Where to Eat in Folegandros: Matsata, Fish at the Port and the Squares of Chora

Folegandros is small, dry and agricultural, and its cooking shows it: few ingredients, plenty of character.

• Matsata: hand-made pasta, like a thick tagliatelle, usually served with rooster, rabbit or goat in a tomato sauce. It is the island's dish and it is at its best in Ano Meria.
• Souroto: a fresh, soft, slightly sour goat's cheese that comes to the table on its own or inside pies.
• Kalasouna: the local cheese pie with souroto and onion, baked in the oven.
• Fava, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme honey: the Cycladic staples, in good versions here.
• Fish: fresh at the port, where the boats tie up, with the season deciding what there is.

Wine comes mostly from other islands and the mainland; rakomelo and tsipouro are the local favourites. For the rest of the island, see the Folegandros travel guide.

Dinner in Chora is eaten outdoors, on the three consecutive squares between the Kastro and the road: Pounta, Piatsa (Kontarini) and Dounavi. The tables spread under the trees, children run between them, and the cooking ranges from grandmother's taverna to more modern plates.

• Pounta: the taverna with the garden, the classic first evening.
• Eva's Garden and Astarti: one for the courtyard, the other for the view.
• Chic, Blue Cuisine and Osteria Spina: more contemporary menus for anyone who wants something beyond the taverna.
• Piazza: the cocktails after dinner, on the square that gives it its name.

In Chora you need no vehicle: everything is on foot from the Kastro and the squares. In July and August pass by in the afternoon to ask for a table in the evening. See also the Chora guide.

Five kilometres north-west of Chora, Ano Meria is the island's farming village and the place where matsata are still made by hand. Mimi's, Synantisi and I Barbakofta are the tavernas everyone mentions, each with its own version of the dish, with rooster or rabbit.

Lunch here pairs naturally with the Folklore Museum and with the northern beaches, Agios Georgios, Livadaki and Ambeli, which need an ATV. In the evening, a plate of matsata before the ride back is the classic sequel to the sunset at the windmills.

By scooter it is 10 minutes from Chora on asphalt; by bus in summer a few departures a day. Fill up at the island's only petrol station, which is on this road.

Agali is the beach with the most choice for eating: tavernas above the sand for lunch in your swimsuit, and in the evening dinner with the sun going down into the sea. Pacheri is the name you hear for food, Papalagi for sunset cocktails.

Agios Nikolaos, 20 minutes on the path or a few minutes by boat from Agali, has its own tavernas under the tamarisks, with your feet in the sand. It is the island's easiest "lunch on the beach".

The road to Agali is 5 km of asphalt from Chora, steep at the end, and the parking is above the beach. A 125 scooter is perfectly enough; you only need an ATV if you spent the morning on the northern beaches.

The port is the place for fish: the boats tie up a few metres from the tables and the tavernas on the seafront, with Kati Allo and Kalymnios the names you hear, cook whatever the day brought in. Ask what is fresh before you look at the menu.

It is also the obvious place to eat before or after the ferry: a swim at Karavostasi beach, a shower, a table on the seafront and boarding without hurry. From Chora it is 3 km downhill, 10 minutes by scooter or on the bus that usually meets the ships. See the port guide.

• Cash: many tavernas take cash only and the island's ATMs are two, in Chora. Come with euros.
• Tables: in July and August ask in the afternoon for the evening, especially on the squares.
• Timing: Greek dinners start late; around nine the squares fill. Opening hours change with the season, ask locally.
• Special diets: the oil-based vegetable dishes, fava and salads make vegetarian eating easy; for allergies ask the kitchen, most places are family-run and will help.