A diverse, verdant island that’s worth hiring a car to explore, the dining scene in Corfu blends Roman and Venetian influences with familiar Greek cuisine. Think meltingly tender beef stews served over pasta, fresh fish drizzled with onion and red pepper broth, as well as liqueurs and sweets made from the island’s signature fruit, kumquat. Tuck in at one of these atmosphere-packed dining spots.
Every Greek island has at least one “it” restaurant. Etrusco is Corfu’s. Think canapes presented like edible artworks, seafood creations clasped in open shells and a pan-Mediterranean approach courtesy of its star Italian chef. Slink into the lantern-lit courtyard in Dassia, close to many of the island’s fanciest resorts and sit at white-clothed tables to sip champagne and await a series of surprise treats. There’s a choice of a shorter, more affordable tasting menu and a longer one and you can go a la carte, too.
Trimmed by rows of glossy, apple-green vines, this farm and wine estate is a destination in its own right. Drive into the hills west of Corfu Town to join its cooking classes, shop for locally-crafted cupboard staples or book a spectacular farm-to-table dinner. As well as championing Corfiot produce – island goat cheese, rock samphire from the coast – the chefs here reinvent Greek food as you know it, introducing you to spiced baked aubergines and roast pork with quince and kumquat that you’ll want to recreate at home.
You’ll likely spend at least one evening in the Venetian-influenced Corfu Town while on the island, where this slick fine dining restaurant is the foodies’ favourite. Tuck into beef fillet with smoked cream and truffle, or lobster ravioli in cuttlefish-ink pasta, choosing from the gentleman’s-club-style dining room or the bougainvillea-draped patio outside. It’s perfect for a special-occasion dinner after an afternoon’s sightseeing.
This sweet little 11-table taverna, open for more than two decades, is a local institution in the east-coast fishing village of Benitses. Owners Nikos and Lilly oversee personal touches, from selecting fish from the nearby market to filling empty wine bottles with fresh flowers, as well as slow-cooking meats and marinating anchovies all day long for their intensely flavoured dishes. Call ahead with any dietary requirements and the team will make sure there’s plenty of choice for you.
This charming patio restaurant, attached to a chic boutique hotel in Agios Gordios, is dappled with sunlight streaming through a canopy of vines. There’s a feel of a village fiesta as you choose from a menu of Greek classics; the meat and fish dishes are particularly flavourful, prepared on a Josper grill. Go with an appetite: you’ll want to share the beautifully-prepared mezze before moving on to the mains.
There’s nothing like dining right by the Mediterranean – so close you could reach out and dip a toe in. That’s the case with this simple wooden deck in the sleepy east-coast fishing town of Boukari, overlooking a lone wooden jetty and rippling shallows and run by a family so charismatic and hospitable you’ll want to return the next day. Seafood takes top billing here: lobster is claw-snapping fresh and the bourdeto fish is a must-try. On weekend evenings you’ll be treated to some traditional live music, too.
Thinking of proposing in Corfu? There aren’t many dinners more romantic than this twinkling patio restaurant, overhung by bougainvillea and facing a 16th-century church in picture-perfect Kremastis Square. The wine list is epic, the service fit for royals and the fine-dining menu imaginative: think grouper fish with jalapenos, lemongrass and coconut, or ginger halva pudding with kumquat confit. Make sure you get a table outside, to see the crumbling well itself, lit by fairy lights twisted around the vines.
Agni Bay is in the northeast of the island, where hotel areas give way to lush countryside peppered with palatial holiday villas. Many island regulars taxi here especially for Toula’s – a sleepy taverna on the pebbles where yachties pull up in smaller dinghies and your view is filled with luminous turquoise sea. Super-fresh platters of grilled snapper and shelled prawns leave your fingers sticky and your stomach satisfied; ceramic jugs of rose and complimentary limoncello shots imply low key, but your bill reflects the moneyed crowd that made this place famous.
This is an updated version of an article originally by Vincent JS Wood.
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