Patmos Restaurants: Where to Eat in Skala and Grikos

The Plaza Cafetaria stands on the main square in Skala next to the post office, serving breakfast and coffee at prices a little higher than Aigaio nearby. Order a cappuccino, since you get a nescafe by default if you say nothing; the breakfast comes with butter and cake, fried bacon in separate slices, fresh bread and two kinds of jam. There is no fresh orange juice unless you order it for a little extra, and on our visit we were not charged for the cappuccino.

Aigaio Cafe sits on the smaller square in the main street just behind the big square by the post office, serving snacks, breakfasts, coffee, croissants and sandwiches. The bread is nice and fresh, the orange juice fresh, and the cappuccino is fine and comes with a glass of water; the breakfast was cheap at 6 euros in 2007. The one letdown on a second visit was toasted bread instead of fresh.

Oassis Taverna in Grikos serves salads, cheese pie and small dishes, with filter coffee and espresso. We visited on 12 and 13 May, before the season had properly started, so the choice was still limited and the friendly staff apologised. You can sit in the shade under the trees on the beach or on the covered terrace; the toilet was a little messy.

Pantelis has been our favourite restaurant on Patmos ever since we first set foot on the island. It stands in the first side street on the right of the square, the street behind the boulevard where the bakery is, and it is popular with Greeks and always busy. The white wine is delicious and cold, the fava and tzatziki good and generous, and the chicken with potatoes, the meatballs in tomato sauce, the large moussaka and the saganaki are all worth ordering. Grosso has waited tables here for as long as we can remember, the atmosphere is cosy, and a plate of fried aubergine with a dip arrives free; the one minus is that the bread does not come in one piece.