Manolis Tastes — Restaurant in Lipsi Municipality

Every Greek island holds a gem and Lipsi is no exception. Indeed we discovered its gourmet facet with restaurant Manoli's Tastes whose chef enjoys to personally welcome the navigators in stopover, at the foot of their boat, to present the menu and the culinary specialties of his restaurant located a flight of stairs up in the village. He is a very friendly guy who, with great humility - he is a recognized leader in his profession, a gold medal winner after all - can tell us about his efforts to use local ingredients and maintain a culinary tradition.

Up we went ! On an open-air terrace from where we could watch the lunar eclipse while in a soft atmosphere of Greek music (fortunately because elsewhere sometimes we couldn't hear each other speak at the table!).

As a start, we opted for pouches and spring rolls stuffed with cheese or shrimp. With a refined taste, they testify to a cuisine that knows how to take influences from the Far East without losing sight of its authenticity. Then, like any sailor eager to wake up the taste buds, I savoured the octopus and its mashed Santorini beans, drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar while my alter ego was brought seafood liguini crowned with prawns.

Honey look at the moon ! 🌔

In the end, we paid fifty euros: a reasonable bill for the two of us tasting a greek cuisine of this quality. I’m also grateful that the chef hasn’t forgotten the sailor on a budget with his range of gyro...

What can I say!? Absolutely the best restaurant in the Greek islands. And I say this after having visited at least 28 islands… We have eaten at places in Athens that are very nice - this easily ranks with the best, but at prices half (and portions twice the size) of Athens! We were here two nights in a row in 2022, and were really looking forward to dining here again tonight. If possible, even better than before (no, not possible… Just as fantastic as in 2022)!! We booked our table yesterday, as we walked past and it was very busy. Today was many people but not full, it had to do with when the guests arrive on the ferry. This was lucky for us, our (fantastic, knowledgeable, young) waiter Thanos had time to not just recommend the wonderful food but also talk to us about Greece. Fun fact: Thanos (his first year here) recommended a red wine (Merlot, from Drama area) where he had even worked at the winery. Once we drink it, I check it on Vivino - turns out it is the SAME wine we had in 2022! (New vintage of course.) Anyways - we cannot recommend this restaurant enough - a must to visit not just when you are on Lipsi - worth an extra ferry ride...

The starter was excellent. Fava with a crust and warm small bread buns.

Unfortunately all good ended with starter. We ordered chicken filet in mustard and honey sauce. We got half plate of pommes frites and oversalted sauce with meat. The taste was exclusivly of salt and mustard without honey.

The second dish was worse. Tortellini in tomatoe sauce with basil was almost only sauce with five tortellini that was so oversalted and over acidic that we still have pain in tongue. The aftertaste of such strong salt is still in our mouth. We have drank whole bottle of water but I guess we will drink all night. We should have returned the food but I didn't want to make a scene.

On top of that everybody got panna cota and we haven't. It would have helped to kill the salt in the food.

This was one of the worst food experiences on our travel over Greece and from the previous reviewer I see oversalting is a problem at this place. And Greek tomatoes are so juicy, gentle in taste with fresh basil it could be so good food......