Where to eat in Nafplio - the 11 best restaurants
1. Pidalio
More about Nafplio:
It may be located outside the touristy Nafplio and may not have an impressive appearance, but it is the most top and award-winning restaurant in the city. It offers traditional dishes with modern touches without being overly complicated, all made with passion, quality and fresh ingredients. The specialties are the traditional gyoza with trahana, the barley roti with shrimp and the octopus with eggplant puree. The meats are so well-cooked and juicy that they melt in the mouth while the potatoes have absorbed the flavours of the spices. It is no coincidence that it has the best rating in all online guides.
Below is a list of the hotels I recommend you to stay at:
- (€€) Ilion Suites (⭐ 9.1) I consider it one of the top stay options both for the interiors that refer to the 19th century when Nafplio was the capital and because it is near the city center
- (€€€) 3 Sixty Hotel & Suites (⭐ 9.3) the most luxurious stay option in the city in a central location with top-notch amenities
- (€€€) Ippoliti Hotel (⭐ 9.2) luxury of another era in the harbour of Nafplio with a view of Bourtzi
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2. Stavlos
In the new town of Nafplio is the best destination for well-cooked meats in the city. Everything is grilled on a charcoal grill or on a spit, but Stavlos does not only emphasize the meat but also all the accompaniments. The meats are of course local and the dishes are remarkable without exception. For example, I mention mutton sausage, mutton ribs, pork kontosouvli, kokoretsi, variety, gogges, sausage stuffed with cheese, mutton burger and spalobrizola. It is in a traditional stone building with a fireplace, a warm space for the winter and has a very nice courtyard for the summer.
3. I Gonia tou Kavalari
Like an old tavern with well-cooked appetizers for friends of tsipouro, wine and rebetiko music. Main dishes specialties are the handmade kontosouvli and Kavalari's pancetta with black daphne drink, while appetizers include pastourmadopita, eggplant roll and stuffed fig. Also the feta in phyllo crust with honey and sesame is rather tasty. It is located in a central location with a lot of traffic on Amalias Avenue.
4. Valaora
It started from the Anthemion suites but due to its success it became independent. It is now located in an idyllic location overlooking the Argolic gulf and Bourtzi in a prime position for the sunset. The menu is very greek, full of sea and land, octopus, squid, mussels but also rooster, lamb, all of this with gourmet doses without losing their character and taste. The ceviche of fish of the day is an explosion of flavor but the crayfish ravioli together with the veal carpaccio are also excellent. It is undoubtedly the best fine dining restaurant in the city.
5. Bounos Psarosavouras
A fairly prominent fish tavern, not because of marketing, but because it is renowned as the best in town. Its trademark is the fish display case where you can choose with the help of the waiters what you will eat. It offers a wide variety of fresh fish, all of which are excellently cooked. The fish soup is as it should be, the grilled octopus is awesome, the grilled crayfish are juicy, the sea urchin is fresh. Other specialties are the swordfish souvlaki and the crayfish spaghetti. You will find it in the harbour, of course, where the sea air smells.
6. Menta
Another surprise just outside old Nafplio. Taking advantage of ingredients from traditional greek cuisine and various regions of the country, they create wonderful combinations with flavours that remain traditional but with modern ideas. Visit it to eat small greek dishes with quality ingredients. Specialties are the pasta with Mani's syglino, the roasted beef liver and the buffalo kebab. The salad with stramnagathi - apaki - pomegranate also stands out.
7. Zournal
In the suburb of Pronoia is one of the top choices in the city for delicious mezedes. Here you don't focus on a main course but on various small dishes, all delicious and homemade. The specialties are steaks, calf's liver, gogges with melted butter and mizithra and french fries with gruyere. The zournal salad is also delicious.
8. I Folia
For traditional food at the harbour and very good flavours in meat and seafood. Specialties are the gogges carbonara, the seafood giouvetsi and the kontosouvli. The appetizers are also delicious with the top being the feta cheese with honey. The folia salad is a feast of flavours.
9. Aiolos
In the cobbled alleys in a picturesque spot with beautiful bougainvillea you will find the traditional tavern Aiolos. The menu is uncommon, written by hand on a A4 piece of paper, but this does not mean that the food is sloppy. It offers a wide variety of dishes in stews, meat and seafood. Specialties from the main courses are the goat bogana, a traditional dish of Argolida, and the sirloin with sweet potato puree. The spreads are also delicious. Among the appetizers the traditional Nafplio pie and the bougiourdi stand out.
10. Wild Duck
At first glance, it is a small restaurant in the harbour but that does not mean that it lacks in flavours. It is a fine dining restaurant with a few and very carefully prepared dishes that make you curious to try them. The cheeses are from their cheese factory and the vegetables from their farm. A very successful combination of dishes is the duck fillet with carrot puree, the saffron spaghetti with raw shrimp and salmon roe, the potato salad with shrimp and the risotto with spinach pesto. For salad I recommend a green one with prosciutto and parmesan.
10. Kellari
At the harbour for delicious traditional dishes of meat, appetizers and seafood. Specialties include beef giouvetsi, beef steak, lagman with Mani's syglino and caramelized pancetta. Also very nice is the yogurt kebab and the Kellari salad with grilled vegetables.
11. T' Alonia
In Pyrgiotika village just 10 - 15 minutes outside of Nafplio, an authentic village tavern for meat lovers. Everything homemade, nothing to do with touristy, it is worth visiting for the well-cooked meats, the hearty portions and the very good quality of the ingredients. Here everything goes through the grill. It is considered the top tavern outside of Nafplio. My favorite dish is the variety with the delicious sauce which you have to be a really strong fork to finish. Excellent dishes are also the wild boar souvlaki, the ribs and the gogges.
