Katsínas — Restaurant in Municipality of Heraklion

If you feel like you're eating in a Greek mama's home, it's because you are. Situated away from traffic on a sweet, lively square, this family-run taverna serves authentic, delicious Cretan food, made with top-quality ingredients and love and pride that you can taste. We thoroughly enjoyed the homemade taramasalata, sautéed greens, stuffed zucchini flowers, shrimp saganaki and grilled octopus — all prepared simply, but to very high "foodie" standards. As our kind and friendly waiter placed each dish on our table, he proudly declared, "Made by my mom." A huge helping of a honey-drenched custard pastry — "made by Mom" and compliments of the house — brought out evening to an exceptionally sweet finish. Thank you, Katsinas, for a memorable and delicious evening...

We were taken there by a local friend. It gives the impression that it's for the greeks only. No English menu available. And the way to order is to fill a form, where you indicate how many of the items you want . Very original! It's a family run business and the sympathy and generosity of the Greek hospitality it's at its full expression. Very quickly the waiter (who, of course, is also the owner) is breaking the English language like we were destroying the Greek one, although miraculously we understood each other quite well. We ate copiously and the bill amounted to very small amount. It's an experience on the expansiveness of the Greek way of Life. It...

Our first night in Crete, after 10 days in the rest of Greece, and we arrived late, thanks to a torrential downpour. But even so, room was made for us, and a table set, and a sequence of superbly-cooked simple-looking dishes resulted: red peppers, beetroot, pork chop, and "meatballs" which were works of art in themselves. After we called for the bill (at around 1am), we were presented instead with two small glasses of ouzo/raki, and a superb milk pudding. Add a bottle of decent local rose wine - and the total came to a staggeringly low €40. A...