Sergiani Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Municipality of Chersonissos

My fiancee and I spent a glorious 45 days in Stalida as part of our 2024 Summer In Crete trip, so we can say with total confidence that Sergiani Garden was hands down the best Taverna in town. We tried ~75% of what the town had to offer in terms of eateries, and although there are many great options for fine dining and quick bites all over the place, we found that at Sergiani's the quality of the food, the level of service, the value, and the jovial atmosphere were far superior. If you are looking for a relaxing couples night out, or fun with the whole family, you will have a wonderful time here.

We savored every drink immersed in the finely manicured charm of the Sunken Garden during Golden Hour, and of course the warm welcomes from Dimitris and his staff upon each visit were over the top and made us feel like family.

You must enjoy the Cretan Salad, of course -- our favorite so far on the island (and we've had many!). The Saganaki Sergiani is a perfect seaside appetizer to share - full of flavor for all you seafood lovers out there. If you are not sure what you want, you will not go wrong ordering anything from the Greek Specialties menu; The Mousaka and Kleftiko blew me away. But of course, my favorite item on the menu seems to be recently added as it's not showing in the online menu; The Traditional Cretan Pork Knuckle - I promise you that you will not be disappointed. My fiancee had to pry me away from the bone!

We work remotely so outside of formal dinner seatings, we also relied on Sergiani's quality and reliability for take way specialties from the grill for lunch, and equally as important, our morning coffees. I will say as an aside that I had a hard time finding a solid morning coffee in Stalida, and thank goodness for Sergiani's breakfasts because their Freddo Cappuccino was the best I had while in town.

There is truly something for everyone here, and we were grateful we found Sergiani Garden early on in our trip. We can't wait to come back!

Sam and Marcia -...

Service was very slow, but they were busy, which was what drew us in. The atmosphere and environs was pleasant despite being sat at a tiny table. We ordered a seafood platter for two which when it eventually arrived 3/4 hour later almost completely filled our table which meant we had to move various thingsvto the ground. Ok we can rough it. The platter looked amazing but was sadly ruined and almost inedible due to being so overcooked that the mussels were welded to the shells and in some cases 'crunchy'. The kalamari was by Pirelli the octopus by Goodyear. The small fish were unidentifiable and the swordfish steak akin to a slab of MDF. Everything tasted of burnt oil except the meagre salad. We spoke to the waiter who was pretty unmoved, and scuttled off without a word. A kindly older gentleman appeared eventually and said he would pay for one of the small jugs of house wine. I assume he was the owner. The only reason we had two jugs was because of the long wait. Hopefully it was a one-off. We...

Sergiani Restaurant is attached to their hotel, west of Malia.

It has a vibrant range of blue hues that welcomes you in.

My partner and I only wanted to have a quick dinner. So, we sat closer to the kitchen area, where there is an outside stone oven at work, preparing pitta and bread.

I had the chicken skewers and my partner had the Grand Mamas pasta dish. Both came out on time, especially considering we were there around 7:30 to 8pm, and the place was packing out.

The food tasted good for the price point. It's rustic and has some nice flavours. There seems to be a lot of different options on the menu, so there should be something for everyone I would imagine.

Getting the bill is always a dance, like most restaurants here. Expect shots or something sweet and another wait before you get the check itself.

I would come back for a quick bite, but Malia Old Town seems to have a few more 'finer'...