Talk About “Food With A View!”
I began a series of food posts that showcases spectacular places to eat, literally “food with a view” – and what is more spectacular than the town of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini!
The town is pronounced “E-Uh” with the emphasis on the E, and the hillside is filled with white-washed homes and a vintage windmill or two! At the very bottom of the town is an incredible restaurant we were told to eat at – oh, there’s just one catch:
It’s A Thousand Steps Down!
Yes, the restaurant sits WAY DOWN THERE where the boats are moored in the water! They say there are 278 steps from the top of Oia to the harbor at Ammoudi Bay, but let me show you just how big each step is – it’s actually 3-4 walking steps from one “step” to the next, so it’s really closer to 1,000 steps to the bottom!
As you can see, those very long steps are also very steep – in fact, the total rise from the water to the fortress at Oia is almost 400 feet!
You must navigate a series of switchbacks the entire way. And it was 90+ degrees with zero shade.
So of course we did it!
You can go down on foot, but some decide to rent donkeys. They are quite polarizing here: many feel the animals are not treated well, others see them as part of the town’s charm. We walked down on our own.
Here’s a look from the bottom – it took about twenty minutes to walk down – note it’s direct sunlight and was 90+ degrees when we did it – and that was after the almost two hour walk to town!
In the port of the bay are numerous restaurants serving seafood and fresh fish caught that morning by local fishermen – including a local favorite!
Yes, that is part of the morning catch behind us!
Grilled octopus is a delicacy here, and this is where they hang them out to dry – we were told that Ammoudi Fish Tavern did it the best so it was time for lunch!
Our “Food With A View!”
As you can see, all the tables look out onto the bay, and it’s a beautiful way to enjoy a meal…
We had the table right on the restaurant’s edge overlooking the bay – a terrific view of the hike we just finished! Here is a good look at just how far up the walk is – you can see the path just above that blue building above th water.
We began with their traditional Greek salad, which has tomato, cucumber, olives, onion, green peppers, feta cheese, capers, caper leaves, oregano, vinegar drops and olive oil.
Cue the “Sun -Dried” Specialty Of The House!
Everyone has the Octopus, so we did as well!
Sun-dried grilled Octopus was next, drizzled with olive oil, fresh lemon wedges at the ready. We drizzled plenty of lemon on, and the flavor was incredible…rich with flavor and not chewy at all.
Now, as for the main course – they had some freshly caught fish that Alex perused, and the Waiter recommended a very special catch…but we can’t remember which one it was!
Scorpion Fish or Goldblotch Grouper. Anyone recognize him by his head?
WE think it was the Grouper! No matter: after you choose it, they grill it then expertly plate the dish with some fresh vegetables and a drizzle of Greek olive oil…incredibly flavorful and fresh!
Here’s a bit of that presentation:
The fish was delicious: incredibly light and fresh, and the lemon and olive oil drizzled on it really brought out the flavor…a delicious meal!
They brought us a traditional Greek dessert that is a specialty of the restaurant: their Loukoumades, fried balls of sweet dough drizzled with honey and small scoops of vanilla ice cream!
What a great meal! Now comes the hard part: the one lane road to the harbor is so clogged with traffic that a cab couldn’t come get us, so, not wanting to ride a donkey – we hiked all the way back up!
It was worth it for such a delciious meal and the gorgeous view!
I shared a number of our meals in Greece, like this one:
As delicious as this fish stew was, it was nothing compared to the incredible sunset we saw as we ate it…see the entire meal and that amazing view here:
That was our second night on Mykonos, and our second straight memorable meal!
We were WOW’d our first night on the island when we ate at Mykonos Social, located at our Resort…click here to see the entire menu, which I called “Culinary Art!”
And our “food with a view” continued at a restaurant that served us the fish they caught that morning as well! See it here:
I mentioned that we ate in Oia AFTER a three hour walk there…here’s a look at the hike:
We hiked the island’s incredible caldera even in 90 degree heat with no shade…see our adventure here:
Maybe we are healthy because we were eating Greek…you see their “longevity” stew is so good for you – here’s the recipe!
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Travel, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
We have yet to get to Greece. There’s so much still on our bucket list! But wow it’s so pretty. And all the food looks so delicious of course. Love some octopus!
We will go back to Greece because there is so much to see, so many different islands to explore, and the people are the nicest! Thanks for the comment!
Ten thousand steps a day, right John? For that meal, I’ll definitely get in my steps. Yes, a place I would want to return to in the future.
Yes, we were up for it, too bad it was 90+ degrees but vacations as for trying new things, right? Thanks for the comment!
What an adventure!
On a bleak day of torrential rain in Beetley, Santorini looks very inviting, john!
Best wishes, Pete.
Pete, we plan to go back to see much more of Greece…great food, wine and wonderful people! Thanks for sharing!