Dining at Vegera
Greece Travel Secrets eats at Vegera in Zaros and finds a cheap but
wonderful feast of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes cooked daily with fresh
local food.
The Vegera Restaurant in Zaros
We were staying in Zaros on Crete at the lovely Keramos
Studios, where they only serve breakfast, so we walked a minute round the
corner and found the Vegera Restaurant. It had been recommended to us by our
Cretan guide, Isi from Go Crete, who we knew by now could be relied on to find
the best eating places around.
Vegera is run by the vivacious Vee-Vee, who is part of the family that also runs the Keramos Studios. Not only is vee-Vee quite a character, we were soon to discover that she is also quite a cook.
Part of our Feast at Vegera
Dining at Vegera –
the Menus
Vee-Vee doesn’t have a regular menu, but three basic set-price menus and you choose one of these: Full Menu with Fish, Full Menu with Meat, or Full Vegetarian Menu.
When the restaurant opened in 2011 they decided they would only serve food cooked fresh that day. Zaros doesn’t get many visitors so it’s difficult to have a big menu and make everything fresh. They didn’t want to serve people yesterday’s moussaka but instead cook like you would cook at home.
We ordered some red and white wine and told Vee-Vee we would eat anything, so she offered us a mix of all menus. She then disappeared into the kitchen, where somehow she managed to conjure up a feast for each of the several tables that were full.
The Feast at Vegera
Lentil Soup
Stuffed Tomato, Stuffed Zucchini, and Moussaka
Vee-Vee Makes Great Pies Too!
Stuffed Cabbage and Stuffed Vine Leaves
We started with a dish of lentil soup, which smelled and
tasted fantastic. Then some cheese pies arrived, followed by spinach pies, a
plate of wild greens, some cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, some stuffed vine
leaves, a green salad, stuffed zucchini, stuffed tomatoes, stuffed peppers, several
mini moussakas, and finally a main
course which was a bigger dish of
beef, onion and rice.
Beef Stew
We thought that was it, but no. Finally came a whole trout,
which the town is noted for as there's a trout farm here. It’s one of only two
places on Crete where they farm trout. To round off the meal, Vee-Vee produced
a bottle of raki, and a piece of chocolate cake. When we came to pay I think
Vee-Vee simply made up a figure. As it was a remarkably small figure for such a
feast, we didn’t worry.
Local Trout
Dining at Vegera
Vee-Vee is very enterprising and also gives cookery courses,
organises cooking and wine-tasting holidays, and can arrange for people to eat
with the locals. Find out more on the website for the Vegera Restaurant
in Zaros.
And Finally (Really) Chocolate Cake!
Our Pick of the Crete Guides
Other Crete pages
Greece Travel Secrets tours the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and learns about Crete grape varieties such as plyto, dafni, vidiano, vilana, mandilari and kotsifali.
Studies have shown the Cretan Diet as one of the healthiest in the world, involving lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, fresh fish, and moderate amounts of wine.
This Rouvas Gorge walk starts and ends in Zaros in southern Crete and should take three to four hours with a distance of eight kilometres or five miles.
Matala Beach on Crete is a guest blog for Greece Travel Secrets from the We Love Crete website, inviting you to Awaken Your Inner Hippy in Matala, Crete.
The Snails House in Plouti near Phaistos in southern Crete serves the Cretan delicacy of snails, cooked in several different ways.
The Goules Taverna in Goulediana, south of Rethymnon, has been called one of the best tavernas on Crete and Greece Travel Secrets recently visited them.
The Battle of Crete during World War 2 inspired several books and took place with an airborne invasion over Maleme on the north coast of the island.
Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,
This Airbnb in the quiet village of Malaxa, a 30-minute drive into the hills above Chania, is a peaceful retreat with a delightful and thoughtful artist owner, with wonderful views and amenities.
The travel tale Our Hire Car in Crete describes what it’s like when you go driving in Greece and get off the beaten track, resulting in kindnesses.
Greece Travel Secrets chooses ten of the best beaches on Crete including the beautiful beaches at Vai and Elafonisi.
Sir Arthur Evans is the archaeologist famous for the excavations he made at the royal palace of Knossos on Crete.
Icon painting is a centuries-old tradition in Crete and the rest of Greece, and Greece Travel Secrets meets a modern-day icon painter in Elounda on Crete.
Agios Nikolaos is a pretty and popular town on the north coast of Crete and this page on Greece Travel Secrets covers its history, museums and beaches.
Margarites is known on Crete for its pottery, with ceramics shops and workshops lining the streets of this charming small town not far from Rethymnon.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Cretan Botano herbs and spices shop near Matala in southern Crete in search of the herb man of Kouses.
What was daily life as a Minoan like on Crete, living in palaces like the ones at Knossos, Malia, Phaistos, and Zakros, and what were their religious beliefs?
This olive grove walk from Limnes to Vrises on Crete also takes you through orchards and gives close-up views of some of the island’s windmills.
Hiking the Samaria Gorge on Crete, one of the best things to do on Crete, by Greece Travel Secrets.
This Lasithi Plateau drive on Crete starts in Neapoli and ends in Malia, covering a distance of 80 km (50 miles) and taking two to three hours.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Crete Botanical Gardens near Chania and finds a wonderland of colourful plants, trees, and flowers filling a lovely valley.
Greece Travel Secrets suggests where to stay in Eastern Crete with our favourite hotels in Zakros, Elounds, Sitia, Agios Nikolaos, Istron Bay, Myrtos, Neapolis.
Malia on the north coast of Crete is renowned for its nightlife and beaches but also has the Minoan Palace of Malia, one of Crete's many archaeological sites.
Ancient Gortina is an archaeological site in southern Crete famous for the church of Ayios Titos and for the Law Code inscribed here, the first in Europe.
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