This was
meant to be a map to good and undiscovered Naxian restaurants. Consciously, I
will not make any references for the local restaurants in Apollonas, which you
have to discover yourselves; on the contrary I will try to point you towards
certain restaurants and villages throughout mountain Naxos and elsewhere.
The
nearest, to Apollonas, village is
Komiaki or Koronida (you must not confuse this
village with the neighboring village called Koronos). Komiaki is the
mother village of Apollonas, in the 19th century there were no
registered people living in Apollonas, they all moved from Komiaki during the
first half of the 20th century. Komiaki is a real mountain village,
you must leave your car in the asphalt and go up the stairs, have a look
around, maybe visit the Mycenaean tomb near by the village and in case you want
to eat something, there are 2 good
restaurants-café’s behind the main church. Liagouris & Fakinos . I have
tried Liagouris Restaurant (the one with the yard and the flowers) and the food
was great every time in amazing prices. The food here, in general, is good and cheap and the people are friendly,
they are not very used to tourists so they don’t speak good English but I would
take that as an acid, it means they are not corrupted by tourism.
Next
village you meet on your way is Skado, unless you skipped Komiaki and you came
through Mesi (Mesi has no restaurants but give it some time to look around, it
is, after all, one of the smiridohoria – the emery villages). Skados, like Mesi
is, more or less abandoned, but here there is a restaurant on the main street
that the food is good although it doesn’t look very nice. To discover the
village you must leave your car and wonder around. There is a school here for
all children of the neighboring villages.
Next
village on your way is Koronos. Koronos was built on 2 different mountain and
the action is down below. Koronos is the
second in importance of the north mountain villages, after Komiaki. Their near
by the sea settlement is called Lyonas around 10 km away with good restaurants
(I hear but never tried). There is a restaurant in Koronos called Plaza or
Matina’s that is probably the best in Naxos as it concerns the food, the
external decoration and the position. Right next to Matina’s there is the
restaurant of Dalas that is also really good and often live bands play there
but it doesn’t have the recognition it deserves because it lucks in style and
variety of cousine.
After
Koronos at the crossroad of Stavros Keramotis (where you can see the sea to the
east and the west, an amazing coincidence in the middle of Naxos!) you have to
options:
Before I
talk about your options I have to say this, there is a village here and its
called Keramoti, its small, down the valley, strange, the people –I hear- are
not that friendly but they are not going to throw you stones, so just take a
walk around. I am not sure if the village has a restaurant but I was there for
a wedding when I was a kid and I keep good memories! As a matter of fact, I
just learned that there is a restaurant now in Keramoti!
Now, back
to our options: option number one is continue on the main road to Apiranthos.
People say that there are good restaurants in Apiranthos. Maybe, but expensive
and touristic. I would go to Apiranthos after I had eaten fish to the coast
settlement of Apiranthos, Moutsouna (13 km down the weirdest road in all
Naxos). Dihty restaurant and the other one right next to it (near the harbor of
Moutsouna), are the best fish restaurants in Naxos, for fresh fish, lobsters
etc. Plus, on the way from Apiranthos to
Moutsouna you can see the old air vagons that were taking the emery for the
mountains of Koronos to the port of Moutsouna.
People say that there is a good restaurant in one of the coastal
settlements of Apiranthos, like in Psili Ammos (with a beautiful beach) but I
have never tried. On the way back you can stop at Apiranthos, around
18.00-20.00 for a coffee, sweet or ice cream, for a visit to the archaeological
museum (a real discovery for the size of the village), the other, less
important museums, and a walk around the village, maybe the most beautiful in
Naxos. Note: Panormos is a small coastal settlement 30 km from Moutsouna, its
hard to get there, and harder to come back but if I were you, I would visit.
There are stories that once upon a time there was an island opposite to
Panormos that was called Delos! An island that sunk or… moved where Delos is
today. Also in Panormos there are the ruins of a pro-historic
settlement/fortress (Korfari Amygdalion
2400-2200 BC)
If you do
not stop in Apiranthos or go down to Moutsouna, if you are in a real
adventurous mood, on the way from Apiranthos to Filoti there is a crossroad to
take you to Danakos, a real discovery as it concerns Naxos. Here, you must eat
fried sukini at Giorgos restaurant, or rabbit or whatever he offers and you
must meet this old man, one of the remaining symbols of an island that is changing rapidly. Beyond
that you must see the spring and the tree. I wouldn’t want to miss that! There are
many cute places in Danakos but I never tried them since I always eat at
Giorgos. From Danakos, there is a difficult road that will take you close to
Psili Ammos (the one you can also visit from Moutsouna) but I wouldn’t suggest
it for normal cars. From Danakos and if you like hiking, you can leave your car
near by and walk (45 minutes) to the cave of Zas which apparently is n the Zas
mountain right over Danakos. If you don’t like walking you can also just see
the pictures. On the other hand Zas came here to hide from his father and here an eagle gave
him the weapon of thunder to start the war between the Titans and the Gods.
Plus, it is proven that peope were finding refuge in this cave since 5.000 BC.
Next
village, from Apiranthos and on the way to Naxos and if we assume that you
skipped Danakos or another day perhaps, you will meet Filoti, the biggest
village of the mountain Naxos. I never ate here but I walked around in between
old and modern houses, please do not forget that this village is alive even in
winter time and the main production of meat and cheese come from here. The next
village is Tragea or Chalki, the old capital of the mountain Naxos (Drymalia).
There is a distillery here that produces Naxian spirits and surely you want to
visit this one. There are so many ancient churches in the area of Tragea that
they call it little Mystras. Visit some of them, you might take an idea of the
development of the Greek architecture. The olive trees in this area, at least
some of them, are more than 2.500 years old and that is amazing.
Now you are
in Tragea (Chalkio) on your way to Naxos town but some people would say you
took the wrong turn at the crossroad of Stavros Keramotis. That take us to
option number 2. If you just turned right, instead of visiting Keramoti or
Apiranthos, you would find your way to Moni, another strange and isolated
village but more friendly and really beautiful to see with a nice restaurant in
a bad location. Nevertheless I recommend it since my friend Stuart Thorpe
vouches for it and although he is British, he can appreciate that quality of
Greek food after so many years in Naxos.
Ok, this
next tip came from a Greek family but I have never tried any restaurants in
Potamia, the one they recommend is at Ano Potamia its called Pigi and its
famous for the rooster in red sauce. Judging from the restaurant they preferred
here, In Apollon, I am not so sure about the accuracy of these informations.
Anyway, if you want to go to Ano potamia and try the rooster you must turn
right in Tragea (Chalki) instead of continuing on the main road to Naxos Town.
From Ano
Potamia the road will take you to Flerio, a zone with many archaic findings, a
couple of unfinished Kouros, the temple of Aloades and a female goddess, the
spring that provided the archaic Naxos town with water!!! and many more (a
place worth seeing) you will meet another interesting restaurant in a village
called Kourounochori. He is a shepherd, he is called Mousatos and they say that
his restaurant, although primitive, has the most fantastic meat and vegetable
from his garden in strangely cheap prices. You see, it’s all about the
personality of the owner.
If, while
you were in Tragea (Chalki) you didn’t turn towards Potamia but you continued
on the main road you better turn left towards Sangri because there stands the
half restored archaic temple of Demetra and Apollonas. If you do not visit the
fantastic temple, a prototype for Acropolis and the free museum, if you don’t
stand there admiring the location of it, you must be punished. By the way, near
by the airport, you can see a few remains of the temple of Dionysos, in Yria
Naxos, and you know surely he was the protector god of this island, and also
you must know that the kouros type Dionysos, standing on the hill right above
us, meant to stand at the entrance of this temple.
Now that
you have visited Kourounochori and saw Melanes from the other side of the hill,
maybe you should go down to Melanes and have a look around. Too many stairs, I
know, but this name stands here for more than 2.300 years.
Either you
come from the main road, either you come from Kourounochori and Melanes, you
finally reached Naxos town! If you don’t visit the archaeological museum and
the Kastro, I will punish you personally. On the roof of this museum lies the
most ancient Kouros ever found (around 675 BC), his body is 7 time the length
of his feet, his hair (vostryhoi) fall in the front and he is clearly daedalic,
so obviously early archaic. The collection of the 3rd millennium BC
artifacts of the Naxian archaeological museum is the largest in the world. The
Mycenaean pottery is worth seeing (with
the octopuses) left to the entrance there are the artifacts from the cave of
Zas.
Hey, I have
good news for you , there is a good restaurant in Naxos and it is called Irini,
very close to the Zas travel agency near the harbor. Irini is the name of the
daughter but the mother is cooking, a fantastic woman I might add.
I hope you
have enough food for a day because I am out of restaurants
Christos
Sideris
