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.
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
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
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
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.
Our Pick of the Crete Guides
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 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
Best Things to Do on Crete
The best things to do on Crete and top things to see include the Samaria Gorge, the Minoan Palaces at Knossos and Phaistos, the towns of Chania and Rethymnon.
Crete
Crete (Kriti) is the largest Greek island and its main attractions include the Minoan Palace of Knossos, the Samarian Gorge, Chania and Rethymnon.
Best Crete Hotels
The best Crete hotels include 5-star luxury hotels, historic and romantic Venetian palaces, and several hotels in Hania and Iraklion.
Our Hire Car in Crete
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.
Crete Festivals and Events
Crete festivals and events include Carnival Easter, Whitsun, Christmas, many other religious feast days and public holidays.
Knossos
Visiting Knossos near Iraklion is one of the best things to do on Crete, and this page has a history of the site with visitor information.
Sir Arthur Evans, archaeologist at Knossos on Crete
Sir Arthur Evans is the archaeologist famous for the excavations he made at the royal palace of Knossos on Crete.
Diktean Cave, the Birthplace of Zeus near Psychro on Crete
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.
Arkadi Monastery
Visiting the Arkadi Monastery near Rethymnon is one of the best things to do on Crete.
Battle of Crete
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.
Samaria Gorge
The Samaria Gorge is one the longest gorges in Europe and doing the hike is one of the best and most popular things to do on Crete.
Maleme and the German War Cemetery on Crete
Maleme near Chania is where the people who died during the battle of Crete are buried, in the German War Cemetery with the Commonwealth War Cemetery nearby.
Malia and its Minoan Palace on Crete
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.
Phaistos Minoan Palace on Crete
Greece Travel Secrets page on Phaistos or Faistos, the site of one of the finest Minoan palaces on Crete and is where the mysterious Phaistos Disc was found.
Agios Nikolaos
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.
Chania, in Western Crete
Chania is the main city in Western Crete with a lovely setting and a beautiful harbour as well as several museums.
Rethymnon in Western Crete
Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,
Ancient Gournia Minoan Site in Eastern Crete
Ancient Gournia is a Minoan archaeological site between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia in Eastern Crete where the visitor can see evidence of a maze of back streets.
Gortina ancient archaeological site in southern Crete
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.
Elounda and Spinalonga, setting for The Island by Victoria Hislop
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.
Hiking the Samaria Gorge
Hiking the Samaria Gorge on Crete, one of the best things to do on Crete, by Greece Travel Secrets.
How to Make Petimezi
How to make Petimezi, the sweet Cretan syrup made from wine must, is explained to Greece Travel Secrets.
Hiking in Southwest Crete
Greece Travel Secrets goes hiking in southwest Crete with Ramblers Walking Holidays based in Paleohora and hiking the E4 footpath and to Anidri and Azogires.
Touring the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete
Greece Travel Secrets tours the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and learns about Crete grape varieties such as plyto, dafni, vidiano, vilana, mandilari and kotsifali.
Making Rakomelo on Crete
Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.
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