[Aug. 2023] It was our 5th day in Nafplio, Greece, and since it was almost the middle of our stay, it was the day to clean the Airbnb we were staying at.
Our friend who stayed in the room while we went to the hair salon met the owner couple who came to clean.
Apparently, the cleaner they were hiring was on sick leave.
When my friend spoke with the owner couple, she learned that they run a restaurant in Tolo, a seaside town about 10 kilometres away.
When she was told, “Please visit our restaurant sometime,” she was completely intrigued and we headed out that night.
It took about 30 minutes by local bus (fare: €1.60).
I had quite high expectations because I had heard that Tolo‘s beach was beautiful and that it was popular with tourists, but when we went there, it looked like a holiday resort for the masses.
We went there earlier than the restaurant reservation and took a little walk, but it wasn’t as picturesque as Nafplio.
It was nice to spend some time at a seaside cafe looking out at the ocean, though.
Now, it’s a restaurant.
Its name is Chez Gilles.
Gilles is the French husband’s name, and he’s a chef.
The couple worked together, with Gilles mainly in charge of the restaurant and his wife Maria mainly in charge of the Airbnb.
There was only terrace seating, and we settled in one corner.
First, we were served a delicious aperitif called Wine Orange.
For starters, we shared the chef’s salad and honey feta + orange.
The feta had a particularly good taste.
My main dish was grilled sea bass.
This was normal and tasted good as expected.
My husband had the seafood risotto, but the rice was basmati rice, which he said didn’t go well with seafood.
My friend chose the fried calamari.
For dessert, I was satisfied with a fruit-filled pavlova, my favourite.
My husband and my friend each had a dessert, and we had a bottle of house wine, and the total cost was €80.
I think they gave us a little discount.
It seemed to be a popular restaurant, and as the night progressed, more and more customers started coming in, keeping both of them very busy.
Still, they gave us homemade jam and invited us to go to a winery, which was a really nice touch.
That evening, we were told that we could listen to music at the port of Nafplio, so we took a taxi there.
When we went there, it seemed like it was the biggest event in town, and it was so crowded that it looked like all the people in the area were out.
We listened for a while, but the songs sounded like very old pop songs and we got tired of them, so we moved away before the show ended.
