CRETE TRAVEL GUIDE

Crete Travel Guide
6 Sardelles
Sardines are often wrapped in vine leaves to seal
in flavour and moisture, then grilled. Salted and pickled
sardines are often served as meze.
7 Xifias
Swordfish keeps its flavour well when frozen, so is
a favourite with restaurateurs.
8 Skorpios
The evil-looking scorpion fish is surprisingly tasty
and essential in fish soup.
9 Tonnos
Tuna steaks are best savoured in spring and autumn,
when tuna migrate through Cretan waters.
10 Gopes
Nondescript-looking, bony little fish that’s the
cheapest on the menu, but delicious once the bones are
removed.
Tavernas
Sterna tou Bloumofisi,
Vamos
Key part of a restored
19th-century stone village.
The taverna serves a wide
menu of Cretan specialities,
baked in wood-burning
ovens, and is open for
breakfast, lunch and dinner (see Sterna tou Bloumofisi,
Vamos).
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Ta Douliana, Douliana
A typical village taverna, set in the centre of tiny
Douliana. Its rickety wooden tables and chairs are on a
terrace shaded by vines, and the menu focuses on hearty
local cooking, such as arni avgolemono (lamb with lemon
sauce).
➤ Centre of Douliana, on road between Kalive and
Vamos • Map E3 • €€
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Kavouri, Limin Chersonisos Kavouri is one of
the best places
to eat in the Chersonisos resort area. The house
speciality is tender lamb kleftiko , roasted slowly in a
paper wrapping with garlic, lemon and herbs.
➤ Archaiou Theatrou • Map L3 • Closed Nov–Apr • €€€
4
To Farangi, Agia Roumeli
This family-run taverna is the best place to eat in
Agia Roumeli (see Samaria Gorge) and serves sfakanies
pites (pies topped with honey, a regional speciality),
stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, grilled meat dishes
and fish.
➤ Centre of Agia Roumeli • Map C4 • Closed Oct–May
• €€€
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Zorbas, Siteia
This big, old-fashioned
taverna beside the harbour
has not changed its
traditional menu in decades.
It serves meze as well as
heartier meals, including
mousakas and a range of
grilled fish dishes (see
Zorbas, Siteia).
Taverna tou Zissi, Rethymno
Zissi looks rather unprepossessing at first, housed
in a drab concrete building. But inside, it serves some of
the best food around. The charcoal-grilled lamb alone is
worth a trip from Rethymno (see Taverna tou Zissi,
Rethymno).
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Marilena, Elounda
Marilena’s menu concentrates on seafood, simply
grilled and very fresh, and prices are not exorbitant by
the standards of Elounda, which is generally the priciest
place on Crete. Other Greek dishes have been adapted
for foreign palates by using a little less oil (see Marilena,
Elounda).
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Vareladika, Irakleio
A pleasant, stylish and reasonably priced eating
place close to the Venetian harbour. Vareladika has a tiny
outdoor terrace where you can sample the wide menu
of Cretan specialities, with wine served in copper jugs
from the barrel.
➤ Moni Agarathou 13 • Map K3 • €€
9
Taverna Auoas, Agios
Nikolaos
Handily located close to the
Archaeological Museum, this
taverna serves a wide variety
of well-prepared traditional
Cretan dishes.
➤ Paleologou 44 • Map N4 • Closed Nov–Apr • €€€
10
Itanos, Agios Nikolaos
In a lane just off the main square, Itanos claims to
be the resort’s only authentic taverna – a claim that looks
increasingly shaky as tourism continues to grow.
Neverthless, the taverna serves good, affordable Cretan
meals and wine, and is always busy.
➤ Plateia Venizelou • Map N4 • €€€
Places to Eat
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The Old Mill, Elounda
The most luxurious restaurant in eastern Crete,
situated in the Elounda Mare Hotel (see Elounda Mare
Hotel, Elounda). The menu combines the best of Greece
with international cuisine. Booking essential; dress code
formal.
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Places to Eat and Drink