Gavalianos Kafenes Monica's Tavern — Restaurant in Municipality of Apokoronas

I brought my family here because I had heard good things about it from other people. I will say honestly that I did think the food was very good, as was the atmosphere. They offer local dishes, as well as some daily specials to change it up a little day to day. The two things that I have to say could improve would be the service and the way they bill. The service was decent, but difficult to get a refill on drinks. One thing I have noticed in my travels around Crete is that some restaurants will bring you bread and water when you sit down and then later put it on the bill, usually in Greek of course. Some places will of course not charge for this. I don’t love the practice of being brought something that wasn’t requested and then being charged for it. We often found ourselves returning to the places that don’t practice this and obviously not returning to the places that do. Unfortunately Monica’s tavern does...

Earlier this spring, we were invited by friends to a small, charming restaurant in Gavalachori, a village in Chania, Crete 🇬🇷. The place is owned by Monica van den Bosch.

The menu was full of tempting dishes, all cooked beautifully. But the star for me was the beetroot salad. Normally, I don’t even like beetroot, but after trying it at Monica’s, I was hooked. I couldn’t recreate it at home no matter how hard I tried, so I went back again in the summer just to taste it.

I love cats, so needing mentioning were these fur-balls (strays?) - common in Greece, but especially present here.

The restaurant’s history, shared on its website, is also worth a read.

Sibling truth: Monica’s is now firmly on our must-visit list whenever we’re in Chania.

~The Sibling Series ✨ Fresh Finds,...

SKIP THIS PLACE. We drove 30 minutes specifically to dine at this restaurant. Upon arrival, the woman serving us told us with a big smile that the kitchen was too busy to take any more orders, even though there were free tables available. She asked us to come back in half an hour.

When we returned after 30 minutes, we saw more people seated at the previously free tables. However, she told us again that she had misunderstood us and that they still couldn’t accommodate us. Essentially, she made us wait for 30 minutes only to turn us away again.

This was an extremely frustrating experience and a clear example of terrible service. I strongly recommend the restaurant to avoid misleading customers and to manage expectations more...