Symi Chat

When I look at the webcam I can see either what looks like a cafe/bar/taverna to the right of it. Which one is this?

That is Pachos, a venerable landmark and traditional cafeneion. They don't do lattes or designer drinks but they do serve traditional Greek coffee and frappes (Greek iced coffee) and as well as inexpensive ouzo, whisky, metaxa, retsina and wine by the glass. It's a popular meeting place from daybreak when the locals come in for a Greek 'breakfast' (coffee and a cigarette) until the last person departs around midnight.

Not to mention it has the best name in Symi.

Sounds lovely. One thing I am looking forward to is tasting Retsina for the first time. I have only been to Greece once before. I went as part of a package deal to Zakynthos and ended up in the resort of Tsilivi which unfortunatly was like England in the sun. I asked a few times if I could taste Retsina there but becuse no one else was having it they wouldn't open a bottle.

Such a shame. I felt that catering to English tastes had wiped out Zakynthos culture temporarily and it would only possibly return when the tourists went home. I heard Resina is an aquired taste but then again so are most alcholic drinks. Is it comparable to any other drink? Also where would you recomend I go to taste my first glass of Retsina?

Go to Pachos for your first Retsina Buzzy. Get a bottle, not a glass. The bottle is only small at 500ml and cheap at Pachos.

It is a bit of an acquired taste if you've never had it before but persevere - the second glass is really quite nice!

You can't miss Pachos, it's right on the front at the head of the harbour and looks just like the picture at the top of this page (although one or two of the customers may be different!).

The retsina needs to be chilled (which it will be at Pachos), just like normal white wine . Don't buy a bottle in a supermarket and drink it without chilling it first - otherwise you're almost certain to dislike it. Again just like normal white wine, there are different retsinas, and you will probably prefer some to others if you persist long enough to try them. Probably the commonest on Symi is CAIR, which is produced in Rhodes, and is definitely drinkable, but retsina is also sold as a house wine in tavernas, and then it is often decanted into carafes or aluminium jugs of various sizes from 250ml to 1 litre, and you won't know the brand or region of origin unless you ask. Confusingly they actually sell the "draught" wine by weight with 1 litre = 1 kilo.

I love Pachos....the best place in the harbour to sit and watch the world go by and enjoy the company of the locals.

I'm looking forward to it so much. It is grim and grey here and I'm looking forward to rounding off the last of the season in Symi before the long winter sets in. I am staying in the Nireus so where is Pachos from there?

Does this help Buzzy?

Thanks. If only someone could airlift me in there now and just gently drop me into a chair outside. I see it's still nice an warm there today. Here it is still grey, grey, grey.

I am pretty sure that my daughter and myself went to Pachos a couple of times - looking at Allan's map - 99.9% sure. If it is the same place - PLEASE try their traditionla fish soup - lovely and son swore by the moussaka.

Pachos doesn't do food at all. It is the old boys' cafeneion immediately in front of and below the Symi Visitor Accommodation office which is why you can see their empty beer crates in the webcam view. It is perfectly accepted practice to buy cheese and spinach pies from the bakery round the corner to eat with your beer though