Makis (Taverna Ό MAKIS) — Restaurant in Municipality of Milopotamos

The most memorable meal of our holiday by far. We were warmly welcomed into this family taverna as a large group of 10, including 3 children. The owners placed a table for us, which is in a beautiful spot in the pedestrian lane (pedestrian only in the evening) under the bourgainvilla. The atmosphere was lovely, and as the sun set the swallows flew over us to roost in their favourite spot above our table.

We were invited into the kitchen and shown all the dishes that day - what a brilliant way to order and it made the children try dishes they wouldn’t have chosen if they were reading from a menu (they will bring you a written menu with price list if you request, but the prices are more than reasonable and we were happy to order without seeing the prices!).

We ordered a large selection of dishes to share as appetisers and everything was delicious. We chose the mushrooms, stuffed zucchini flowers, roasted vegetables/vegetable stew among other things.

Our group ordered a variety of main dishes, including souvlaki, grilled tuna, lamb stew (which comes with choice of rice, spaghetti or chips), meatballs.

We ordered lots of jugs of the house rose wine which was also excellent, so much so we asked for our water bottles to be filled with it to take away. At the end of our meal we were served delicious homemade honey cake with ouzo.

The service was excellent, fast but not rushed and the family all made a point of coming to speak with us. They asked us about our favourite Greek food and when we told them we liked moussaka and kleftiko they offered to make it for us if we let them know when we’d like to return.

We returned the next night! And had an equally excellent meal, 5 of our group had the kleftiko (we also ordered the moussaka to share and try, it was one of the best ever) plus there were huge steaks available which a couple of our group ordered.

The taverna is opposite a bakery which serves ice creams as well as traditional pastries and breads, which was perfect for the children in our group who always have room for something sweet no matter how much they eat in their meal!

If you are staying in or visiting Panormos you must...

Delicious, traditional, entertaining, wonderful.

This traditional taverna is run by the relaxed and charismatic Makis and can be found in the heart of Panormo, just look out for the cascade of beautiful pink flowers from the tree the owner planted 38 years ago when he first opened this local dining gem.

I visited to this local taverna with a group of friends whilst staying in Panormo for two weeks in July 2017.

It was a real joy to experience an "old school" style tarverna where you are provided with bread and slightly spicy dip, which made a tasty change to the usual tzatziki.

Something you need to be prepared for THERE IS NO MENU, as I say this is a traditional taverna, and instead you are shown into the kitchen to look at what you is on the ever changing menu.

In the oven we were shown a selection of scrumptious looking starters including tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice that were absolutely delicious.

Over to the fridges and you could choose from a of meat including ginormous beef steaks and pork chops as well as a choice of two different types of fish and also some vegetarian options. I had the fish (see picture) and it was exceptional. I also sampled my friends chicken souvlaki, this was the BEST souvlaki I had ever had with exquisite, succulent chicken (again check the photo).

After all the mouthwatering food had been consumed Maxis joined us for a chat and a drink of raki, a national drink made from grape pumice being distilled twice. Maxis' cared that we had enjoyed our food and enjoyed his taverna but was also interested where we had come from and where we were going in life, this was a lovely touch and really made us feel welcome.

We were soon joined by a local dutch friend of Maxis' who proceeded to have a go on Maxis' guitar and an impromptu sing along occurred which was unexpected but great fun.

THIS IS A MUST VISIT PLACE and the longevity and success speaks wonders of the hospitality you experience and the food you enjoy.

Still don't believe me? Then read the review from The Telegraph (see photo) that is proudly on show inside...

Literally heaven on a plate!!! A total gem of a restaurant serving some of the best food we have ever had! First, the menu. No written menus here. We were taken through and shown the actual food choices available that night. We were sold before we’d left the kitchen area. We started with stuffed peppers and mushrooms. Divine! Greek salad. Again divine. Local bread and the most amazing chilli spread. Mains: sea bass that was off the scale amazing - I’ve had lots of sea bass over the years but this topped them all. A whole new level of flavour. My daughter and husband had the mousakka - they said they can’t have it anywhere else as it simply would never be this good again. My son had a pork chop - beautifully cooked and he loved every mouthful. What’s also just wonderful is the family that runs this restaurant- multi generational and all working hard to cook the most delicious food we’ve ever tasted in a friendly, comfortable and quite frankly stunning location. If we could pick this restaurant up and take it home we would. Stunning in every single way. A...