Massive thanks to my mum and dad for another generous blog post with great pictures and writing. take it away ma and pa!
This holiday break was in part celebration of our ruby wedding anniversary which was actually at the end of May 2022. We chose to stay in a hotel in Corfu town, the Mayor Mon Repos Palace hotel, at Iasonas ke Sosipatrou. A lovely location with sea views, with the advantage of being an easy, pleasant walk round the bay to reach the bustling town centre, with museums, historic fortresses and ports. Corfu town has a plethora of cafes and restaurants along the coast line, the parks and within the narrow streets and squares of the “old town”.
We had used the Happy Cow website to check availability of vegan choices in Corfu town, so intially checked out some of the listings mentioned that sounded of interest to us. Although Happy Cow is undoubtedly a good resource, we have found some inaccuracies in the information. The main discrepancy, for us, being a pizza restaurant listed as having vegan pizza with vegan cheese. There are plenty of pizza restaurants offering vegan pizza options, but of all the menus we checked in our wanderings around the town, this was by virtue of omitting any cheese. For me, a pizza just has to have [vegan] cheese.
Cafe bars offering a variety of coffees and other drinks, are in abundance in Corfu town. We opted to have drinks without any milk, with the exception of trying a soya cappuccino at the Aubergine cafe, Kapodistriou, a vegetarian cafe with several plant milk choices. I quite agree with reviews on Happy Cow, that the Aubergine cafe is expensive and limited in vegan food options.
A Happy Cow listing that I was particularly looking forward to trying, was the patisserie, on Nikiforou Theotoki, with promises of vegan baklava. This proved to be incredibly disappointing, lacking in the flavours that I vividly remember from previous Greek holidays. This patisserie is linked to one nearer our hotel location, on the busy Vlachernon road. Here we enjoyed espresso coffee and I sampled a vegan biscuit with the traditional kumquat jam. The shop also offers a vast range of ice cream flavours, about 5 of which are vegan. K chose limencello icecream and I had strawberry and dark chocolate scoops. No vegan waffle cones, so it was icecream in a tub.
That’s the main gripes out of the way…
Note: Some Covid 19 regulations were still advised during the time of this holiday, including wearing face coverings in certain areas; and cafes and restaurants had hand sanitiser gels/ sprays on each table, for customer use.
The menus at the majority of eating places in Corfu town did not list allergens, or suitably for various diets, so it was very much a case of reading descriptions of the dishes, and making enquiries with the staff, in order to ensure the food chosen was vegan. This was generally not a problem, staff were helpful, and menus usually had English translations. Most of the cafes and restaurants had outdoor seating, with limited numbers of indoor tables; there were pergolas, and parasols in accordance with the sunny climate. Many places were open long hours from morning/ breakfast, or lunchtime, until late night.
Our stay at the hotel included breakfast. This was a buffet style breakfast with foods generally labelled using a symbol for various allergens, some items had ingredients listed. I opted for fruit smoothie, fresh fruit – grapefruit, orange and apple slices with a dusting of cinnamon; and a mix of oats, sunflower seeds and dried fruit e.g. sultanas, currants, or dates, depending on availability that day. I had to request soya milk as an alternative to the dairy milk on display, but this was readily supplied. Rather limited in vegan options.
The Nautilus, Leof. Dimokratias, a restaurant with outdoor seating and a lovely seaside location, across the road from our hotel. Most of the vegan choices were listed as Appetizers, or Salads, on the menu; but it was simple to combine a few different items and share the dishes between the two of us for a substantial meal. We visited this cafe several times during our stay, due to its close proximity to our accommodation, as well as the menu options. Our favourite dishes included: Fava – a traditional dish made from split peas and served with capers, chopped tomato, and crispy onion – served beautifully presented. Tsigarella – another traditional dish, basically sauteed, mixed wild greens, cooked with paprika. This was a hotter, spicier version compared to other places we tried. Potato salad – served in a lemon, dill and spring onion sauce, a lovely combination of flavours. Aubergine dip and pitta. Kinoa salad – with rocket leaves, cherry tomatoes, radish, cranberries and sweet vinegar. All fresh, quality ingredients. No wonder it was popular with both locals and tourists.
Ektoras Taverna, Alkiviadou Dari, a short stroll from the hotel. The waiter helped us select a few vegan dishes to share for a delicious supper time meal: Grilled mushrooms – with a much more dense texture than the standard white mushroom we usually buy. Freshly toasted bread. Giant beans in tomato sauce – a traditional Greek dish, sometimes referred to as Elephant beans or Giant butter beans.
Starenio Bakery, Gkilford, one of the narrow streets of the old town. A bakery with outdoor seating. Various vegan options of savoury pies and desserts, which change day to day. We enjoyed trying a few different pies, including Mushroom pie; and Spinach and chickpea pie – may not be very photogenic, but all very tasty and delicious. The vegan kumquat cheesecake (made with tofu) was sweet and filling. Kumquat fruits are used to produce many traditional items in Corfu, including cake fillings, jams and liqueur.
Demetres Taverna, Alkiviadou Dari, another taverna, near the hotel, on one of the streets that takes you round the bay toward the town centre. Again, a member of staff was on hand with suggestions of dishes they could offer to us vegans. Wild rice with a rich tomato sauce – definitely a generous serving. A selection of grilled vegetables – aubergine, courgette, peppers and onion. Tsigarella – their version of the traditional cooked, mixed wild greens. A wholesome, satisfying meal with lots of rich flavours.
Bizou, Maniarizi Arlioti, within the narrow streets of the old town. An antiques shop, and small vegan cafe with a big menu. Closed from 3pm to 6pm, so we needed to time our wanderings to this part of town. Impressed with the menu choices, we enjoyed a couple of visits here. The menu is 100% vegan and includes a variety of vegan cheeses. Greek Roll – a vegan feta, Greek salad in a wrap. This had a wonderful combination of food textures – creamy vegan feta, fresh salad vegetables and crunchy olive mix. Hot bean burrito – melted vegan cheese slice, beans and mushrooms. Hummus baguette – with lettuce, tomato and paprika, the bread portion was huge. Vegan Tiramisu – with strawberry garnish, delicious.
Anemomylos, Leof. Dimokratias, beside the sea and the old windmill, literally across the road from our hotel; very handy for our post-breakfast espresso coffee. Also tried the local Ouzo, one afternoon, which was accompanied by a veganised mezze – olives and Koulouri. Even though it wasn’t the actual date of our ruby wedding anniversary, we designated an evening meal here as our special anniversary dinner. We chose to sit inside, upstairs to enjoy the extended views. The chef was very accommodating, agreeing to veganise some of the items on their menu (we had enquired about this earlier in the day). Mushroom Risotto – made with a trio of different mushrooms: porcini, portobello and champignon. Salad to share – included aubergines, olives, red onion and cherry tomatoes. All excellent and resulting in a truly memorable meal.
Two Brothers Taverna, Mitropolitou Athanasiou, by Garista Grove, a short walk along the bay from the Mayor Mon Repos hotel. We enjoyed a meal of Pasta with tomato; Grilled Oyster Mushrooms and Tsigarella – the waitress thought we would have sufficient with the three dishes to share. But as this was our main meal, we wished we had ordered a portion of the pasta each. The grilled mushrooms were very tasty, and have made me consider trying oyster mushrooms at home.
Lampadina Taverna, Dona, a narrow street near the old port. We originally sought out this street to find Tabule Rasa, only to see this was closed. Lampadina serves traditional cuisine, we had an enjoyable lunch, sharing a plate of kalamata olives – very fresh tasting; a bowl of Giant butter beans in tomato sauce; and a plate of pitta.
Tabule Rasa, Dona, (same street as the Lampadina taverna), but not open until 1pm or 2pm, so we had to plan our walk round to the old port area to coincide with this. This is a vegetarian cafe with vegan options. Delicious, flavoursome, generous portions of falafel wraps. I had wrap number2 – falafel wrap with lettuce, aubergine, tomato, cucumber, tahini sauce and fresh parsley. K had wrap number4 – falafels with red cabbage, vegan mayo, spicy sauce, tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, tahini sauce and fresh parsley. Our drink here was freshly-made lemonade – absolutely delicious.
Well, that wraps it up for our recent trip to Corfu Town.
[Note: This is only a small selection of the many eating establishments in the area.]
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