Let's eat in Chania!...but where?
 

We'll be in Chania soon....Euros (gulp) in hand. Where are your recommended (and preferably reasonable) favorites to catch a quick bite or have a nice sit down meal in Chania?

YOu still here, seeksocean? I thought you & your sextet were off & running!

Wonderful place to start your stay... first sit for the sunset at harborside -- we choose tables just past the area of Venetian drydock (based on which has the most cushiony chairs!). Then we wander on to the FAR end of the promenade, just past the causeway out to the barrier.

At the end there is APOSTOLIS, great view (also clear plastic screens help if windy). Everyone says: best fish in town & theyre right, but not just fish. we had mussel, and artichokes in sauce, to die for. If careful, u can dine for 11-12€. Good enough?

Another spot I liked in 07, ENETIKON on Zambeliou (the street linking theotokopolou & waterfront square). Has a lot of French customers always a good sign. Lovely stifado (stew) shared salad, glass of red + tip =12E.

Quick bites are gyros ... but I prefer to go to Central market & get stuff for picnics

I loved Tamam Restaurant. Kind of a Greek/ Middle eastern type food.
Just one block from the main harbor in the narrow pedestrian street off of the main square.

My favorite restaurant in Chania is Moutoupaki- atmosphere, great food, wonderful service-it has it all. We ate dinner there 3 nights while we were there. I wish I was there now. YUM!

Thanks all! Jan, still here. Racing against the falling dollar. Glad I am going this time as this may be it for Europe if the dollar falls too far. Wish I would have been the backpacking teen in Europe long ago!

Seeksocean

Popped on today and saw your post. I cut and paste the restaurant portions of our prior trip report. Apostolous 2 was by far our favourite with Monastiri (which I think is the same as Moutoupaki) as our second favourite.

Have a blast in Chania you lucky people. We just got back from Florence and I can certainly say that your Euros are going to go a LOT farther eating in Crete than elsewhere in Europe including Italy.

Enjoy:

EXCERTPS:

We had great food in Chania. We had researched the various restaurants before leaving. We unfortunately couldn’t get to all of them in four days. Particularly memorable was Apostolos 2 (there is an Apostolos 1 as well – the second one is almost the last restaurant at the very end of the inner Harbour at the start of the walk to the sea wall). Our first meal was enjoyed in the late afternoon on our first day with the sun warming our pale Canadian faces. The fava (oh so creamy), the Greek salad (fresh tomatoes and cukes bursting with flavour and the “slab” of feta cheese). Roasted vegetables. We ordered the grill plate for two people….that could really feed six. The grilled shrimp and cod and small fish exploded with simple fresh tastes of the sea, and good olive oil. We discovered the Cretan wines are excellent. The always-gratuitous sweets at the end of the meal at Apostolos included tiny hot phyllo triangles drenched in warm honey and two plates of spoon sweets with a tiny bottle of ice cold tskoudis. We returned again our last evening in Chania where the meal was every bit as memorable, but a bit windy.

The second day, the sun was setting and the harbour was alive with people. We had an awesome dinner at Monastiri, around the corner from the Mosque. Their grilled and baked meats and vegetable dishes were amazing. Despite the fact that they had a podium with the laminated pictures of the food at the front, the guide books were right in identifying this as one of the friendliest and best restaurants in Chania. This was one of the restaurants always packed with Chania residents each night and the staff were particularly friendly. There was a dish called “Nun’s Sin” which was pork stuffed with tomatoes and peameal bacon. I also had excellent roasted lamb, and the Saganaki (fried cheese) was really good. There was an awesome warm dish of fried potatoes and cheeses which we dubbed “Greek Poutine”. It was a somewhat more refined version of the dish we were familiar with back home. “Poutine” is a Quebec dish that can hardly be described as “high cuisine” – you take a large dish of deep fried French fries, then sprinkle cheese curds or mozzarella cheese on top and then smother the plate with hot gravy. It is a high-calorie, high-fat, high-cholesterol indulgence that is great with a burger. The soggy concoction is a favourite in most diners and restaurants across Quebec and parts of Ontario. This Greek version was MUCH better.

On the third day we found Karanagio (or Karanayio), also on the waterfront, which is located a bit back from the harbour behind a parking lot. This place is also on everyone’s short lists and has a large menu and excellent Cretan and Greek food and seafood. I tried the snails here which were served “fresh from the basket”, in the shell, very simply fried with some oil and herbs and a bit of tomato and not smothered in cheese and garlic as more commonly seen. Very tender and tasty but still required me to cope with the very simple fact – “I’m eating a slug!”.

Taman was on our list, and right around the corner from Porto del Colombo, and was always packed each evening. Another lovely place off the harbour was Semiramis (8 Skoufon) which is a few streets back from the harbour and located in a beautiful treed courtyard illuminated by strings of lights and waterfalls. Musicians were playing folk songs that last evening we went, which made it very romantic. We had only a light meal with desserts but the full menu (and watching the plates go by) listed the full range of good home cooking. This is a great place to enjoy some music in a quiet setting.

Thanks so much Dave and everyone! I was in Florence two years ago. I thought Italy was sort of a deal then...compared to France at least.

Actually this trip and my last trip there are my only trips to Europe. Maybe forever as the dollar continues to drop.

I may have to go to places where the dollar still has got some leverage...Mexico...South-East Asia. I really appreciate everyone and thier contributions!

Moutoupaki is not the same as Monastiri. Moutoupaki is near Tamam-not near the mosque. After 3 weeks in Greece- Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos and Crete- still my favorite restaurant. Hope you have a great trip!

I'm watching this post with interest as we will be in Crete in June for 2 weeks. We've hired a villa in Plaka, near the resort of Almirida and hope to have at least a couple of evenings in Chania. We have visited before but over 10 years ago now and I can't wait to return, this time with all my family, including my 2 and a half year old grandson.

Thanks! How about favorite 'on the fly' eats? Street food, etc. And getting off the subject a little, what where your favorite day trips away from Chania?

Any more tips here, please. My trip is now less than 2 weeks away and my mouth is already watering at the thought of those mussels, stifado, Greek salad, etc.

The Apostolis (the one that is correctly identified in this post..as there are two, not far from each other) was GREAT! Had all the things traveljan had and the fried eggplant was insane!!!

Shop at the public market and make picnics. Also, the restaurant stalls at the market were good. Did not enjoy Moutoupaki..we got a weird vibe from the staff..really hurried and the food took forever and was so-so. Maybe just bad luck.

All the food on harbour looked really good. I don't see where you could go wrong with any of them. The gyros stand is the way to go too. How can you beat 2 euro or less for a fresh pita stuffed with shaved meat, tomatoes, onions, yogurt sauce and...french fries! That and a drink and you are tanked up!

My hubby and I averaged 25 to 35 euro per 'going out at a restaurant' meal, which we did about once a day. This usually included a carafe of wine or a beer. We split mixed grills for one, either seafood or meat. It's is a good way to go and then getting other things. The Greek salad (again, one split between two people) at every meal..of course!

I'll write more as I think it up. I guess I'd better squeak out a trip report of sorts soon.

Another vote for Tamam as my favorite restaurant. We ate there twice. On our last night we went to a place that was highly recommended but we didn't like it nearly as much as Tamam.