Post by Silly Yak on Feb 12, 2011 9:41:30 GMT
Week in Corfu (October 2005)
Weather was mostly sunny & warm/ hot in the day but you needed a jumper &/or summer coat if eating out at taverna in the evenings.
We found it best to have lunch at beach taverna & self-cater at night as this means you have nice warm sea views in daytime eating & watching boats, anglers & world go by etc.
Mosquitoes were a literal pain for me ( & many others to judge by the bites they displayed) despite anti-mozzie spray over all exposed skin before venturing out, after swims etc.
Burning citronella candles (one on our table, one on patio floor) when we were eating at home outdoors really worked in keeping the insects at bay, however. Also used plug-in anti-mozzies indoors & kept windows closed.
As a vegetarian coeliac I found vegetarian diet is well understood in Corfu (‘Ime hortofagos’ is ‘I’m vegetarian‘) but gluten-free is NOT at most tavernas but the food is prepared from scratch mostly so it is quite possible to select GF items when you have explained about what you can /can't eat.
All tavernas seem to have similar menu (in Greek & English ) & there are GF veggie dishes (which can be ordered in any combination) eg Greek salad (can be main meal) which is feta cheese & mixed salad, no dressing- you add your own from wine vinegar and olive oil bottles on table, briam (roasted vegetables) tzitiki (yogurt & cucumber mix, like a thick dip), gigantes ( like posh baked beans) meletzanasalata (aubergine & yogurt mix).
Also scordalia - garlic mash - and horta (green veg) but I didn‘t have these so not sure what they are like. Tomato salad is simply sliced tomatoes.
Avoid fried courgettes as these are in batter. Bread & little individual butters come before the meal anyway without ordering but you can have your GF biscuits & just eat their butter, they don’t mind. Think the chips (french fries, fried chips) are frozen ready-prepared & seem to be deep-fried with battered items so I avoided them.
Various omelettes are usually available but I didn’t try them- my staple was a Greek salad.
The local vegetables and fruit were fresh & good quality , the rice was rather like a long grain but more stubby. One variety of potato looked like a white sweet potato but cooked & tasted similar to ordinary potato. There are different hard cheeses in shops & of course excellent bio live Greek yogurt & local honey. The jam may not turn out to be the type pictured on the label, BTW, our ‘blackberry’ jam was actually strawberry. Greek delight & halva is much cheaper in the village supermarkets compared to touristy shops.
Non-vegetarian coeliacs should avoid ‘fisherman’s plate’ (variety of the day’s catch) as this includes battered octopus rings.
There seemed to be plenty of plain fresh grilled fish , also grilled steak & sometimes you can see into the kitchen & watch the cooking .
Coffee at tavernas was not good (usually Nescafe) so we had fruit juice, wine or water for a drink out & had our own-made ground coffee at home. Some tavernas serve cups of tea, which other Brits had, so I assume this was OK.
You might be given free ouzo on your first night at local taverna -suggest you drink plenty of water with it, especially if you have had few glasses of wine beforehand - even if you are walking home (with necessary torch). BTW great views of starry, starry sky in NE Corfu (no street lights).
Took speed boat trip one night from Kerisia to eat at Agni Taverna in Agni Bay (having been there by fairly newly-installed road to taverna in the morning to check with English-speaking staff that they understood about vegetarian GF diet, yes they do).
This short boat trip was good fun, bumpy ride with music on tape, ‘Sparticus’ going & Greek folk music coming home.
I had stuffed papers and gigantes and salad at Agni then yogurt with lemon sauce (without the biscuits which usually accompany it).
Taverna Agni have a website & email address so you can enquire beforehand if you want to go there & wish to find about their other GF meals:
www.agni.gr/taverna_agni/taverna_agni.asp
It seems here is an Indian restaurant on the island (Viceroy, Ipsos,) which is presumably able to cater GF, they also offer Thai and non-Indian food.
........
Enjoyed the week’s break but not the mozzies, no sign of any GF basics available anywhere, not even rice cakes, so take your own.
The taverna and supermarket workers all seemed to speak English, other Corfoits didn’t but were just as friendly.
F Harry’s Toe is thank you.
kally meera - good day.
ne - yes
no-ahee
excuse me, please - parakallo
yasas- hello, greetings
adio- goodbye
*********************************************
Corfu
Posted by Barb on 6/6/2009
GF board
I've just returned from my holiday in Corfu and had a very easy gluten-free holiday.
I stayed in the Silver Beach Hotel in Roda and the first breakfast I showed my translation of the coeliac problem to the waitress who promptly took it to the chef. They never once gave me anything containing gluten, it was so easy.
The same in cafes and resturants, I just had to hand over my slip of paper and they understood instantly what was needed.
I can reccommend it!
*****************
Weather was mostly sunny & warm/ hot in the day but you needed a jumper &/or summer coat if eating out at taverna in the evenings.
We found it best to have lunch at beach taverna & self-cater at night as this means you have nice warm sea views in daytime eating & watching boats, anglers & world go by etc.
Mosquitoes were a literal pain for me ( & many others to judge by the bites they displayed) despite anti-mozzie spray over all exposed skin before venturing out, after swims etc.
Burning citronella candles (one on our table, one on patio floor) when we were eating at home outdoors really worked in keeping the insects at bay, however. Also used plug-in anti-mozzies indoors & kept windows closed.
As a vegetarian coeliac I found vegetarian diet is well understood in Corfu (‘Ime hortofagos’ is ‘I’m vegetarian‘) but gluten-free is NOT at most tavernas but the food is prepared from scratch mostly so it is quite possible to select GF items when you have explained about what you can /can't eat.
All tavernas seem to have similar menu (in Greek & English ) & there are GF veggie dishes (which can be ordered in any combination) eg Greek salad (can be main meal) which is feta cheese & mixed salad, no dressing- you add your own from wine vinegar and olive oil bottles on table, briam (roasted vegetables) tzitiki (yogurt & cucumber mix, like a thick dip), gigantes ( like posh baked beans) meletzanasalata (aubergine & yogurt mix).
Also scordalia - garlic mash - and horta (green veg) but I didn‘t have these so not sure what they are like. Tomato salad is simply sliced tomatoes.
Avoid fried courgettes as these are in batter. Bread & little individual butters come before the meal anyway without ordering but you can have your GF biscuits & just eat their butter, they don’t mind. Think the chips (french fries, fried chips) are frozen ready-prepared & seem to be deep-fried with battered items so I avoided them.
Various omelettes are usually available but I didn’t try them- my staple was a Greek salad.
The local vegetables and fruit were fresh & good quality , the rice was rather like a long grain but more stubby. One variety of potato looked like a white sweet potato but cooked & tasted similar to ordinary potato. There are different hard cheeses in shops & of course excellent bio live Greek yogurt & local honey. The jam may not turn out to be the type pictured on the label, BTW, our ‘blackberry’ jam was actually strawberry. Greek delight & halva is much cheaper in the village supermarkets compared to touristy shops.
Non-vegetarian coeliacs should avoid ‘fisherman’s plate’ (variety of the day’s catch) as this includes battered octopus rings.
There seemed to be plenty of plain fresh grilled fish , also grilled steak & sometimes you can see into the kitchen & watch the cooking .
Coffee at tavernas was not good (usually Nescafe) so we had fruit juice, wine or water for a drink out & had our own-made ground coffee at home. Some tavernas serve cups of tea, which other Brits had, so I assume this was OK.
You might be given free ouzo on your first night at local taverna -suggest you drink plenty of water with it, especially if you have had few glasses of wine beforehand - even if you are walking home (with necessary torch). BTW great views of starry, starry sky in NE Corfu (no street lights).
Took speed boat trip one night from Kerisia to eat at Agni Taverna in Agni Bay (having been there by fairly newly-installed road to taverna in the morning to check with English-speaking staff that they understood about vegetarian GF diet, yes they do).
This short boat trip was good fun, bumpy ride with music on tape, ‘Sparticus’ going & Greek folk music coming home.
I had stuffed papers and gigantes and salad at Agni then yogurt with lemon sauce (without the biscuits which usually accompany it).
Taverna Agni have a website & email address so you can enquire beforehand if you want to go there & wish to find about their other GF meals:
www.agni.gr/taverna_agni/taverna_agni.asp
It seems here is an Indian restaurant on the island (Viceroy, Ipsos,) which is presumably able to cater GF, they also offer Thai and non-Indian food.
........
Enjoyed the week’s break but not the mozzies, no sign of any GF basics available anywhere, not even rice cakes, so take your own.
The taverna and supermarket workers all seemed to speak English, other Corfoits didn’t but were just as friendly.
F Harry’s Toe is thank you.
kally meera - good day.
ne - yes
no-ahee
excuse me, please - parakallo
yasas- hello, greetings
adio- goodbye
*********************************************
Corfu
Posted by Barb on 6/6/2009
GF board
I've just returned from my holiday in Corfu and had a very easy gluten-free holiday.
I stayed in the Silver Beach Hotel in Roda and the first breakfast I showed my translation of the coeliac problem to the waitress who promptly took it to the chef. They never once gave me anything containing gluten, it was so easy.
The same in cafes and resturants, I just had to hand over my slip of paper and they understood instantly what was needed.
I can reccommend it!
*****************