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Where to Eat in Eastern Crete

Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to eat in Eastern Crete including restaurants and tavernas in Elounda, Agios Nikolaos, and Kato Zakros.

Greek SaladGreek Salad

La Casa

One entrance to this café-restaurant in Agios Nikolaos is on a pedestrianised shopping street, the other by the lake-front where most of the seating is to be found. Being open all year, La Casa is as popular with local youngsters as with visitors, serving simple meals all day, like spinach pies and toasted sandwiches, or proper meals at lunchtime and in the evening. These include chicken dishes, fish, souvlaki and so on, although one tasty and filling speciality is turkey that is stuffed with ham, bacon and eggs and then baked in the oven.

Ferryman Taverna

Sample Dish at the Ferryman Taverna in Elounda, CreteThe Ferryman Taverna in Elounda

One of several restaurants in a row at the southern end of the Eloúnda waterfront, the Ferryman is distinguished by its much more imaginative menu. In appearance it is much like the others, with outdoor seating overlooking the water and an indoor room too across the quiet street. However, one look at the menu lets you know that the cooking here is far more ambitious, and among the house specialities are Cretan lamb cooked in red wine and a pork special, cooked with bacon, mushrooms, garlic, white wine and fresh cream.

Káto Zákros Bay Restaurant

Table of dishes at the Kato Zakros Bay Restaurant on CreteAt the Kato Zakros Bay Restaurant

The Kato Zakros Bay Restaurant is a family taverna right by the sea in tiny Káto Zákros, a place for those who really want to escape. It is worth escaping here for the food in this family taverna whose owners also have a farm where they breed rabbits, quail and grouse. Vegetables come from their own garden, and all meals are cooked in extra-virgin olive oil… and it shows. Good local wines too.

Meltemi

Meltemi Restaurant at the Istron Bay HotelMeltemi Restaurant at the Istron Bay Hotel

Hotel restaurants sometimes disappoint, but the Meltemi at the Istron Bay Hotel is exceptional, one of the best eats on the island, winning awards for its imaginative cuisine. Non-residents are welcome to enjoy the stylish dining room overlooking the sea through a wall of windows, reached by a path through the hotel gardens. Booking is advised, whether your taste is for seafood or hearty but subtle meat dishes. Extensive wine list too.

Pelagos

The Pelagos in Agios Nikolaos can be spotted by the fishing boat outside, and its beautiful shady palm-filled courtyard where the tables stand on a stone floor. Inside there are several small, intimate rooms with bright blue and yellow paintwork. Food is served all day although you are welcome to sit just for a drink and a nibble. Seafood is the speciality, including octopus, mussels and of course the catch of the day, but meat-lovers and vegetarians are also well catered-for.

Vritomartes

The Vritomartes Restaurant in Elounda on CreteThe Vritomartes Restaurant in Elounda

The Vritomartes is an unmissable seafood restaurant out on the breakwater in Elounda with its name emblazoned on the side in huge letters. There is a pleasant seating area overlooking the water, and before you get there you will pass the water tank containing the fish and lobsters swimming around. The menu is vast, and not confined to seafood, but it would be a shame not to try the more imaginative dishes, even if they might push the price up a little.


Other Crete pages

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  • 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.

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  • The Diktean or Diktaean Cave, also known as the Psychro Cave, near the village of Psychro in eastern Crete, is said to be the birthplace of Zeus.

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    Arkadi Monastery

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  • Chania is the main city in Western Crete with a lovely setting and a beautiful harbour as well as several museums.

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  • Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,

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  • 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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  • Elounda on Crete's north coast is a popular holiday town with a pretty harbour, from where you can take day trips by boat to see the island of Spinalonga.

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