In my earlier blog post on the stunning Porto Katsiki Beach, I mentioned that Porto Katsiki would be best combined with a dinner (or lunch) in Athani Village.

When I was researching online about our day trip to Porto Katsiki Beach, I found out that the nearest village is Athani which is approximately 20 minutes with the car. Chances are, if you are coming from the north of the island going to Porto Katsiki or Egremni, you will pass by Athani, and if you are coming from the east in the area of Nydri or in the south in Vasiliki, you may still pass by Athani if the dirt road near Vasiliki to Porto Katsiki is closed. This dirt road was closed last year so we did the via Athani detour.

So our plans for this particular day were a day at the beach at Porto Katsiki and dinner later in Athani. I was eyeing this restaurant called Lefkatas which I read has great views of the vast Ionian Sea. The food ratings seem to be promising as well. But we shall see when we get there, you never know if the restaurant turns out to be a disappointment in real life.

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ATHANI VILLAGE AND THE PANORAMAS

After a long beach afternoon at beautiful Porto Katsiki, we piled back into the car and drove to Athani. We have passed by this village on our way earlier to the beach.

Athani is a mountain village set on the cliffs of the southwestern coast of Lefkada Island. The village is facing the Ionian Sea and is famous for its stunning sunset views. There are bars, cafes and tavernas along the road here offering the fabulous panorama. It is an attraction and I can understand if it gets busy here during the months of July and August, although it wasn’t when we were here on the 1st of July, a week before peak season starts.


The village is very small and there are about 200 people living here surviving on agriculture and tourism.

The nearest beaches are Gialos, Egremni and of course, Porto Katsiki. We wanted to visit Gialos but didn’t have enough time. Egremni was closed from the road due to the earthquake in 2015 and is only reachable by boat. I heard great stories about Egremni Beach that it can rival Porto Katsiki in beauty.

SIGHTSEEING TIP

For the history enthusiasts, there is a 16th-century monastery nearby called Agios Nikolaos Niras (this is after Porto Katsiki).







HONEY - LOCAL ARTISAN PRODUCT IN ATHANI

Athani village is also known for its locally produced aromatic honey. We saw many honey beehive boxes during our drive to Porto Katsiki and there were many roadside stores selling honey in jars and jugs, as well as olive oil.


You might ask – What do you use Greek honey for?

Well the Greeks use honey for many things. As topping on their yoghurt. As the main ingredient in their local pastries delicacies such as baklava, nuts and much more. I like using honey for example for my pancakes and also for dressing my salads and for cooking, i.e. as glazing on top of a steak.

I did not buy though as I still have some honey left at home. When I am in Greece I normally buy 2 items to bring home: Herbs and Halloumi cheese. I have however bought honey in the past.

LOVELY SUNSET DINNER AT LEFKATAS

I found Lefkatas online but it doesn’t mean that I have shortlisted a restaurant that I will eat there. What I normally do is to survey the place and see if the restaurant meets my standards. Then I go check other restaurants for comparison and make the decision on the spot.

As we drove on our way to Porto Katsiki passing now the village of Athani, we saw cafes and tavernas along the road, so I told the Dutchman to slow down. I spotted a really nice looking taverna on the street with a terrace hanging out on a cliff. I can imagine that the panorama from that terrace would be fantastic especially during sunset. As we passed by the taverna I thought it looked familiar. I then told the Dutchman and Dutch mother that this taverna could be where we will eat later that evening.


So indeed, at the end of the day, we came back to this taverna, but not after having surveyed the other places in the village. It was then that I realised that the taverna is Lefkatas, the restaurant I have shortlisted. Now that explains why it looked familiar after having seen a few photos online.

I can tell you that this dinner was one of the bests we have had in Lefkada. The food here is a fusion of Greek and modern cuisine. The dishes were very well thought of, representing the cosmopolitan makeup of holidaymakers visiting this village and the island. The food on the plates was also very tastefully and artistically presented.

We started with some bread with tapenade and butter. Dutchman and Dutch mother both had some lemon drink while I settled for the local white wine. Then the Greek Salad to share arrived which we quickly devoured.

For our main courses, we all have different dishes. Dutchman had a (Greek?) burger with barbeque sauce and thinly sliced potato chips and he said it was all good. The Dutch mother had a grilled pork steak. I, on the other hand, decided on a seafood dish, cooked mussels and rice in tomato sauce.

We closed the dinner with the usual coffee and some baklava rolls oozing with honey and garnished with vanilla ice cream on top. The baklava was a treat from the restaurant—thank you very much!

Most importantly, we enjoyed very much the sunset views from the terrace here at Lefkatas. This was a lovely and very laid back dinner that makes me smile every time I think about it. That’s what holidays are for, right? Happy memories with your loved ones. Ah, we can’t wait to go back to the Greek Islands this summer.


















Travel Period: July 2016
Destination: Athani, Apollonoi (Lefkada Island - Ionian), Greece

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All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.