MYKONOS

I spent the week before last in the wonderful island of Mykonos in Greece.  Myself and 22 friends headed there to celebrate a rather important birthday of one of my very best friends, Paul.

I was there for 4 days and 5 nights and I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a BLAST.  We all had so much fun…we ate, we drank, we laughed, we danced, it was just fantastic.  If I could have changed anything, I would have booked a holiday afterwards as I’m still exhausted from it.

The food in Mykonos was incredible but I didn’t even scratch the surface of all the wonderful looking restaurants we walked past every night.  I will definitely go back, albeit it in a rather calmer capacity, and once I’ve saved some money…it ain’t cheap out there!

The first night there, I didn’t land until 8pm so by the time I got changed, met my friends and had a couple of drinks, it was getting late. We headed into town to go to a few bars and needed something quick, cheap and filling to eat before embarking on what turned out to be a heavy night of drinking and dancing. One thing that surprised me about Mykonos was how many places specialised in crêpes. Paul guided me to a place he’d eaten in the night before which did fantastic crêpes. As we waited in the very long queue, we watched as the crêpes were made with lightning speed. I was so mesmerised by the making of them, by the time I got to the front of the queue, I hadn’t even thought about what I wanted in mine yet.  So I quickly listed some of my favourite ingredients and hoped they would work together in a crêpe. From what I can remember I got grilled aubergine, mushrooms, smoked ham, onion, feta and gorgonzola.  And my goodness, it worked! Every mouthful was beautiful. I think the addition of the gorgonzola really clinched it though. Having that melting into every bite was incredible. And it set me up for a great night out!

One of the most memorable meals of the trip was to Kiki’s Tavern next to Agios Sostis Beach. Paul and his husband Heath had eaten at Kiki’s on their last trip to Mykonos and had raved about it. As soon as I saw their photos of it I knew I had to eat there one day. So on the second day of our holiday, there I was, carefully and rather nervously navigating round the winding, narrow roads in a hire car with Paul guiding me via his GPS on his phone. After a couple of wrong turns, we finally made it to our destination. This is a place you really have to want to go to. Its not somewhere you just stumble upon. But my God it’s worth the trip.

Kiki’s don’t take bookings so be prepared for a wait. When we got there, there were about 30 people in front of us…

I was happy enough to wait in the sunshine, especially when we got a couple of copper pitchers of very good wine to help us while away the time.

After about an hour and a half, our table was finally free and we made our way into a little courtyard shaded by trees, the view out onto the sea is breathtaking.

Kiki’s specialises in serving fresh meat and fish, which they grill on a charcoal barbecue. When we sat down, we were handed menus and encouraged to have a look inside at their salads. Wow…we wanted them all! We ended up ordering 6 or 7 assorted salads…pasta salad, Greek salad, potato salad (one of the best I’ve ever tasted), white bean salad, sweetcorn salad…

Everything tasted so fresh and delicious. In fact, by the time we were through with the bread and the salads, we were already starting to feel full and I was starting to regret ordering chicken AND the mushrooms.  But I couldn’t help myself, look how amazing these mushrooms are…

We ordered across the menu…I got the chicken thigh which was incredible. Chargrilled to perfection, it was tender and juicy, probably the best piece of chicken I’ve ever tasted.

The mushrooms were meaty and earthy and paired with some of Heath’s grilled feta, it was like a taste explosion in my mouth.

Lisa ordered the grilled swordfish and was presented with two large steaks plus more salad! Stuart went for the octopus, Paul and Vitor got the pork and Paul went for the chicken breast stuffed with feta and sun-dried tomatoes…

As I looked around the table at my friends looking relaxed and happy in the sun, eating terrific tasting food and drinking beautiful wine, a blue sky and a turquoise sea providing a stunning backdrop, I felt very, very happy. There is something special about Kiki’s and we have all said since we’ve been home that that was the best day and meal we had in Mykonos.  The staff were so friendly and we were not rushed off our table, even though there was still a queue outside. It really is worth going to if you are planning to go to Mykonos anytime soon. Hire a car or get a taxi, be prepared for a wait, oh and they don’t have any electricity so they only stay open while it’s light outside. But please, PLEASE do go. I promise it will be worth it.

The next day, Lisa and I headed down to Little Venice, the waterfront area of Mykonos Town for a quick bite to eat. We didn’t want anything big and fancy, just a few small dishes to have with some wine as we watched the sun setting. We were lucky enough to discover these incredible courgette fritters served with sour cream, which we had with (yet another) Greek salad and some tzatziki.

The courgette fritters were amazing. Light and crispy on the outside and bursting with fresh courgettes on the inside. We really should have ordered another plate of them as I couldn’t stop thinking about them afterwards. I also had baked aubergine topped with tomatoes, peppers and spring onion, loads of feta and then even more cheese.  Amazing.

All this incredible food was accompanied by yet another of Mykonos’ breathtaking sunsets…

Other food highlights of my trip were…..giant tubs of Nutella….

Bugles! (Why can’t we get Bugles in the UK?! They’re amazing)…

And Smirnoff North, a really lovely smooth vodka flavoured with rare Nordic Berries. It tastes very sweet, almost like a sugar syrup, and the barman at our hotel devised an amazing cocktail with it. Almost like a mojito but a lot better, a lot smoother, and not so overly sweet. Only problem is, I couldn’t find it in duty free on my way home and I haven’t been able to find it in any shops since I’ve been back. I really need to do a proper hunt for it as it was delicious.

There was a lot more that happened in Mykonos, but a lot of my photos didn’t turn out very well, and a few details are rather muddied by cocktails, so I’ll leave it there. I will definitely be going back again, next time I’ll probably go back in September which I hear is the best month to visit. The sea has warmed up, the wind has died down and its a bit more relaxed. If you have been before and you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them. And if you haven’t been and you are planning on going, please add Kiki’s to your list.