Nostos Restaurant — Restaurant in Municipality of Chania

Fantastic food and excellent service.

The board outside this restaurant says “We Don’t Have – Good View – Good Service, But We Have – Very Good Food”. Well, true regarding the view but the service was exceptional and the food was probably the best we had in Agia Marina.

We went to this restaurant after reading reviews on TripAdvisor and, had we found it earlier in our holiday, would definitely have visited more than the two occasions that we did. The restaurant is a short walk up from the main road but the journey was well worth it.

For our first visit, I had phoned to reserve a table earlier that day; on a beautiful summer evening we were greeted warmly by Aris and sat at a lovely table in the garden. True, no good views, but the atmosphere was excellent and we were soon approached to order drinks whilst we read the menu.

For starter my wife had grilled vegetables with cheese and I had Cretan Dakos (crisp bread with tomato, cheese and olives) and both were delicious. Our main courses were lamb chops for my wife and barbecue spare ribs for me. The meat for both dishes was incredibly tasty, perfectly seasoned and tender, so soft it almost melted in the mouth, and the sauce for the ribs was gorgeous. Head chef Christos obviously chooses suppliers with considerable care and he and his team cook the ingredients to perfection (at the end of the evening I asked to speak to the chef to thank him and his team as we both thought the meal was that good). A dessert and several glasses of raki finished off a fantastic evening. The presentation of dishes was the best we saw in Agia Marina and made it feel like a special occasion.

I booked on Wednesday for our final Friday evening. It had rained heavily earlier in the day so the garden was closed which meant we had to sit inside but the result was a cosy, intimate atmosphere. This time we both opted for the lamb chops as the main course and were not disappointed; again the meat was cooked to perfection, melt-in-the mouth tender, perfectly seasoned, full of flavour and a joy to eat. Presentation again was fantastic (this time it really did feel like a special occasion as it was my wife’s birthday, so thanks to everyone for making her day, especially the dessert with sparklers and the chorus of ’Happy Birthday’ from Christos, Thomas and the entire waiting staff). Again, raki finished off a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The service from Thomas and his team (Aris, Angela and Marianna) was superb. They were incredibly welcoming and made us feel like we were long-lost family, returning to Crete after many years’ absence. Although on both occasions the restaurant was very busy, each course was delivered with perfect timing; we felt relaxed and comfortable throughout the evening. Overall I could not praise this restaurant highly enough and wish Thomas, Christos and all of the team at Nostos the very best for the future. We would love to return for some more of their superb Cretan...

Absolute recommendation . we came here in 2021, 2022 and now (2023) again after a person in our hotel recommended the place to us. We have eaten here about 8 times. Definitely our favourite restaurant in the whole area ! The best lamb (lamb shank and kleftiko), great mussels and salmon, amazing spare ribs, vegetables: fantastic ! , the chocolate mousse I will never forget. What I like most : very relaxed atmosphere , great service - this restaurant is not trying to look weirdly „artificially posh“ like other places, it is just genuinely friendly. Also, this is Greek Cuisine BUT many dishes have a special „Nostos feature“ to them. For instance , the Kleftiko has grilled veggies on the side, prepared in a way I have never seen in other restaurants. Delicious. It is funny that someone wrote that the portions are too small. I don’t think so and neither did my whole family. I would say the portions are fine and the price is MORE than reasonable for the exceptional quality you get. If you can still manage a dessert after the main course : lucky you, try the chocolate mousse then.

Short: If you are in the area give them a visit. Good food, friendly staff. You won't regret it.

First time visiting Crete with my Girlfriend. We were staying at Stefan Village with all inclusive but wanted to eat out at least once during our trip. We found a couple of restaurants very close nearby and decided to give Nostos a go. And looking back at our visit Im glad that is what we picked. From the start we felt very welcome. All the staff that we interacted with was friendly and even cracked some jokes here and there, so we had alot of laughs also further making our dinner better. The food was very good. The pitas and tzatsiki were the best we have had. Their moussaka was super tasty and so was their stake. Large portions so you won't go home hungry. Good selection of drinks that both looked and tasted good.

At the end of the night I made sure to thank the staff for our visit, that is how happy we were with our dinner at Nostos. If/when we come back to Crete we will be eating at Nostos again, that is certain.

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