O! Hamos - The Very Best in Milos

Images: Our inscription chair; Pots and Flowers on the Stairs; Handwritten Menu; SL with a selection of Menus
Faithful bloggee, if you are just tuning in, there are a number of posts that have been uploaded today, so you may wish to go back and check out the last couple. Images are taking forever to upload, which may be a result of our new cam being set to a much higher resolution. I promise to upload pics when I can.


Last night we went back to a little taverna we discovered two days ago at lunch. Eating in Milos had become a bit predictable – wonderful Mediterranean cuisine, but you can pretty much expect the same menu at each spot. Souvlaki, mousaka, Greek salads, fish, etc. This taverna set itself apart in many ways. They have really succeeded in creating something special.
The restaurant is called “O! Hamos”, www.ohamos-milos.gr, and it is just outside of the port town of Adamas, on the road to the airport (seaside of Papikinou Adamos). It has a beautiful view of the sea, and the Psatha family have incorporated a number of quaint touches that have turned their establishment into something unique.
You know that care has been taken to create a soothing, relaxing environment from the deft touches that abound. Geraniums spill over from stock pots placed at the side of each step in the multi-tiered eating areas. Fountains are created from shard of Greek urns cascading down miniature landscapes. What tips you off that you are at someplace very special are the menus – not what's on the menu, though we will come to that soon, but the actual menus themselves.
Each one is handmade. Stiff cardboard is wrapped in bright wallpaper and laminated to create a colourful cover, each one different and individual. Inside is a sheaf of yellow notepaper, bound with twine to create a small booklet. Every page is painstakingly handwritten in Greek, English, Italian, German, and French. The cover is decorated with cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, sea salt patterns, and much more, again, each one different.
You can just imagine the children trying to outdo each other with creating the most original menu of the bunch!
There are Greek inscriptions, poetry and sayings beautifully calligraphed on the walls and benches. The chairs themselves bear inscriptions from guests who are encouraged to leave their own message using a paint pen.
Ours was:
“We came for lunch,
We returned for dinner,
In any language,
O! Hamos is a winner!”
The bread is homemade, as is the cheese, the wine, the sauces. The goats, beef, pork and chicken all come from the family farm. Every recipe is a family tradition. They do not serve fish, because they would have to outsource the fish itself, and they pride themselves that everything they serve they have made or grown themselves.
The bread is served in a string bag which is slung over the back of a chair. Your wine is served in a ceramic jug, hand made with the family pattern, as are the little cups to drink from, and the plates.
Our meals?
Bougiourdi – Tomatoes and peppers baked spicy in a pot.
Psito Sti Hovoli – Wild goat cooked inside the ember for hours with lemon-mustard and marjoram.
Katsiki Lemonato – Goat cooked with fresh lemon juice.
Arnaki Surtukiko – Lamb wrapped and baked in a paper with fresh onions, dill and melted cheese.
Gourounopoulo – Piglet baked in the paper with molasses.
If you are ever in Milos, go to see the Psatha family: Irene, Nikolas, Athina, George, and Vaggells at the O! Hamos . Don't forget to look for our message on a chair and paint one of your own!