7 Best Restaurants in The Saronic Gulf Islands, Greece

Spetses's best restaurant has been morphing and evolving since it first opened 25 years ago, and the owner, Giorgos—a local who grew up on the island working in his father's taverna—still loves what he does and it shows! Everyone from fishermen to Hollywood headliners know him by his first name, and a meal here is not to be missed, not only for the innovative upscale Mediterranean dishes and thoughtful wine list, but also for the dreamy seafront setting and candlelit tables on a little pier jutting into the bay.

Don't leave Hydra without some traditional almond macaroons in your suitcase. The Tsagkaris family, led by octogenarian matriarch Anna Tsagkari, have been lovingly making them in their workshop for more than 70 years.

Ask a local to name the best restaurant in Aegina, and the response is invariably Vatzoulias. In summer the garden is a pleasant oasis, scented with jasmine and honeysuckle; in winter, nestle inside the cozy dining room to dine on expertly prepared taverna classics. Eggplant in garlic sauce or zucchini croquettes are can't-go-wrong starters. Continue with a dish such as veal in red sauce; thick, juicy grilled pork chops; or moussaka, oven-baked eggplant and potatoes with ground meat enlivened with cinnamon and a wonderfully fluffy béchamel. In winter try the hare stew. A 10-minute walk from Aegina Town center gets you to this rustic taverna where only dinner is served, and only on four evenings a week, usually Wednesday and weekends.

Seafood is the word at this famed taverna run by Antonis and his sons, and the octopus grilled in front of the establishment lures bathers and other visitors who tuck into options ranging from teeny fried smelt to enormous lobsters. People-watching is as much of a draw as the food, since the tables afford a view of all the comings and goings of the harbor's small boats as well as some sleek yachts. Other than splurging on the bouillabaisse here (expect to pay around €50 euros per kilo for sole, mullet, grouper—you name it), most dishes here, such as the veal and onions or briam ("vegetables in the oven") rarely exceed €12.

Christina and Manolis, the former owners, have now passed the baton to their son Constantinos, who has modernized the home-style Greek dishes served here, in his traditional old Hydriot house with stone floors and wooden ceilings, where time seems to have been standing still since the 1950s. If it's available, try the fresh fish that is prepared to perfection. It's a good idea to arrive before 9 pm for dinner; there are only 20 tables under the open-air vine-covered pergola upstairs, and they fill up quickly.