3 Best Restaurants in Monemvasia, The Peloponnese

While it lacks the pretty terrace setting of the other restaurants along Monemvasia's main street, Voltes more than makes up for it with culinary wit. In towns like this, where tourism is a given and few visitors eat anywhere twice, imagination can go out of the window, yet this is easily one of the most ambitious eateries in the area. It has clever takes on the staples of Greek mezedes, raising traditional cheese pies to new heights with a dash of sweet tomato jam, or spicing up local-style stir fry kototigania with ample chillies, tart molasses, and sweet caramelized onions. 

You'll feel as if you're dropping into someone's home for dinner: family photos of stern, mustachioed ancestors hang on the walls alongside local memorabilia, and the service is just as welcoming. In good weather, there are tables on the street outside and visiting cats can outnumber diners. A memorable meal makes the most of local ingredients—wild mountain greens, fresh red mullet, an addictive potato salad, and marinated octopus sprinkled with oregano.

Kanoni is known for its fine breakfasts, served on a rooftop terrace that gazes down to the square's cannon and across the old battlements to sea. Choose from omelets, ham and eggs, or thick, creamy yogurt and honey, then come back at lunch or dinner for a nicely varied menu that offers some sumptuous seafood alongside old Greek standbys of moussaka, lamb kleftiko (a traditional slow-cooked marinated lamb dish), and stamna (beef stew). There's little innovation here, but the views and food are still mouthwatering.