the yeast to get the best possible result,” Lefteris Arabos, the company’s head of sales, explains. Despite such an ambitious effort, however, the product has not been embraced, as one might expect, by the catering businesses of the area. Nevertheless, you will find almost the entire range of products at the better delicatessens in Nafplio and at certain restaurants. | INFO: 1km Inachos–Argos road • Tel. (+30) 27510.314.00.
