Nikolaras Taverna

Nikolaras Taverna is a simple, welcoming family taverna in Neo Mystras, the small modern village that has grown up at the foot of the Byzantine hill town of Mystras in Laconia, one of the most important UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Greece. The taverna serves a practical and unpretentious role: it feeds visitors arriving to explore the ruined Byzantine palaces, churches, and fortifications that made Mystras a major cultural centre of the late Byzantine Empire, and it does so without tourist-area pricing or inflated portions. The kitchen works in classic Laconian territory: moussaka made from aubergine, spiced beef mince, and a thick béchamel; Greek salad assembled with tomato, cucumber, green pepper, Kalamata olives, and a substantial wedge of Laconian feta; giouvetsi — baked lamb with orzo pasta cooked together in a tomato sauce in an earthenware pot — as the most substantial and satisfying main course. Spoon sweets (glyko tou koutaliou), the traditional Greek preserved fruit confections served on a small plate beside a glass of cold water, are a local expression of hospitality that few restaurants outside the Peloponnese villages still maintain. The dining room is modest and clean. Prices are strictly in the budget range. Nikolaras is the taverna choice for visitors who want an authentic, inexpensive meal before or after the Mystras site, without the inflated margins of tour-group restaurants.