One of our favourite restaurants in the centre of Naoussa was Safran, a rightfully popular restaurant which serves traditional Greek and Mediterranean cuisine.

The dishes are sophisticated and delicious, served on an interesting array of crockery. The service is extremely friendly and we were well looked after by a waiter who was a big Tottenham Hotspur fan.

We ordered the taramasalata (a traditional Greek dip made from fish roe), followed by the tuna steak and the lamb shank. Each dish was exquisite and extremely tasty; the tuna was almost melt in the mouth and the lamb shank was hearty and tender.

We would recommend booking ahead for a prime time evening slot.

Soso was another great find close to the centre of Naoussa – and the dining experience was certainly not so-so. The restaurant does have an indoor dining area, but since we were visiting in summer, we opted to eat in the pretty white-washed street. Soso is located just off the busy, boutique lined streets in the centre of town, making it a reasonably quiet and relaxing atmosphere to dine in.

The food is Greek/Mediterranean cuisine which is very well put together. We had two starters: mini halloumi cheese pies in honey, and aubergine rolled in bacon with a cheesy, creamy sauce. For our mains we had a grilled sea bass and a veal orzo dish, both of which were very tasty.

This little restaurant is where you go for your real down to earth, local grub. It doesn’t look particularly special at first glance – if it wasn’t for the huge queue, we might not have noticed it. Found in the buzzing narrow alleys running parallel to the sea front, this little beauty is a must for dinner.

The food is small plates, all of which are excellent examples of traditional Greek food. We got a selection of plates; a Greek salad, taramasalata, fried zucchini balls, stuffed eggplant and chicken fricassee. This was more than enough for two people and was by far our cheapest dinner on our trip. It was extremely cheap for the quality of food we ate. No wonder it is so popular.

One downside is that because the restaurant is so popular, there is a long and quite unclear queuing system that they employ. To get a table you basically need to stop one of the waiters and ask to be put in their virtual queue (based entirely on the waiters’ memory!). Although you are entirely reliant on the waiters not forgetting you and there is no real way of knowing how many people are ahead of you, the upside is you are encouraged to go and grab an alfresco cocktail at one of the many bars lining the street while you wait.

This nice colourful little cocktail bar was where we sat in the virtual queue for dinner at Kafeino Palia Agora. It is about twenty metres down the same narrow alley as Kafeino, making it the perfect place to sit and relax with a cocktail while waiting to be summoned by the waiter.

We were drawn in my the colourful, wooden furniture and the lengthy cocktail menu – especially the espresso martinis.

Taverna Glafkos is the perfect bar for a sun downer. We stumbled on this gem quite accidentally while wandering through the labyrinth of alleys. This taverna offers a wide range of cocktails in a prime location to see the sun light up the pearly white Naoussa sea front. Of course the price of the location is reflected in the drinks!

This cocktail bar takes the night up a gear – compared to some of the other quaint tavernas by the sea, Sommaripa Consolato is a bar with some heavy tunes and strong cocktails to go with them. Its main draw is it’s prime people-watching terrace overlooking the harbour, where you can be entertained by the array of buzzing fish restaurants and live music below. But you will have to wait your turn or arrive there early to get one of the balcony tables with that view.

Lefkes is a little village nestled in the hills of central Paros. It is one of the prettiest places we visited in Paros and perhaps in all of the Cyclades.

This picture-perfect blue and white restaurant is located immediately on your right as you enter through the main gate into the Lefkes centre. We were a little concerned that we had fallen into a tourist trap at first, as it was literally the first restaurant we saw. But after walking around the centre of Lefkes we decided that this restaurant was really too pretty not to try. We’re glad we came back.

You can choose to sit under the trees downstairs or upstairs on the terrace. The place was pristine and the staff very accommodating. We chose a starter of zucchini balls followed by shrimp linguine and lamb chops; all of which was superb.

This simple alfresco cafe is situated in a pretty little square at the centre of Lefkes. It is run by an old lady who has clearly been serving coffees to tourists and locals for quite some time.

The cafe has a lovely character to it and clearly makes good use of the summer months with its colourful, wooden chairs and tables squeezed into the square under the shade of two large pine trees. The Byzantine trail starts from here, and it is the perfect place to grab a drink and some homemade baclava before embarking on a hike.

We visited Aliki in the south of Paros for a trip around the coast with Rofos boat trips. We managed to find this beauty on the sea front of this coastal town for lunch after the trip.

Pronounced “To Mouragio”, this family owned taverna has been perfecting its almost exclusively fish and sea food menu for the last 30 years. The drying octopus on the restaurant veranda is an indication that the food is incredibly fresh. We had a feast of fresh squid and fried sea bream which we enjoyed at a little table precariously placed on the edge of a parasol shaded peninsular jutting out into the harbour. We would definitely recommend asking for a table on the peninsular where possible, it was great being surrounded by the sea and watching the fish swimming below as we ate.

The restaurant is connected to its sister restaurant which also has a peninsular but instead of the fish courses, it majors on more meaty dishes.