Local Cuisine & Products
Lefkada offers a wide range of taverns, restaurants and snack bars, for all tastes and budgets. Besides the famous traditional Greek dishes like gemista (rice-stuffed vegetables in the oven), mousaka, or souvlaki (a Greek-style kebab) we would definitely recommend trying some of the local dishes of the island.
Lefkada is also an ideal destination for the lovers of sea food, as you can find high quality fresh fish in almost every village on the island, with Lygia being the traditional “fish village”. If you are a fish lover we recommend trying the Leukadian dishes “bourgeto” [greek: μπουργέτο] (fish soup) and “bianco” (boiled cod with potatoes). Other local dishes or delicacies include:
Ladopita (sweet pita with olive oil and honey)
Lentil soup with Egklouvi lentils
Pasteli (Sesame seed candy)
Mantolato (Almond nougat)
Lefkada’s agriculture offers unique, high quality products that are definitely worth tasting. Its most famous products include the delicious Eglouvi lentils, local, wine, olive oil, salami, as well as local honey, or ‘meli’ in Greek.
Where to shop?
On the road to Porto Katsiki, you will find a lot of local producers selling honey, olive oil, wine, oregano and other local products. You can usually stop by and try their products before buying, which are in general the purest you can find on the island. For Ladopita and other traditional sweets, we suggest the shop ‘Stavrakas’, at Lefkada town.
If you are in Lefkada in August do not miss the chance to visit the honey festival, organized in Dragano village. The visitors get to try free delicacies, such as local honey, olive oil pita with honey, pieces of honeycomb, pasteli (sesame seed candy) and many others. There, you also get the chance to buy honey products by local producers. The festival ends with a feast of traditional Greek live music.
Restaurants
It is definitely difficult to single out restaurants in Lefkada, but some of our favorites include:
Margarita (Lefkada city): Greek cuisine & fish
Pardalo Katsiki (Karya): Greek cuisine
Thimari (Lefkada city) : Greek contemporary cuisine
O Minas (Nikiana): fresh fish and seafood
Argiros bakery:Greek bakery with local delicacies
For breathtaking view & Greek cuisine, don’t forget to visit Rachi restaurant in Exanthia village. The word ‘Rachi’ (ράχη in greek) is translated as slope and this restaurant is literally located on the slope of the mountain. Don’t be surprised if on a cloudy day you will be dining above the clouds there! Combine it with your visit to Kathisma or Ag. Nikitas beach, since they are in close distance (around 20 minutes by car).
During high season (mid July – August) there might be some waiting time to get a table, but you can get an aperitif while waiting in the bar next to Rachi, called ‘Fly me’, which offers the same amazing view!
