Hydra – the car-free, time-stopped Saronic island that has long captivated artists, writers, filmmakers and the international set – is having a fresh moment this year, not least as the backdrop for the filming of The Riders starring Brad Pitt. But the real reason to arrive has always been the same: the light, the stone, the sea, and the table.
With minimal natural resources of its own, Hydra has historically sourced its ingredients from the neighbouring Peloponnese, while its waters have supplied the rest. The island’s cuisine is defined by seafood – red mullets on toast, wine-braised octopus, stuffed squid, cuttlefish with ink pilaf, fish soup – alongside Arvanitiko gogges pasta, hortopita, and snail stew. In cooler months, arnaki kapamas (lamb with cinnamon and cloves) and roast meat with quinces take over, while the island’s almond sweets, scented with flower water and shaped like small pears, remain an enduring signature.
In recent years, the island’s beloved old-guard tavernas have been joined by a new wave of more polished restaurants. What follows are our most seasoned picks – places where the ingredients are fresh, the cooking is honest, and every table comes with a view worth staying for.
01Tassia’s Tavern
Dining and Cooking