Ios - Katogi

After travelling for a month we had eaten more incredible meals than I could count (at the expense of my waistline), but this particular dinner, our last one the Greek island of Ios, was especially important because it was Allie’s birthday. Of course a fabulous meal was in order and after some pestering of the locals for recommendations we chose Katogi; a tapas style restaurant in town.

Now on the tiny white walled streets of Ios it is one thing to know where a place is on a map and a whole different thing actually getting there. But, after a few loops and some vague directions we finally arrived at Katogi- cleverly hidden among the uniform white buildings and distinguishable only by a colourful chalkboard sign.

Katogi is a charmingly eclectic restaurant full of knick-knacks and fabulously kitsch decorations. The restaurant was bathed in a pink light, illuminating what would usually be stark walls in a warm glow. For those in New Zealand the atmosphere was somewhere between Mexico and Coco’s Cantina, with the quirky-chic waitresses topping it off.

We started of with blueberry bramble cocktails, a delicious gin and jam concoction that we greedily gulped down. Unlike many of the menus we had come across in our travels, which seemed over-eager to cater to every taste with pages and pages full of overwhelming options, Katogi’s simple menu meant we could order (what felt like) almost every dish.

We started with a spicy feta dip with pita bread, and fried smoked cheese, adding to the already alarmingly large amount of cheese we had consumed on the trip so far. The fried smoked cheese was as good as it sounds; surrounded by crunchy cornflakes on the outside and gooey soft and smokey on the inside.

Almost as soon as the last mouthful of cheese had gone the next dishes arrived: slow cooked beef tortilla cones, and pear and cheese ravioli with a dill and carrot sauce. ‘pear and cheese pasta???’ I hear you think – but trust me it was sweet, savoury and just-so-good.

The feast continued with a bowl of chickpeas stewed in tomato and basil, tender grilled lamb morsels, and a grilled sausage dish to remind us of the food back home. The food was coming fast and we could barely keep up as our poor stomachs tried to manage the onslaught.

When we thought we were almost defeated the king prawn saganaki arrived; a dish we had grown to love on our trip through Greece (almost as much as fried cheese). Shrimp saganaki is a genius dish with a spicy tomato sauce dotted with hunks of salty feta surrounding the prawns, and this one had an extra hint of aniseed to top it off.

After we had eaten through every dish and drunk a few jugs of sangria we were almost ready to navigate our way through the confusing streets home, but before we had a chance to leave the waiters rushed toward us in a chorus of happy birthday, and a round (or two…) of delicious warmed shots to celebrate. Much better than cake.

We finally left happy, full and buzzing about one of the best meals we had eaten on our trip.

Santorini

A few days ago we arrived in Santorini to a sea of blue and white buildings hanging off the high cliffs. The island is dotted with small towns which we explored in our rented Jeep,  quickly falling in tune with the 'relaxed' Greek driving rules as we made our way around the barren roads to the picturesque town of Oia.

We arrived down at the old port of Ammoudi, where a collection of seafood restaurants and boats lie in a bay at the bottom of a long winding marble stepped road up to Oia. 

For some people it's the sight of a sunset or a beautiful seascape that takes their breath away; for me there is nothing better than a line up of restaurants calling my name.

Our restaurant of choice was the Red Shark and Lobster, where we sat under the cool umbrellas hiding from the scorching sun. We were all weary from a few too many cocktails the night before, so slowly sipped our beers, eventually coming back to life.

We were presented with the day's fresh fish, and choose sea bass to share. To start we had grilled haloumi (which is one of my all time favourite dishes), delicious grilled lemony octopus and tuna salad.

When the fish arrived a space was cleared and our waiter set to carefully filleting it, leaving us in hungry suspense. It was worth the wait; the freshly grilled fish was charred, tasty, and perfectly cooked.

After filling up we wandered down to the pier where we lazed in the sun and dipped into the crystal clear water. By this stage any weariness was long forgotten as the Greek sun beat down on us.

As we lay on the pier where Lena and Kostas first met (excuse me those who have no idea what I'm on about here), we looked up at the town above, contemplating our journey. With full stomachs and midday heat the decision was easy- we would bypass the walk and hitch a ride up on donkeys.

  

We hopped off at the top of the steps, feeling only slightly guilty as people huffed and puffed their way up in sensible walking shoes and backpacks. 

Oia is beautiful in the kind of postcard perfect way, a place were you stand gazing at a blue rooftop wondering how the colour could be so perfect, and where light carries itself through the white cobbled streets in a beautiful pink hue.

We wandered around until we lost ourself in a maze of tiny streets where shops sold beautiful jewellery and white linen dresses. We dodged the tides of tour groups and found ourselves on the other side of town, until eventually we weaved our way back and walked down the steps to the port.

After a long day of restaurant hunting and donkey riding we eventually returned to the town of Fira (rental car intact), where we sat with a glass of wine watching the sunset- which I'll admit looked a lot better than any restuarant.