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The old-fashioned kafeneion is a hub of village and town life, where local men gather to play backgammon and talk politics. They usually serve only Greek coffee, frappé (iced coffee), ouzo and raki , Greek brandy, bottled beer and a limited range of soft drinks.

These are the Greek equivalent of the Spanish tapas bar, serving ouzo , wine, beer and a range of snacks (meze) to accompany your drink. In a mezedopoleion you can order a complete meal of a dozen tiny dishes.

The zacharoplasteion (patisserie) is evidence of the Greek love of all things sweet. You will find honeysoaked baclava and an array of pastries stuffed with raisins and nuts and powdered with sugar and cinnamon, cream-filled pies and chocolate gateaux. The zacharoplasteion also serves coffee and sometimes a range of liqueurs and spirits.

The psarotaverna (fish tavern) serves every imaginable kind of seafood, from tiny whitebait to whole sea bass, shrimp, octopus, squid, langouste and less familiar delicacies, including sea urchins. Fish is officially classed category “A” (the most expensive) through “E” and is priced by weight.

The psitesteatoreon or grill restaurant is a carnivore’s delight and a vegetarian’s nightmare. The typical menu comprises chicken, lamb and pork, spit-grilled and served with chips and salad. Less familiar dishes include kokoretsi (liver and other offal wrapped in intestines and grilled) and sheep’s head.

The ubiquitous giros (pronounced “hero”) is Greece’s own greasy and delicious fast food – slivers of veal, pressed into a vertical cylinder and cooked on a revolving grill, shaved off and served in flat pitta bread with onions, tomatoes, yoghurt and a dash of cayenne pepper. Giros stands are strategically located in most towns and larger villages.

Neon-lit, gleaming new café-bars cater to holiday crowds in main resorts and to younger Greeks in towns such as Irakleio, Chania and Rethymno. They serve expensive imported lagers, iced coffee, soft drinks and disturbingly powerful cocktails, usually based on locally made vodka, tequila, rum or gin.

Tsikoudia , or raki , is Crete’s fiery traditional tipple, and is served neat in tiny glasses, sometimes first thing in the morning with coffee. Cretans rarely drink more than one at a sitting; nor should you. Wines include pine resinflavoured retsina (sold straight from the barrel or in 500 ml bottles) and drinkable red and white wines from Crete and elsewhere in Greece (see Top 10 Cretan Wines).

Lager beers including Amstel and Heineken are brewed under licence in Greece and sold in 500 ml bottles. Local brands including Mythos and Fix (the first beer brewed in Greece, introduced by a Bavarian brewer in the 1840s), also in 500 ml bottles. Café1-bars also serve imported brands including Budweiser and Beck’s. Bottled Newcastle Brown Ale, Guinness and British keg lagers on draft are served in some holiday resorts.

Greek tap water is perfectly safe to drink, but many visitors and Greeks themselves prefer the taste of bottled mineral water. Virtually every resort shop has a fridge stuffed with mineral water, cola, lemonade and other soft drinks.