A SELECTION OF HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS IN PIERIA

John Foss

Hotel "Alexander the Great" and the "Poseidon Palace" Hotel Leptokarya

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· There are numerous hotels and restaurants covering a wide price and quality range, for this is, after all, a tourist resort. Hotels and Restaurants need to be clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. Restaurants need to serve good food in a pleasant atmosphere. Greece still offers good value for money for food and accommodation. Prices vary according to the season and this is only a rough guide. Most restaurants tend to serve the same sort of food – pork, lamb, fish and salads etc. One area where considerable improvement could be made is in the choice of wines offered. Greek restaurant owners do not seem to have discovered the magnificent wines of their own country, though there are exceptions such as  Zygos in Litochoro. Good food can also be had at the restaurants XYLINO, APOLAFSY and PETROS in KATERINI, DIMATI in AGIOS DIMITRIOS, KIMATA in PARALIA and, remarkably, the Olympus Plaza Motorway Service Station on the National Road near Katerini, which must rank as one Europe’s best. This serves a wide variety of excellent food at reasonable prices. Greek wines, such as those produced by Lazaridis Brothers, Koskotas from Nemea, Geravassileou, Papaioannou and other high quality wine makers have improved out of all recognition in the past decade or so. It is also possible to find excellent local wines at times, some restaurants serving these from the barrel. However, it would be nice if more restaurants learned to cater for the tastes of discriminating European visitors. They could do a great job in promoting Greek wine if they were to learn about real wine. Good wine at reasonable prices can be bought from some supermarkets such as PASCHALIDIS and MARINOPOULOS. Particularly recommended are the one and a half liter bottles of Nemean wine, such as the Cabernet Sauvignon Grenache, from the GREEK WINE CELLAR at 1800 Drx.

HOTELS

MEG ALEXANDROS Leptokarya    ****

A medium sized hotel with swimming pool, pool bar, games room and restaurant. The fully inclusive ‘self service’ evening meal at 2,500 Drx offers excellent value for money. Pleasant atmosphere, near the sea. one of my favourites.

POSEIDON PALACE Leptokarya    ****

Large hotel with full facilities including shops, children’s entertainment, two restaurants, swimming pool, etc. Magnificent view of Mount Olympus. Adjacent to the sea with a wide range of water sports. Popular with families.

OLYMPIAN BAY Leptokarya    ****

Another fairly large hotel adjacent to the sea, with three pools, two restaurants, pleasant garden, well kept.

EDEM Katerinoskala    ****

Hotel and camping combined. Hotel accommodation in bungalows. Popular with honeymooners! Pleasant surroundings, next to the beach with separate facilities for camping and hotel guests. (3 swimming pools) Restaurant, bar, mini market. Good food.

RESTAURANTS

KIMATA Paralia Katerini    ***

Good food with a wide range of dishes. Reasonably priced. On the beach. Recommended-  Gypsy Schnitzel, Hamburger Maryland. Wine list could be better.

ZYGOS Litochoro    ****

Some of the best food in the region and a reasonable wine list – unfortunately the new motorway has been built just outside, so it’s rather noisy in the summer. Air conditioning and double-glazing would solve this problem. (I think it has been installed!)

Old house in Katerini

APOLAFSY Katerini Zalongou Street, near the park.    **

Another good restaurant in Katerini town. The menu is short but good, and there are some reasonable wines at good prices.

XYLINO Katerini  Agia Paraskevi Street, opposite the park.    **

A very good menu offering a wide range of well cooked food at very reasonable prices. A generous meal for four including wine is still under twenty pounds. 

DIMATIS Agios Dimitrios.    **

Traditional Greek Taverna food well cooked in pleasant surroundings with good service. House wine is home grown. 

OLYMPUS PLAZA Katerini (on the NATIONAL ROAD)    ***

Motorway restaurants do not usually feature in restaurant recommendations, however this is an exception. There is a wide choice of food specialities ranging from a self service restaurant offering appetizing dishes such as pork fillet in a wine and cheese sauce with mushrooms, chicken breast in a curry sauce, through a Pasta counter to a fast food sandwich bar. There is a good choice of wines and other drinks – the Greek Government takes the sensible approach that there are passengers as well as drivers in cars. The surroundings are clean and pleasant and the prices reasonable. It is without doubt the best Motorway restaurant I have ever eaten in. Certainly England could learn from this!