Restaurant Scala — Restaurant in Municipality of Festos

Disappointing experience and the worst restaurant we have visited during our 2-week stay in Crete. 1) Pretentious waiters who look down at the guests: they had “sea urchin salad” on the menu and when I asked what will be there, the guy strangely looked at me and said “Just sea urchin”. I tried sea urchins before in several places and calling it “salad” was strange and the reaction of the waiter to my question was if I were stupid to ask. Same when I asked to advise a bottle of wine.

2. Music: we were on the weekend evening and the music started playing loud as in the nightclub, it wasn’t possible to speak, you could hear just the beat. Moreover, at some point they were playing russian 90s music such as “How beautiful evenings in russia are” (“Как упоительны в россии вечера») and russian Eurovision songs. Doing this in the middle of russian war in Ukraine when at least 30,000 people are killed (incl. people of Greek descent in Mariupol), russia threatens global order and send troops around the world, is unacceptable. For someone like me who has lost home due to russian occupation it was a very painful experience.

3. Food: seafood platter was decent and I would give it 4 points - not 5, as mussels and tuna were oversalted but the rest was very good.

4. Prices - higher than in all other places around the area, while the quality is the same.

5. Service: our order was taken only after 15 minutes, while the waiters saw us sitting and not looking at the menus for a while.

I would recommend to go to a decent seafood taverna instead if you want real Cretan vibe and nice attitude. Felt like a tourist trap and 1-time place...

From the moment you arrive at Scala and you are greeted by Manos and his friendly team you just know you are in for a special evening. We started with a classic cocktail, perfectly mixed, while we browsed the menu. Being greedy, we wanted everything. We finally agreed on smoked aubergine on toast, marinated anchovies served on a bed of wilted wild greens and monkfish spring rolls with a mildly spiced aioli. All were superb.Manos presented us with a sample of one of his extra special Cretan oilive olis which we moped up with crusty bread rolls. We shared a generous bowl of mussels in a white wine & cream sauce which had a hint of Dijon mustard. It was so delicious we needed extra crusty bread rolls to mop up the sauce and wipe the bowl clean. The highlight was the sea urchin salad. Sea urchin has been on my must eat list for a long time and my introduction here to this seafood delicacy almost made me cry with joy. More a sea urchin gazpacho than a salad, it was none the less sublime and I will always remember my first sea urchin experience overlooking Matala Bay. Manos recommend a superb Cretan white wine from the Silva Dasakalaki winery to accompany our meal. A wonderful food experience and a wonderful meal served in a stunning location by a team of hard working and dedicated professionals who love what they do....

On of the best restaurants I have ever been. The food was delicious and they put a lot of effort into serving good quality dishes. The prices of the restaurant were very logical especially if you consider the excellent quality of the food that you are going to be served.

I live in Crete and as a local I didn't have much expectations about the quality and the price of the food in matala because most of the restaurants there (especially the ones in front of the sea) have the worst quality in food and are overexpensive.

When we visited the restaurant we ordered fried squid and they were honest and told us that they didn't have squid but thrapsalo instead (which is very similar to squid). The fried thrapsalo was excellent and one of the best that I have ever tried. We also ordered tune carpaccio which was in a very reasonable price and also extremely delicious.

Note that I am not the type of person that would usually write a critic about restaurants but if you ever been to Matala it is a pity to go anywhere else to eat. I respect the owners of the restaurant and I hope that they will keep the same quality and prices for the food...