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Tucked away in one of the corners of Tinos’ port, Tarsanas is a perfect place be it for tasty meat dishes or their signature crayfish pasta. Make sure you visit around dusk and make sure you’re hungry enough to best enjoy their varied menu.

As you walk towards the part of the port commanded by the shipyards, some tables at the edge of a pebbled dirt road lie beneath the traditional lamp-posts. Tarsanas is the brainchild of Antonis Ghion who wanted to introduce a versatile menu of both meat and fish with a wide range of appetizers in the ultra-competitive gastronomic landscape of Tinos. And it did exactly that, as soon as it first opened back in 2004. Using the best of each season, Tarsanas presents a well-thought menu with lots of appetizers to choose from. We started out with a tomato and capers salad and some marinated artichokes – a specialty of the island- both delicious. Seafood options include the hot hard clam, the exquisite smoked eel on a bruschetta with wasabi, the sun-dried mackerel, and the roasted sardines. Instead we opted for meat and got the country sausage, a feast for the east, the mouth and the soul! Nonetheless, we still wanted to taste their infamous crayfish pasta with tomato sauce and rightly so, as it didn’t disappoint us. Rumor has it Antonis is a master when it comes to grilling fish… but we left that for our next time. And we can’t wait to come back! Well done!