Alkionis - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K           

Maria & Kevin are the English couple who have taken over Managing this establishment.  Their hospitality is second to none.  As you enter, Smoking Dining area is to the left, Non-Smoking to the right.  On the left to the rear is a Family Dining area with a play area beyond.  This is a WHEELCHAIR FRIENDLY Restaurant.  We used this place on two separate occasions having eaten Roast Beef in a garlic gravy, Beef Stifado & Chicken, Bacon & Mushroom in Filo Pastry, ALL dishes were presented excellently.  For Dessert we had the 5 different Ice Cream with Squirty Cream on top & Chocolate Sauce, also there is the Greek Yoghurt with Fruit Salad(7 or 8 different fruits) & Honey, a sweet to die for.  Fancy a cocktail?  How about the ORGASM(Vodka, Baileys & Kahlua) !!  Even if you only visit Maria & Kevin once during your Holiday, you will be pleased you did.  Wishing Alkyonis Tavern every success for this Summer, may you have many bums on seats.  Greetings come to you from Peterborough, look forward to repeating the experience in the future.

Grapevines Hotel - (Accommodation in Alykanas)

Les K           

 Returned yesterday, 29th, after having spent a fortnight here, our first time on the island.  Enjoyed every single minute of it.  For this year there is a new couple Managing the place, Christin & George, they look after the Bar during the evenings.  During the day is a guy called PAUL, a super person, he is warm & friendly to all his guests.  We hit it off with him as soon as our bags were unpacked & remained firm friends throughout.  Anyone coming to these Apartments for the first time, you don't need to bring a kettle & mugs as they are provided !!!!  As for the Cleaning Lady, we concur/add to Mikes comments that she does an excellent job, perhaps a little OVER zealous if anything.  ANY clothes laying on the floor, she picks up, folds up & places on the bed.  She is VERY partricular about emptying the kettle, so only put in there what you need, don't make the mistake of refilling it like we did, in readiness for a brew later in the day because it won't be there !!  ALL food purchased here is presented to perfection.  PAUL is a Qualified Chef, Christins cooking is also excellent.  At lunchtime try the Chefs Salad(one between two people), on a couple of days we had a special pizza with this, ALL is freshly prepared & looks too good to eat when served.  There are two Blackboards, one has a list of Greek Specialities served on designated days of the week Friday to Wednesday(be warned, the Stifado is RABBIT), you order these the day before.  Thursday is B.B.Q. Night, there is a choice of Steak, Souvlaki or Sausages, again, you order the day before, cost E7.50, this includes a pint of beer, ladies can opt for wine.  A night NOT to be missed.  Paul did the cooking when we went & George did it on 26th May(we were unable to attend this one due to coming back from Kefalonia but the report from those who did attend was excellent).  The other Blackboard shows what MAIN dishes are available daily.  There is also a Snack Menu on the Bar.  Be warned, bottles of Milkshake cost E3 here but over at Dannys Supermarket they are E1 !!

Dionisos - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K           

  Ate here on first night & had a good meal.  After this, whenever we walked by, the waiters always acknowledged us.  This is a long established, Family run Restaurant, you will find it next to Alkyonis Taverna, town side of Busters Bar.  Only ate here the once due to having acquired a list of Restaurants to try from Just Zante.com.  In Alykanas, you can eat in a different Restaurant every night for a fortnight & still not get round them all !!

Greedy Greek - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K  (30 May 2005)         

  This is first place we tried a starter, had Garlic Bread with Cheese, really nice.  For main course i had Kleftico Lamb, again no complaints & so for my experience give it 10/10.

Katerinas Kitchen - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K  (30 May 2005)         

Was recommended to eat here.  On two separate occasions, we walked past & were pestered by a VERY pushy Greek Doorman hence to say we didn't bother returning & the Restaurant lost our custom to someone else.

Mantelena Restaurant - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K           

Was here on 27th May & had an excellent meal.  To confirm the previous report, the people were friendly & meal was cooked to perfection though afterwards we weren't asked if we enjoyed our meal but that is all by the by & irrelevant.  Loved the Ouzo as well !!

La Caretta - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K           

  Keith is usually on the door & guides you to your seat & provides you with a Menu.  Our waiter was John, an attentive man.  The wife had Chicken with spicy tomato sauce of which she enjoyed very much.  I had the Mixed Grill but sad to say didn't rate it very much.  There is a new Chef here this year & he has got a thing about decorating the edge of the plates, mind you they are big & the portions are quite large !!  Well worth trying this place.

Poseidon - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K  (30 May 2005)         

Had a meal in here on 18th May.  Can't remember what we had but certainly had no cause for complaint, would certainly make this Restaurant a point of call should we return to Alykanas.  Try it, if you don't like it, move on !!

Romanza - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K  (30 May 2005)         

To get here, walk down the road beside the Greedy Greek, it eventually comes up on the left.  A warm welcome awaits you here.  A free carafe of wine with your meal.  Yet again another top quality meal 10/10.  Was recommended to come here & pleased we did, it was also on my list i got from the internet.

Psarapoula Lemon Tree - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K           

   The thing to remember about this Restaurant is that it specialises in FISH Dishes therefore, we got mixed reports.  We had walked passed this place earlier in the day & thought what a beautiful place it was.  So we decided to give it a go & tried the Mixed Souvlaki, the Meat was nothing special & the Roast Potatoes were burnt.  The Staff weren't as friendly as those in the Restaurants in the Main Town.

Apollo - (Restaurants in Alykanas)

Les K  (30 May 2005)         

  We didn't have a meal here BUT across the road & owned by APOLLO is the STONEBRIDGE CAFE, new for this year.  Called in here for a snack whilst out shopping & had Jacket Potatoes, the wife having Cheese & Salad whilst i had Cheese & Baked Beans.  The potatoes were cooked to perfection, this is not the only thing they do as it is a Delicatessen as well.  As for the APOLLO, we heard very good reports about its cuisine.

Paradosiako - (Restaurants in Alykes)

Les K           

Come here in the week as it is a popular location for weddings at weekends.  Garlic Bread with Cheese is simply the best, you only need one between two people as it comes on a large Baguette, rather filling !!  Stuffed Pork was on the Special Menu at E5 (about £3.60p !!), the meat was cooked so well it fell to pieces.  It was WELL worth the walk from Alykanas, certainly the cheapest meal we had during our two week stay.

Day trip to Olympia - (Zante Excursions)

Les K           

Gwyneth, we totally agree with your comment, we visited on 23rd.  On our return to Zante, we learnt that we could have gone back into the Museum even after visiting the Restaurant (of which we felt had poor selection on the menu, we ended up going to a snack bar in the town).  We only got 10 mins Freetime in the Museum, we really needed more, even so, we DID learn a lot.  We found the shops to be rather on the expensive side & would rather have had more time in the Ancient Site.  After all, it was SUPPOSED to be a Cultural NOT Shopping Trip !! Anyone reading this, we sincerely hope it prepares you better for when you go.

Weekend trip to Athens by coach - (Zante Excursions)

Les K           

Booked with Heidi at Dionisos Tours/TEZ in Alykanas & travelled on 20th.  Our Tour Guide was Costas, he is simply the best.  His name had cropped up when checking out about this trip on the internet, he does the weekend trip only.   As with Gwyneth in the previous report, we stayed in a Posh Hotel (Museum Hotel).  Costas picked us up from here at 6pm to take us to a couple of archaelogical sites before letting us wander around the old part.  At 9pm, those of us who wanted to go to the Greek Night with Costas, did so & had a FAB time, it was well worth the E26 we paid.  For this money there was a Band, a Male & Female singer, Belly Dancer & a Troupe of 6 Professional Dancers who performed Dances from different parts of Greece in the Native Costume of that particular area.  A Bottle of Wine & a 4 Course Meal.  Next day, up at 6am, breakfast 6.45 - 7.20am, spoilt for choice with the selection of food on offer.   Saw changing of Guard at 8am then off to the Acropolis for 8.45am.  Departed Athens 10.30am.  There was not an awful lot of hard walking so to speak.  If you get the chance, DO IT !!!!

Alykes Tourist Train - (Zante Excursions)

Les K           

  Went on the Train on 25th May & thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We also did the Greek Night on 28th, which was WELL worth the E20 each we paid.  Going home was a riot as most of us were rather merry, as we went passed the Bars & Restaurants the people must have thought we were crazy.  Thanks to Dee & Avril, would love to repeat the experience at a future date.

Day trip to Kefalonia - (Zante Excursions)

Les K           

Hi Claire, hope you get to read this.  Dionisos Tours & TEZ do this excursion.  Because of limitation of time, (governed by the Ferry), also, the island is very Mountainous with a lot of hairpin bends which adds to the journey time between locations.  You would probably do better to Book a weeks holiday on this island.  We missed out on going to Fiskardo & Lixouri.  Places we visited were the Monastery, the Caves(very spectacular) & the underground Lake which was a magical experience.  After lunch we viewed Murta Beach from a Mountain(photo stop), then proceded for some Freetime in Argostoli before returning to the Ferry.  What we did was worth the money we paid.  Thanks to Heidi & Mel at Dionisos Tours, Alykanas.

Grapevines Hotel - (Accommodation in Alykanas)

Les K           

Just to confirm what has been said about these Apartments now going under Sunstart.  They are now on the Sunstart website but you will have to,"rattle", through a fair few Apartments before you get there, something like 20 !!  Well worth it when you get there.  We stayed at these Apartments back in May, see report.