Taverna Michalis — Restaurant in Municipality of Chania

Looking for a nice place to eat dinner at the Chania historic harbour we went with Google reviews to find this spot. Truly a nice spot overseeing the harbour and catching the sunset. Food was reasonably priced and tasty, would not go as far as to say the best food in Crete, but very decent for a tourist hotspot. My Moussaka however was warmed up and far from hot, but it was a hot day, so that was "ok".... However, we could not help to feel that it was a bit of a tourist trap, nevertheless. Here is why. Once you look at the menu outside, you get "the friendly invite to come in" as you would with most of these places. That's ok and to be expected. You then get the menu very fast, and the food comes rather quickly. And then....nothing! No question of "is everything alright" (could not even tell them my Moussaka was mid-warm at best because everybody was going all places without looking at the tables that have already been seated...), no asking "would you like another drink?", no asking "would you like a dessert?", actually had to get up to ask for the bill about 30 minutes after we were finished with our meal. Also nobody came to clean our dishes, so for 30 minutes we were sitting over our empty plates (like I said, the food was good, however the service was bad). Anyway, we will come back to Crete for sure, but no to Michalis,...

Great location and professional staff - above the baseline we observed in Chania.

They did not harass us to lure into the place.

Above average quality of cutlery and tableware.

Good amount of bread but the tomato sauce and olive oil come with bread were not enough and plain in taste.

We liked their aubergine salad the most. Their tzatziki needs more garlic in it and more olive oil on it.

Our chateau briand was ordered medium but only the middle slices were medium while edge sides were well done :-(?Unfortunately they do not bring a portable cook for you to the table to cook it to your taste. Sauces were plain in taste and below our expectations. Upside was the amount of the meat.

They also served the best dessert (comes free: cake and ice cream) and drink (raki) that we tasted in Chania.

Edit: We came for the second time and this time it was much better. Our chateau briand was cooked exactly medium and sauces were stronger in taste with good quality of ingredients. They served my ouzo the right (only ouzo in it, not filled with water). This was the only place that served ouzo right!

Another thing to mention is the their music choice. Jazz music at the right volume goes very well at this elegant restaurant.

We also recommend their...

The lady that seated me was polite and had grace. I ordered the Cretan salad for an appetizer. As I was dining alone and wanted to try a few items, I asked in Greek of they offer anything half portion. A salad is a pretty easy peasy ask to make guest happy the waiter abruptly said no. The salad had nice presentation upon the Dako bread it was however tasteless. I had to order some vinegar and put some olive oil on it to add some flavor. I ordered the seafood medley on pasta with a light white wine sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly. Nice mix of mussels, octopus, squid and shrimp. Good flavor profile.

This review could easily have been a 5 star but the service is remarkably indiffernt. After dropping off my food (wasn't the bloke who took my order nobody came near me to do a quality check or clear my plates for about 40 mins. Nonetheless it was pleasant to be in Crete and people watch here in the Harbour.

Good luck gents. If that is the normal standard of service on a Monday night in shoulder season then I would not be able to recommend...