Tsipouradiko, Corfu Town

It may not be everyone's glass of tsipouro, but I enjoyed some great food and conversation (accompanied by tsipouro or retsina) on two or three occasions in Corfu recently, at the Tsipouradiko, just behind the Court House.

Very popular with students (it's always packed out after 8.30pm), it does get very smoky from the wood-burning stove and the cigarettes, but the variety of tasty dishes and meze (mezedhes) is both tempting and impressive, and the prices very reasonable. No signs of recession here. The decor is pretty authentic 1950s-1960s Greece.

Other favourite haunts for excellent traditional Greek cooking in Corfu Town are Rouvas (lunchtime) and O Bekios in Mandouki. Nothing fancy, but that's half the appeal.