Restaurants are everywhere in Chania and especially in the 'old town'. As we were staying in a hotel we had to chose a place to eat each day. It is after dark ( sunset was just after 7pm, and there was no twilight) before most people come out to eat and by 8pm the place was packed. Different restaurants seem to specialize in either meat or fish dishes, as well as having some very traditional Greek dishes. It wasn't until our second night that we found Stachi's, a vegetarian restaurant. We had seen it on Trip Advisor as without this knowledge we would have been hard presses to find it as it was a little off the beaten track. Our host, Stelios was truly passionate about his food. He explained how he had carefully prepared each dish and recommended what he thought we would enjoy. In order to be able to sample several different dishes we chose half servings of chestnut stifado (casserole) , stuffed zucchini flowers, spinach and potatoes and a beautiful Greek salad. Along with this we got some fried aubergine to taste, and then completed the meal with a piece of apple cake. Our host liked to take time to talk to his guests, explaining how he made his dishes if you were interested. We so enjoyed our meal that returned a couple of nights later, to try some of the same dishes again plus a coule of new ones. The Boreka pie was a local speciality, made wih zucchini, potatoes, greens and topped with a pastry. Our favourite would still have to be the chestnut stifado and the aubergine dish.
Another night we went to a fish taverna, quite close to the hotel and we chose aubergine stuffed with shrimps and fish as a starter, then followed it with a mixed fish kebab. We got to taste octopus, swordfish, salmon, and shrimp. We enjoyed this meal and it was interesting to taste the different flavours of the fish. Our table at this particular restaurant was on the road, between the actual restaurant and the footpath. Fortunately the road wasn't too busy as it could have made serving the food fairly hazardous. This is not an unusual occurrence and we have seen many others like it. The last night of our yacht trip was very similar except it was an extremely busy road. I don't think I would have liked to be serving food in a place like that.
One of the last activities we did while on Crete was to visit a winery Manousakis selling the wine under the label Nostos. It was several km out of town, and we weren't keen on renting a car. Driving could be a bit stressful to say the least, so we took a taxi out there, and managed to get the local bus back. The winery was set in a very beautiful spot and had been going for about ten years. A Greek businessman from Washington DC had come back to find his heritiage and had wanted to give back something to the village he had been raised in. The grapes were grown high on the mountains, on a very steep slope so everything is done by hand, as it is too steep for any machinery. They make several types of wines, using their Rhine varieties, including a white, a rosee, and a coupe of reds. With the left over skins and juices they make a distilled drink called Raki. During the tour we got to taste both the wines and the raki, and then this was followed by a plate of mezes(appetizers) and another glass of the wine we enjoyed the most. A very enjoyable and worthwhile trip.
Another night we went to a fish taverna, quite close to the hotel and we chose aubergine stuffed with shrimps and fish as a starter, then followed it with a mixed fish kebab. We got to taste octopus, swordfish, salmon, and shrimp. We enjoyed this meal and it was interesting to taste the different flavours of the fish. Our table at this particular restaurant was on the road, between the actual restaurant and the footpath. Fortunately the road wasn't too busy as it could have made serving the food fairly hazardous. This is not an unusual occurrence and we have seen many others like it. The last night of our yacht trip was very similar except it was an extremely busy road. I don't think I would have liked to be serving food in a place like that.
One of the last activities we did while on Crete was to visit a winery Manousakis selling the wine under the label Nostos. It was several km out of town, and we weren't keen on renting a car. Driving could be a bit stressful to say the least, so we took a taxi out there, and managed to get the local bus back. The winery was set in a very beautiful spot and had been going for about ten years. A Greek businessman from Washington DC had come back to find his heritiage and had wanted to give back something to the village he had been raised in. The grapes were grown high on the mountains, on a very steep slope so everything is done by hand, as it is too steep for any machinery. They make several types of wines, using their Rhine varieties, including a white, a rosee, and a coupe of reds. With the left over skins and juices they make a distilled drink called Raki. During the tour we got to taste both the wines and the raki, and then this was followed by a plate of mezes(appetizers) and another glass of the wine we enjoyed the most. A very enjoyable and worthwhile trip.
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