What to eat in Santorini
Fava is a split-pea purée, not a bean dip, the tomato fritters use the island's own small sweet tomatoes, and the white aubergine grows only here.
- White aubergine
- A variety that grows only here
- Wine
- Assyrtiko
- Restaurant main course
- €9–18, no drinks
Three ingredients don't turn up anywhere else in quite this form: yellow split peas for the fava, small sweet tomatoes for the fritters, and white aubergine, all grown in volcanic ash with no irrigation. This is what actually gets ordered, with the price of a main course.
Fava — first on the table
Fava from Santorini isn't made from beans but from yellow split peas grown in volcanic ash with no irrigation — cooked down to a purée and served with olive oil and red onion. Only the split peas from this island carry the name; the same dish elsewhere is already a different fava.
Tomato fritters and white aubergine
Tomatokeftedes are fried batter patties with small sweet tomatoes, onion and mint — the tomatoes are a variety grown only on the island, denser and sweeter than usual because of a dry summer with no rain. White aubergine, another local variety, is rarely bitter and milder than the purple kind — fried or grilled, as a side to the grill or on its own.
Assyrtiko wine
Assyrtiko is a white grape that on Santorini makes a dry, mineral wine, different from the same variety planted on the mainland — the volcanic soil and the vines coiled into a basket account for that. Poured alongside fish or just with fava, it's most often ordered by the glass in restaurants along the caldera.
The price of a main course
A main course at an ordinary restaurant, no drinks, is €9–18 — a pork or lamb chop, moussaka and the like. Fish and seafood priced by the kilo usually cost more and fall outside this range.
Where to eat
Restaurants right on the caldera rim in Fira and Oia charge for the view as well as the food — the same dishes in Kamari, Perissa or inland cost less for the same plate. Anyone after a price inside €9–18 does better a street back from the main promenade.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What to order first in Santorini?
Fava — a purée of yellow split peas specific to the island, almost always the first dish on the table.
How are tomato fritters here different from usual?
They're made from small sweet tomatoes that grow only on Santorini, denser and sweeter because of the dry summer.
How much does a restaurant main course cost?
€9–18, no drinks — fish and seafood usually cost more.
Ready for Santorini?
Where to next
The best time to visit Santorini
→Santorini has no harsh winter, but it has a harsh season: July and August bring the most heat and the most…
Mykonos · 116 km
→A white town on the wind, beaches on the south coast and Delos a boat ride away
How well does Santorini suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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