Ippokampos — Restaurant in Municipality of Heraklion

Upon the recommendation of our taxi driver, we visited this restaurant our first night in Crete. Since we visited during the offseason, we had our pick of any table in the spacious building. We promptly ordered the grilled octopus (one of our culinary favorites this trip) and were promptly served.

Like with most skills, the best know how to take something simple and make it seem difficult and something that requires great technique seem simple. The octopus was a humble display of culinary expertise; yes, there are but two grilled tentacles on the plate, but it is so much more than that.

It's the display of the chef's relationship with the craft and the fire: there's a clear respect for the tradition and ingredients. The octopus, with its varying levels of thickness, was tender where it needed to be and delightfully charred and crispy where it should have been. All you taste is the natural salinity coming from the octopus, married with the fruity olive oil, along with the most delightful kiss of char. There were probably three ingredients used in all, but each one sings.

My dining partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our entire experience, especially the complimentary desserts and raki at the conclusion of our meal.

We enjoyed this restaurant so much, we decided to return for our final meal on the island. As the sun set against the lavender and pink sky on our final night, the bittersweet feeling of leaving Crete dissipated as the waiter approached with not one, but two plates of grilled octopus, as neither one of us...

We chose this restaurant based on the many positive reviews, hoping for an exceptional fine dining experience. Unfortunately, the reality fell short of our expectations. Many of the dishes that should have come from fresh ingredients were frozen products.

The service also lacked attentiveness. Rather than offering a welcoming, customer-focused approach, the staff felt more like messengers delivering plates. We were told to “choose any table” upon arrival, with little engagement or interest from the main waiter.

As for the food: the mussels were bland and simply steamed without seasoning, the shrimp pasta was of average quality with noticeably small shrimp (a disappointment compared to older reviews mentioning large prawns), and the chicken fillet was underwhelming—neither juicy nor well-seasoned.

We chose indoor seating to avoid smokers, but this assumption proved wrong, as smoke still disrupted the atmosphere. Waiters allowed smoking insight.

In summary, if you are seeking a true seafood restaurant offering fresh, high-quality dishes and fine dining experience, you may want to explore other options. This place might be suitable only if you’re looking for a casual spot with a pleasant view and don’t mind compromising on food quality and service. For us, it was a...

After receiving a recommendation to come to this restaurant we left quite disappointed. The food was good however the service and attitude of the staff was off-putting. We dined during lunch time to see all the customers having their tables cleaned off and their dessert and raki served after their meal. After travelling in Crete for over two weeks this is a standard offering given at most places. After waiting a half an hour after our meal for the staff to recognize we have finished we asked for the bill. The server left the bill on our table and quickly disappeared. After waiting for the dessert for quite some time we asked if we would receive the dessert and they stated that it's an additional 5 euros each for the dessert and raki. This is the first time someone tried to charge for this. Additionally quite a few people who received the dessert and raki at other tables did not eat/drink it....so why would they pay 5 euros extra for something they did not want? We felt that they were somewhat discrimatory and there are other reviews that support the same experience we had today. Although the food was good the experience at the end is not worth...