Skala — Restaurant in Municipality of Agios Nikolaos

We came here for lunch as a group of three. The outdoor seating is lovely, and there’s a nice view of the water. Inside, there aren’t many tables, so it’s quite limited. We chose this restaurant based on the reviews, specifically looking for good pasta.

After placing our order, we waited about 30 minutes for the food. Unfortunately, the eggplant salad was brought out well before the other main dishes, even though we had asked for everything to be served together. The eggplant salad came in a rectangular shape and mostly tasted like pickles — quite disappointing and a very small portion for €7.50.

The mushroom risotto was good and reasonably priced for the portion size. It was beautifully presented. The crab pasta, however, was very disappointing. For the price, it was unacceptable to get only two or three tiny cubes of crab sprinkled on top of pesto pasta. The taste was fine, but the portion and quality didn’t justify the cost.

The cocktails come in very small glasses, which explains the relatively low price of €10.

Overall, we won’t be coming back. The location is nice, but the value for money is...

FANTASTIC.

‘Gourmet’ Greek food, according to a local, but doesn’t mean it’s pretentious or slumping on portions either.

Lovely setting by the ‘lake’ and it could well be a tourist trap with ‘views but no taste’ but it couldn’t be further from that cliche.

Refined Greek dishes, definitely not something too home made, but the quality and taste are not compromised . And sometimes you just want something a little fancier than a home cooked dish anyway ! Portions are actually much more suited for a couple rather than the super generous sized that you get at the local tavernas.

Fava takes a simple dish to new heights , not too salty, but fragrant and with caramelised onions . I could eat that everyday .

Beetroot salad was simple but well done and so refreshing.

Grilled squid was SUPER. Very tender and the charred taste was beautiful , so beautiful I’m salivating at the thought of it .

Photos don’t do it justice as it was a little dark at the restaurant . We are going back tonight and I am keeping my appetite for it!

Not to mention - the service...

If you're looking for a place to dine at in Agios Nikolaos, and you're overwhelmed by the amount of options you have, look no further. This is the place. Stay here. Enjoy every minute of it.

Firstly, the staff is very attentive and polite. And fast. And can give you very good recommendations based on your preferences.

Secondly, the food. It was delicious. Fresh, local, interesting, unlike anything we've tasted in Crete. Of course, there have been tavernas with delicious food on our trip, but Skala was something different. I assume the menu changes every now and then, so recommending anything in particular wouldn't make much sense. But in any case, if you happen to find the smoked eggplant in the menu, do try it. We also had the shi drum fillet with fennel puree, which was out of this world, and the seafood orzo, also delicious.

The prices for this sort of restaurant were actually...