STELIOS & KATINA

Stelios & Katina Restaurant was a rare find! And an extremely great rare find!!

After all day driving and spending time at the beaches and coast, we came upon the town of Kissamos. Both my husband and I were starving. We happened to pull over to look on GOOGLE and found we were close to Stelios & Katina. The reviews looked amazing but they were not open as of yet. GOOGLE stated they opened at 16:00. It was 15:45. We parked and decided to walk to the beach to pass time. As we passed by the entrance to the restaurant a man was entering. Turns out this is George. We asked to confirm the opening time and he said now! We felt bad as we knew they were still getting set up so we said we would go for a short walk and return so they didn’t have to feel pressured. How nice of him to offer to accommodate us early!

Sure enough, on our return right at 16:00, they opened and welcomed us in. We sat in the beautiful garden patio setting in the rear of the restaurant. George explained the menu and answered our questions. He was so kind and kept apologizing for his English. We laughed and said his English was a thousand times better than our Greek!!!!

We had a glass of house red wine. A very generous pour. I also had a lemonade which was a local Crete bottled drink.

My husband ordered the fresh catch which is priced per kg. George described the fish in detail, even how and where it was caught. He then said he would weigh it for full disclosure of the cost before my husband agreed to order it. This is something you don’t find often. Most places, especially if they know you are a tourist, just want to get the most money from you and move on. My husbands fish - Red Porgy - Fargi from Mediterranean @ .65kg - was cooked to perfection with the flesh very moist. It was served with greens and a platter - yes a platter size - of fried potatoes.

I’m vegetarian so we worked out a dish for me. I ordered the grilled veggies - an assortment of eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, red & green bell peppers and yummy spices - and George offered to have the chef make me plain pasta to toss with my vegetables. (There was not a vegetarian pasta option so we created one!). With olive oil, garlic and freshly grated cheese this was incredible! The veggies were cooked perfectly and so flavorful. Pasta was perfectly cooked al dente.

Before my main, my husband and I shared the Stelios & Katina Salad. Oh my. So good. With lots of walnuts, figs, avocado, pomegranate, olives, red onion, bell peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, black sesame and Greek Mizithra cheese all tossed with lettuce and arugula! The taste from the blend of all these ingredients was spectacular. All of this is locally produced and at the highest quality. You can taste it!!

Be aware…the portions of all dishes are EXTREMELY LARGE!!! The salad could have easily fed four. My pasta (which I took home more than half) was enough to feed a family.

Service was prompt and friendly throughout our time there. Even as the seating filled with others guests.

To finish our amazing meal, George offered us the house cake as a free dessert along with a small carafe of Raki. Just a nice gesture and delicious.

All this food & drinks along with garlic bread came to only 74€. The fish was 39€ of that. This is an EXTREMELY fair price for the portion size, flavors and quality of all the dishes. We were able to make an entire meal from the leftovers for our next dinner. And we took the fish scrapes home to the feral cats that live near our stay in Stavros. So in actuality, all this food fed us twice along with 7 cats for 74€! That’s a real bargain, plus we made great memories at a fantastic traditional Cretan restaurant!!

Amazing food and OUTSTANDING SERVICE.

Davvero un posto consigliatissimo, location molto carina cibo ottimo, personale cortese, simpatico e veloce. Prezzi accessibilissimi. Diego

Super restaurant de spécialités crétoises.
Raiki offert. Moussaka excellente. Gâteau offert.
Servie impeccable.

We are in Crete for a week. now on the 6th day and 800 km traveled on this beautiful island I have drawn a conclusion. If you want to go to the beach and enjoy unforgettable landscapes, you should go to Elafonisi Beach, but if you want a real culinary treat, you should come to Stelios & Katina restaurant. The owner and the entire staff are a 10, and the menu is very varied and at a very fair price, not to mention the Rakia and dessert from the house! ????????