The honest taverns in Crete are innumerable. We chose 10 of the best taverns of Crete with a special character, mainly from the areas of Heraklion and Rethymnon. Have a good trip!
Η Crete is the largest island in Greece and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus and Corsica. Blessed by the gods, unique on the planet, thanks to the generous gifts of nature and history.
Untouched and fertile nature, proud mountains with a long history pastoral culture, imposing gorges, caves, plateaus, plains with thousands of olive trees, vast vineyards, the richest flora of Europe, a thousand kilometers of coastline, the Cretan cuisine, The healthiest and most delicious cuisine in the world, Crete is the cradle of European culture, is the first tourist destination in Greece, with four million visitors a year.
However, it still maintains a significant productive population, dealing with the primary sector, mainly oil, vineyards and wine, dynamic crops (early vegetables), livestock and cheese-making. The main island is also the region with the largest number of PDO and PGI products in Greece (18 out of 101 throughout the country).
The most important products of the Cretan land are the olives and the olive oil, the grapes, the citrus and in general the fruits, the wine and the tsikoudia, the dairy, the apaki, the sour sausages, the breads and the nuts, the thyme honey, the stamnagathi, wild herbs and vegetables, sultana raisins, locusts, herbs and aromatic plants.
The honest taverns and traditional cafes in Crete are innumerable. Traveling we chose 10 of the best taverns of Crete and the most characteristic cafes with a special character from its areas Heraklion and Rethymnon and we hope we do not disappoint you. Have a good trip!
The best taverns and cafes of Crete
Tavern of Dounias - Drakona in the White Mountains
At Dragon Tiles, on a green slope White Mountains at an altitude of about 500 meters and just 18 km from Chania is its tavern Stelios Trilirakis, the so-called "People". And the tavern of Stelios is the example of the absolute impressive gastronomic experience for all of Greece because: the raw materials are of the region, the vegetables from his orchards and the meat from free range animals - small cows of local breed, sheep, goats, rabbits- all from his own pastures while cooking is done in parasites and wood stoves.
His food, always of the season, one by one, the bread with local flours, award-winning nuts, gardoumakia, cauliflower with sour cream, lamb in oil paste and a lot more άλλα And if sometimes Stelios is squeezed by a lot of people… then he answers with his sweet smile: “Groomsmen slow food Didn't you want to? "
Yard Restaurant - Rethymnon
From the mid-90s Yard restaurant is the reference point of the high kitchen in Rethimno. Excellent flavors, sought after aesthetics and in the smallest detail, an exemplary architectural restoration of Venetian buildings, service by a young, noble and cheerful staff. Cretan cuisine but also creative. A magical atmosphere. The world of the Yard, its world Katerina Xekalou.
The Cretan goodies: crunchy flutes with Cretan cheeses, mint, honey and sesame, Sfakian pie with xynomizithra, honey and walnuts, Sfakian lamb cooked in its juices with village potatoes green pepper, and from the creative kitchen pork fillet with white grape sauce, beef liver with stinging nettle, brisket with grilled mushrooms, fig paste and hazelnut.
Peskesi Restaurant - Heraklion
The Peskesi is located in the center of the city Heraklion, when the old mansion of Captain Polyxingis, in the middle of 2010 was rebuilt with great taste and set out to teach the world the authentic Cretan delicacies. Huge range of Cretan delicacies, the whole Cretan vineyard - and only this one - in front of your eyes, aesthetics of everything of a high level, excellent service, the place warm and familiar with various findings that impressed the visitor.
The dishes are all Cretan at very affordable prices (that's why you meet a lot of young people). Apart from the salads (kastrini, Cretan rustic, ofti and lakadaria), the eggs or the french fries with staka, the stuffed zucchini stuffed with mizithra, the Sfakian siglino before the cup (smoked on your bosom with thyme and sage) pork cooked with honey and thyme with legume puree - Minoan Cretan dish), thick with eggplant and galomizithra and Kantanos pork (of Minoan origin).
Kritamon Restaurant - Archanes
In the Upper Archanes, often referred to simply as Archanes, a town located 16 km from Heraklion in Crete, with 5.000 inhabitants, at an altitude of 400 m. Dimitris Mavrakis, a young chef with seminars near Alain Ducasse, Alessandro Miatelo and respectively of Cretan traditional cuisine, together with his wife Maria Hachlaki decided to come and settle in their particular homeland creating it Kritamon restaurant.
Their ingredients are the goodies of the wild Cretan flora, the cooking habits of their particular homeland, the vegetables that they cultivate themselves, the extra virgin olive oil of their place, the herbs and the herbs that are collected from the mountain "Yukhtas" while they also produce their own homemade pasta (production siufiks, noodles, mangiri).
Olive and Mint Restaurant - Skalani
Η "Olive and Mint" is a restaurant in Staircase, 11 km distance from Heraklion, Crete, next to the famous wineries of the area, starring the award-winning chef Argyro Barda. The open kitchen of the restaurant is an opportunity to admire Argyro to create her delicacies, which is a "marriage" of the Cretan tradition with a refined and healthy diet.
From the dishes of Argyros we singled out: smoked eggplant salad with aromatic herbs, Chania meat cakes and fennel pies, handmade macaroni with skewers, rooster wine with oatmeal, lamb roll stuffed with spinach and lamb with spinach.
Kapsaliana Village Hotel Restaurant
The Kapsaliana Village Hotel in Kapsaliana, is a member of the Historic Hotels of Europe and is a special offer of accommodation in Crete and the entire Mediterranean. Its creation is due to the architect Myrona Toupogianni, vero Cretan, who fell in love thirty years ago with this blessed place, and after long and arduous efforts managed to make his dream come true.
Gastronomy plays a key role in the services of Kapsialiana Village Hotel. Many farm products made from the hotel orchards or others from neighboring family farms are offered for breakfast or lunch. The main meals in the restaurant are a unique experience, creations of the award-winning chef Vassilis Leonidou, trying creative cuisine such as chicken with yogurt, raisins and portulaca, or smoked lamb.
The change of taste - Vizari
In Busy in a small village with few houses in a nice location, in the middle of its verdant valley Asomathian Plain, just after the beautiful Amari, next to a tufted mulberry tree is the "Change of taste". It is owned by Papa-Manolis and Papadia Eleni Stavroulaki, the tavern owner who, in addition to being a singer, cook and tavernier for years, is a volunteer firefighter and in fact president of the volunteer firefighters of Crete.
The environment is calm, a garden with vegetables, a wood stove in the kitchen and another in the courtyard, a wooden fence with flowers and the Papa-Manolis to tell you stories. Heaven. The food is simple, homemade but bites and home. Omelette with artichokes, delicious potatoes, gorgeous goat, salads, a divine pastitsio and finally the homemade donuts.
Sarandauga Cafe in Heraklion
In the heart of the Agora of Heraklion, is located since 1924 the cafe-cafe Sarandauga, which is a station of the social life of the city. A souda of 15 square meters, with four and all tables, and so many more on the sidewalk, and on its walls the whole history of Heraklion.
A TV over the kitchen covered with an OFI scarf, but when it has a match, it is pulled out, so that the crowds can enjoy football. Excellent appetizers, rakes, but above all this casual atmosphere, where all the tables become a company. The life of the Greek.
Cafe of Kayambis in Heraklion
Ο cafes of Kayambis is one of the classic hangouts of the city of Heraklion. Its special features are its excellent local delicacies and the human geography of its customers. A 10-minute walk from Lions Square, Monofatsiou Street, an alley in a quiet neighborhood, is the most cult hangout in town.
In the kitchen under the watchful eye of Che, the Rania Tsoukalas, a Cretan lad gives incalculable joy to the patrons of the cafe. Her cooking is excellent, salads, snails, cuckoos, livers, omelettes with artichokes, rooster with spicy spaghetti, divine fries. "Every day separate from lentils", he tells us. However, I was enchanted by its warmth, but also by the cooking of its fat - after frying the onion and browning the eggplant, zucchini, carrot, and sometimes mushrooms, we add the broken wheat, a little white wine and a idea cumin and cook them-.
Skoula Cafe in Anogia
Arriving in Anogia, the famous village of Crete at the roots of Psiloritis, in your right hand tucked between two mulberries you will find the Cricket cafe entitled "Syntagma Square", perhaps the oldest cafe in the village. The interior is dominated by two large photos of the coffee maker Michalou Skoula - one taken forty years ago and the other relatively recently - and around them many small photos and excerpts from newspapers that refer to the history of the Skoula family and the Anogia.
Outside in the yard and in the thick shade of a mulberry tree, for years old people from Anogia, straight, masculine, in black shirts, with mustaches and typical headscarves chatting while drinking their raki. Unfortunately, Michalos - brother of the well-known Panhellenic mantinador Vassilis Skoulas - who for decades served, served, helped his wife Irene - a modern heroine - and did not miss the opportunity to be photographed, to sing or to tell his stories to customers at the age of 85, in 2014 he left for heaven. We miss him.
PLACE & HISTORY - TRADITIONAL KITCHEN
TAVERNS - RESTAURANTS - CAFES
PRODUCERS - WINERY
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