The Venus Bar, Sidari, Corfu (2012)…

We first stumbled upon The Venus Bar in May 2010. We’d walked a bit further along Sidari High Street than planned and were about to turn back when we spotted a neon sign over the door and some comfy seats outside. We could hear 80s music from a CD player and went in. The bar looked empty, although I think there were people in another room. The barman didn’t really say much, but he wasn’t rude. We took our drinks outside and sat on the incredibly comfy seats.

The bar is right on the roadside, slightly off the beaten track with a view of a piece of waste-land, so I’m not entirely sure why we liked it so much, although the first time we were there we were able to sit and watch fireflies, which was quite magical.

There’s a little brick wall which separates the seats from the pavement. In 2010 there were some candles along the wall (very pretty). The toilets are through cowboy-style swing doors (through the bar) and aren’t the best I’ve ever used – but functional.

We returned to Sidari July 2011 and made a point of returning to The Venus Bar. It looked exactly the same… bar empty, 80s music, not much of a view, but those comfy seats were just as gorgeous as I’d remembered. No sign of the candles on the wall this time, but it didn’t seem to matter. The whole atmosphere was completely chilled out.

China Town, Sidari, Corfu (2012)…

This was a return visit to China Town as we’d enjoyed eating in there during our holiday in Sidari July 2011.

The restaurant is clean and spacious with very pretty ornamental (plastic) swans and a water feature in the entrance with little turtles swimming around in it. There are many colourful (red) lanterns hanging from the ceiling and pictures and ornamental vases on the walls.

The staff were incredibly friendly and efficient, as they had been the previous year.

We ordered our drinks (one beer and one sparkling water) and scanned the menu. My partner ordered prawns in batter in a sweet & sour sauce, spicy chicken in black bean sauce and I ordered the vegetables and fried rice with pineapple. We had prawn crackers (with 2 sauces) as a starter.

All I can say is “WOW!” The presentation was exquisite and the taste was sublime. Neither of us could quite finish the dishes (not for the want of trying). We had to sit there for quite some time after finishing our food as we were both quite stuffed, however we never felt hurried… in fact, we were given fortune cookies while we sat there watching the world go by.

The bill came to under 40 euros, which was excellent value for money, and hurrah – they accept credit cards! I have no problem recommending The China Town to anyone else and would happily eat there again.

Aquarius Restaurant, Sidari (2012)…

Spiros, Peri, Nikos, Kelly and George make this restaurant and bar the most welcoming place in Sidari.

There is a fabulous menu to choose from, with very reasonable prices, available from 8.30am – 11pm. (The bar opens from 8.30pm til late). The fresh Greek salad is phenomenal and for veggies (like me) there’s also a nice selection of home-made pizza, stuffed peppers/tomatoes, mushrooms in cream and much more…

Don’t worry if you’re a meat-eater as there’s more than enough on the menu to cater for your needs too!

You’ll find evening entertainment several nights per week; Saturdays Poolside BBQ, Sundays Quiz Night, Tuesdays Greek Night with dancers and plate-smashing, Wednesdays Live Music Night – rock and blues with Corfu’s very own Rock God, Nikos Sellas and his band. (Band name roughly translates as ‘3 and a cuckoo’).

Above the taverna is a playroom with pool table, darts, internet, games, library and widescreen tv.

You can order takeaway for your apartment, beach or excursions.

Unlike several other restaurants in Sidari, The Aquarius does accept credit cards which is very useful.

The views of the Mediterranean and Albania are spectacular and, in my opinion, this restaurant is by far the best in Sidari.

Konaki Greek Taverna, Sidari (2012)…

We saw this restaurant had a good rating on Trip Advisor and as it was so close to where we were staying (The Kanali) we decided to try it out.

The waiter was very friendly and the prices were very reasonable. I had a Greek salad and my partner had the steak.

We had fresh bread to start with.

While my partner said it was the best steak he’d ever tasted, and that his chips were delicious, I have to say that although my salad was nice it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. It was fresh and had a nice mixture of green peppers / tomatoes / lettuce / red onion / feta but I could’ve done with slightly less onion and more peppers.

I also wasn’t particularly enamoured with the olive oil which I’d poured over my entire salad. Can’t put my finger on it but it simply didn’t taste quite right to me (personal taste / opinion).

We were given complimentary slices of watermelon, which was a nice touch.

As with many establishments we’ve found, the credit card scanner was out-of-order / broken, so although this meal was not expensive it almost wiped out all out spare cash and we had to find an ATM.

We had a nice meal there but in my opinion it wasn’t quite nice enough to warrant a return visit.

Pizza Romana, Sidari, Corfu (2012)…

This hidden gem is located behind the church, next to the bandstand in the centre of Sidari. It’s a beautiful, quaint place which is close enough to the main strip to be convenient but it actually feels a million miles away from all of the time-share touts and reps trying to drag you into their bar/restaurant.

The staff were very attentive to our needs and, as it was an evening visit, we were given an oil-filled lantern for the table. Nearby, a waiter placed a mosquito coil so we wouldn’t get bitten.

While we waited for our food, a basket with freshly baked, hot, flat-bread was brought to the table along with 2 pots of utterly delicious sauces. One was tomato and the other was garlic. I was not intending to eat bread as I’d ordered a filling pizza but after the first taste I was thoroughly hooked and simply couldn’t leave the garlic dip alone.

I ordered a veggie pizza made with gouda cheese while my partner had the mixed grill. Both meals were huge and fabulous – my pizza being so vast I simply couldn’t finish it no matter how much I really wanted to.

We didn’t order desserts as we were simply too stuffed to cram another morsel in.

As we sat there letting our food get down not once did we feel hurried, even when we were given our little shot of something pink and alcoholic when we asked for the bill.

The people who run this restaurant obviously care about their patrons, and as a result they will get repeat business from us, and, no doubt, many other satisfied customers.

Jeni’s Mediterranean Moments, Sidari (2012)...

Jeni is a wonderful human being who will always go that extra mile for you, with a smile on her face and a big chunk of genuine kindness. The café is not only a hang-out for ‘Brits Abroad’ but attracts all nationalities.

She helps to rescue and re-home stray dogs on the Island and there’s often a furry visitor having a siesta on the floor of the café, or popping by for some attention from dog-friendly customers (cats are also welcome). Jeni sells calendars with pictures of some of the dogs in order to raise much-needed funds for the charity.

Her home-made cheesecakes are literally ‘to die for’ and no walk back from Sidari town to The Kanali (or other nearby apartments) would be complete without a sit down and a chat with an ice cold beer and a snack with Jeni.

There are computers for customers to use at the rear of the café.

If you need to know ANYTHING then just ask Jeni!

As an additional service, Jeni will make delicious sandwiches for your journey home for just a few euros, and will also bring you cold drinks. This will save you from the horrors of eating at Corfu airport. She even delivers to your accommodation just before your transfer bus is due to arrive – now THAT’S service!

Madison Bar, Sidari (2012)…

We decided to give The Madison Bar & Restaurant a chance to redeem itself after our previous experience there, but unfortunately we definitely won’t be returning.

The beach-side views are stunning, but even on a relatively quiet Sunday evening the service was incredibly slow. I asked for a sparkling mineral water with a slice of lemon. It came minus the lemon. My Greek salad was plentiful, quite well presented and reasonably tasty although the lettuce could’ve been crispier. I dined alone for the first hour and I asked for the bill before my partner arrived. My meal came to 7 euros 90 cents and I put 8 euros into the plastic wallet for the waiter to take to the till. I didn’t indicate he could keep the 10 cents change but he didn’t bring it to me in any case. If he’d bothered to bring me my change I’d have tipped him (his loss).

My partner arrived and was largely ignored for 15 minutes until I eventually made contact with one of the waiters. He ordered a beer and a meat dish (3 meats with coleslaw and chips). He was less than impressed with the cold chips, which could easily have been someone else’s leftovers (no way of knowing).

I asked for another sparkling mineral water with lemon and again it arrived minus the lemon.

He asked for the bill and wanted to pay by credit card but was told the machine was broken so he’d have to pay by cash (just as well he had enough cash on him).

Yes, I could’ve made a fuss about the missing lemon, the missing change and the cold chips but to be honest I simply didn’t think it was worth the hassle. We WON’T be going back!

The Madison Bar, Sidari (2010)…

Two very different experiences, same restaurant!

We chose this restaurant on the Sunday evening of our holiday as the views of the beach were stunning and it looked very clean inside. We enjoyed a fabulous meal out on the deck while watching the sunset in a calm and peaceful environment.

The starters were delicious, I had the garlic mushrooms while my partner enjoyed a prawn cocktail, and the only minor irritation was with the main meal. I was more than happy with my Greek salad, however, my partner specifically asked that his pepper sauce be served separate from his steak; however it arrived on his meat. No big deal though, as the staff were very friendly and the atmosphere was very relaxing…..so we chose Madison’s for our evening meal on the Monday evening.

What a difference 24 hours makes! As the weather was cold, wet and windy the next night the doors to the deck overlooking the beach at Madison’s were closed, so we had to sit inside the main part of the restaurant. A DJ was playing music but it was tolerable. We soon began to smell cigarette smoke due to the closed doors, which as non-smokers was an unwelcome accompaniment to our meal, and within minutes of ordering our food the music was turned up much louder.

Our food arrived fairly quickly but was definitely not of the same standard as the previous night. The chips were greasy and under-cooked and there just seemed to be less attention to detail in general, probably due to the fact that there were more customers in there. The staff were pleasant enough, however, the DJ got hold of the mic and began shouting out to customers, encouraging them to play ‘guess the tv theme tune’ in order to win shots. He was trying to hype the audience up into a frenzy in readiness for the Neil Diamond Tribute act due on stage very shortly.

By this point, the racket was unbearable, and we rushed to finish our food and get out of there. It’s such a shame because we really did enjoy our meal in there the previous night.