Lovely garden restaurant in Samos: Anna’s Restaurant and my introduction to Imam Baildi

Dutchman and I have been eyeing this garden restaurant for days already. It has a different ambiance. Most of the restaurants in this area have their dining beside the beach road or on the beach, whereas this restaurant is set off from the main road and inside a garden of flowers and trees. One evening, we finally made a decision to dine here.







Anna’s Restaurant

Website Trip Advisor:Anna’s Restaurant



Anna’s Restaurant is located in Kampos (or Kambos, also called Votsalakia). I don’t understand why the many spellings and another different name, I think this is the old name--Votsalakia, but Greek language is difficult enough to understand, let alone translate it to English! The restaurant is on the main street right on the border to the next town, a little bit further from the town centre.













What do you think of the homey garden ambiance? This is actually a timely needed change of scenery for us after days of sitting on the beach for dinner.



The mother of the house restaurant was excited to show us (moi and another couple) what they had cooked for the evening. Some restaurants here in Samos prepare a part of the food in the menu ahead of time. It is something like a cafeteria setting, and they do heat the food of course before serving. Some people do not like this kind of set-up while others do not actually mind (like us) because this is the style, very organic and 100% local. A pure Greek home-style restaurant.











This home-style garden restaurant even has a stone oven. Beautiful!



Above you will see some of the Greek fares available for picking. For 15 Euros you can have small pickings of everything. We did not want that because that is too much. So I settled for something that caught my fancy for our starter which I am sure the Dutchman would also like.



Imam Baildi and more...



The mother of the house told me that the dish I picked for our starter is called Imam. Hmm, the only imam I know are those Muslim preachers, but anyway, Imam it is, and so I wrote it down in my black notebook so I can remember. After much googling, I came across with Imam Baildi. I do not write everything in my black notebook, only when I have it and when I remember writing down the new things I learned. Most of the times I get caught up with the flow of events that I forget to write them down. Really jammer.










This is Imam Baildi, in English Stuffed Aubergine (Eggplant for you non-Europeans), and yes this is vegetarian. Dutchman and I loved this, partnered with the bread. Great for starters!


For our mains, I settled for grilled fish while the Dutchman wanted some Italian fare, spaghetti with stewed beef on top. Now that is interesting!



My fish was very fresh and it was just what I expected. Dutchman on the other hand was quite happy and satisfied. He said he was tired of Greek food so the pasta was a nice welcome change.









We came from a long afternoon in the beach and did not bother going back to our apartment and change clothes for dinner. We were hungry and want to get over with it.













All in all, this is a very nice and lovely place. A different ambiance away from the beach but equally romantic and divine. We loved especially the Imam Baildi. I highly recommendAnna’s Restaurant. 4 stars out of 5.