7 Best Restaurants in Rhodes and the Dodecanese, Greece

Popular among locals, this venerable Turkish-Greek joint has a catch-all menu that hits every comfort-food high note. Zucchini flowers filled with lip-smacking Greek cheese, aubergines bursting with meat, and filling pastitsio complement a vast choice of souvlakis and kebabs.

Vegans and vegetarians aren't well catered for in Greece, where the "fish option" is typically your only alternative to a tombstone-sized slab of fried cheese. But this ingenious restaurant from chef Mara Martinotti is the antidote, and she has a recipe book to boot. Vegan soy-and-lentil moussaka as light and cheesy as anything you'll ever taste accompanies the likes of bang-bang cauliflower on an ever-changing menu of bites and larger dishes. The €16 tasting menu is as filling and satisfying as anything you'll find on the island. Look out too for its new bar, Ono by Marouli, in New Town, which is also good for a veggie snack.

This café is best known for its homemade gelato, made by its Neapolitan owner—try the dark chocolate and orange—though it also offers fine takes on Greece's three Cs: coffee, cakes, and cocktails.

The most popular hangout in town serves homemade ice cream by day and drinks day and night in the cool, blue-cushioned interior and pebbled courtyard as well as on the rooftop terrace of a sea captain's house.

This traditional Turkish coffee house claims to be the oldest of its kind in Europe, and has belonged to the same family for over 200 years. If the 14th-century setting and authentic decor doesn't hook you, the coffee will. This is also a shisha bar.

This is a nice little Greek bakery filled with myriad honey-soaked and cheese-covered treats, ranging from baklava to bagel-style kalouri and pizza-like peinirli. It's perfect for a mid-morning snack or lunchtime treat.