Food Safety in Greece

[CRUISE BUG BIT HARD]

Will be on a 14 day land-cruise tour of Greece and Turkery. Just wondering how safe the food is in local restaurants when not on the ship?

Thanks in advance

Suzanne

[texancruzer]

Hmmm well I would think that if a place looks like somewhere you don't want to eat......don't.

 

But we ate in numerous restaurants in both Greece and Turkey and were just fine. In fact, Turkish food is sooooo good. Ate locally in Istanbul (twice) and Kusadasi (twice). Also Athens, Santorini, Mykonos and Corfu.

 

That said, if you have a sensitive stomach you might want to stick to bottled water.

[cruisemom42]

These are not third-world countries. Food in general should be just as safe as in restaurants in Italy, France, Spain, etc. You could have a "bad" food experience anywhere. I have never gotten food poisoning or "traveler's diarrhea" on any trip, but I have certainly experienced food poisoning at US restaurants (including a chain where I've been hit twice -- never again will I dine there!)

 

I find Greek and Turkish foods to have a lot of similarities, particularly the salads. Turkish foods use some different spices. They are not "spicy," they just add a different flavor. I love both cuisines, and I would agree with the previous poster that Turkish food overall is just delicious. I was there for a couple of weeks about a year ago and almost every meal was worth looking forward to.

[chipmaster]

FWIW our group of 11 family members had NO issues in any of the ports for lunch/snacks. Some were more formal sitdown places. In Istanbul we had a wondeful authentic local outdoor resturant right beside St. Sophia. Young and old all were fine, YMMV. Outward appearances of a place is one way to judge as another poster said but looks could also be deceiving.

 

I've eating many a night market / lunch stand in Far East asia too with my kids/parents with no trouble. A lot depends on how sensitive and hardy your stomach is in your daily eating.

 

Happy eating!

 

Will be on a 14 day land-cruise tour of Greece and Turkery. Just wondering how safe the food is in local restaurants when not on the ship?

Thanks in advance

Suzanne