My wife and I shared a Fisherman's Meze and it wasn't the least bit greasy - it was delicious! The cover charge isn't exorbitant when you consider the ouzo, the bread, the butter and the standard of service. We had about eight meals at the Mantalena last fortnight and there were no disappointments. At least Tassos doesn't have to stand outside soliciting custom!

As ever, this was an excellent holiday. Hillary is a very good rep - Dennis and Andrika still provide a superb service at the mini market - Villa Thea is just a very good, but basic, accommodation. The owner, Andreas Marinos, has upgraded the bathroom but he still needs to sort out the damp and the electrics. The huge terrace, overlooking the valley and the beach, makes up for everything!

Wow! The Psarapoula's getting almost posh! The garden is lovely - the menu is expanding - there are more tables - and the service is getting a bit quicker. Jimmy's cooking is getting more adventurous and the lovely Zoë seems, thank God, to be recovering from her awful illness.

This is still, in spite of the sometimes unwanted publicity,one of the best, quiet, family orientated beaches on the island. There's not much to do other than relax. Above the beach, there's the Shoestring Bar (for the rich) and, a little bit further away, there's the mini market (for the poor, like me ). The water is clear; it's so shallow that you can walk out about fifty metres before it reaches your naughty bits! The fish, which will be served up later at the Psarapoula as whitebait, will come and nibble at your toes! Where else on the island will you find a little shelf with fruit and vegetables with an "honesty box" in to which you drop a Euro or two to buy delicious, fresh grapes, tomatoes, courgettes, melons - it's on the path on the way to the beach. It's the last fling of Nikos Marinos, the Captain, who's now in his eighties. He even uses his car, now, to get the fifty metres down from his house, up by the mini market, to the beach. Please support him, if you're passing that way - the pickings are fresh and delicious.

Dimitri Peppas has a couple of these in Alikes/Alikanas which we've rented for the last couple of years. They are comfortable, reliable and feel safe. I've taken them on unmade tracks up in the Vrachonias and never had a moment's trouble. The only caveat is that they don't carry a lot of luggage if there's more than two of you on the airport run - otherwise perfect for use on Zakinthos and have a lower centre of gravity, making them much more stable, than the other, earlier Suzuki "jeeps".

Diane -
Villa Thea is only about seventy five yards from the beach which is sandy and slopes very gently into a lovely clear sea where small fish nibble your toes! There are sun loungers and umbrellas along the stretch of sand to the right for which a few euros are collected daily by a complicated consortium of the local land owners. There's a narrower strip to the left which has no beach furniture.

The beach was a little disappointing this year - the litter is disgusting. Let's assume there are 75 sunbeds on the beach at €4.00 per day - that's €300. Seven days a week is €2,100, say $2,000 to make it easy. There are 30 weeks in a season - this makes a grand total of about €60,000 divided between Andreas Marinos, Nikos Marinos, Franciscus Marinos, Tassos Marinos and three others in the syndicate. Do you think they might be able to afford to clean the beach a couple of times a month, at the very least? In 1992, Timsway, Direct Greece and Friends of the Ionian jointly organised a mid season beach clean up which got only half way along the beach before they ran out of their supply of 26 bin bags! OK,so it's late in the season and it's we tourists who create the litter, but the few bins provided are filled to overflowing and never emptied.

It's really such a shame, because this should be one of the prettiest and safest family beaches on the island and it's in danger of ruining its amenities just for the lack of a little effort.

Let's face it it, Tassos Pylarinos and the rest of his family have set a standard that nobody else in Alikanas, or the rest of Zakinthos, can match. They've tried for over a decade, but not yet managed to reach his standards. The food is genuinely Greek, the speed and efficiency of service matches that of really good restaurants in north west Europe, the dishes are delicious, and, in the middle of all that, there's still time for a free ouzo and a chat! What more could one ask for - oh, yes - it's not expensive!

Dear Diane,

I'm so glad you liked Villa Thea! It is certainly basic, but it's clean and comfortable. We're looking forward to going there in July/August this year - it'll be something like our eight time. I used to be the Timsway rep for Thea (which means "view"), as well as several other properties in Old Alikanas. I've been going to Alikes/Alikanas since 1980 and this small hamlet of Xohoriati reminds me of what it used to be like then. What were small fishing ports for Katastari have become huge resorts and people who were farmers and fishermen have become quite wealthy entrepreneurs, and, although I'm not always happy with what they've developed, I'm very pleased that they are much better off than they were then. But the various Marinos families in Xohoriati have somehow manged to achieve the fine balance of providing service without ripping you off. It's still a peaceful haven where people will drop off a couple of courgettes, tomatoes or eggs on your doorstep. Then, there is the mini market - "The Xohoriati International Supermarket", with Denis and Adnrika, which provides a service above and beyond the normal call - could you go to Sainsbury's and ask them to pop down to the cash & carry for your particular brand of cigarettes? All in all, it's still a little bit of paradise.

Sigouros makes seriously good pottery - it's not the usual tourist souvenir junk that is quite likely to have been mass produced in Taiwan and have "Zante" or "Majorca" stamped on it! His designs are traditional and beautiful and the colours stunning. As well as the pottery itself, on the road to Macherado, there is a shop on Alessandro Roma Street next to the Olympic Airways office.

This place really is the pits - it seems to know nothing about cooking or how to present food. Go to the Mantelana for a good meal!

I was advised by good local friends that Peppas Cars, whom we had been using for well over ten years, were no longer operating and that I should try Euro Alfa.   I'm very pleased that we did!   Aggelos provides and excellent service, with good, clean and well maintained cars, together with an extremely good comprehensive insurance scheme.   He was kind enough to meet us in Arrivals with a very clear notice board, the papers were all ready to be signed, just as we had agreed by email, together with the bonus of helping us ferry our suitcases to Alikanas.  All at a very reasonable price!

We've been eating at the Mantalena for twenty five years and it's wonderful how Tassos and the rest of the family have managed to keep the standards so high, the prices so reasonable (don't forget the first glass of ouzo is on the house!), and the service swift and efficient!   It's still the best, so it's not surprising that the competition posts irritanting "greeters" outside the door, pestering you like pimps outside a Soho brothel!  Have you notice how some of the others have ridiculous fake plastic pillars, greeters in silly costumes, and commercial photos of food that certainly never came from their own kitchens!   The Mantalena doesn't need gimmicks like their lesser rivals - it relies on good food, good service and a welcoming, vine covered, genuine Greek atmosphere!   Congratulations, Tassos - keep up the good work and thank you for a quarter century of good eating!

Hi Jess!