Umami Homemade Organic & Vegan Restaurant — Restaurant in Municipality of Heraklion

We stumbled upon Umami on a cold night in Crete around 10pm, when the owner was just about to close shop. Luckily, our bedraggled appearance was pitiful enough that he kindly allowed us to have a late dinner at his restaurant. The food he served was a revelation -- definitely some of the best I've had in Greece in my week of travel thus far. His menu is diverse and flexible, incorporating both vegan and meat-centric options, though I definitely recommend the vegan stuff.

We ordered a masala chai, a mushroom gyro and a coconut bacon salad. The masala chai incorporated black tea and spices, and though it's certainly not an authentic chai one usually finds in Indian restaurants around the world, it was enough to warm us to the core, a welcome respite from the drizzle outside. The mushroom gyro was mind-blowing. The owner sauteed three different types of mushrooms (brown, white and oyster) with a greater proportion of the latter, which he taught us is ideal for grills. The mushrooms themselves took on a heavy meaty flavour, smelled and tasted akin like a rich beef steak in my opinion. The homemade hummus was the best hummus we ever tried, buttery and smooth, but packed full of rich flavour. Even the tortilla wrap that was used was toasted to brown-spotted perfection. For the salad, we were treated to a generous pile of various leafy greens, avocado, pomegranate, what seemed to be apple chunks, Cretan cheese, and an interesting coconut bacon -- fried strips of coconut. The coconut bacon gave the salad a strong umami taste that paired really well with the avocado and the cheese, giving rise to a fascinating mix of musky, fatty, savoury flavour, offset by the well-curated selection of rocket, cabbage, and other greens. Overall, the food was a mind-bending journey into what vegan food should aspire to be --flexible and diverse, encompassing vastly different tastes and feelings, amazing, powerful, original.

After we ate, we spoke a little to the owner who had been gracious to allow us to eat late in his restaurant, prepared the food in front of us, shared his ingredients and process, even let us taste a sample of his umami bombe(?) sauce which was a very potent mix of soya sauce, sesame oil, mirin, and other Asian-inspired ingredients, and taste-wise evocative of caramalized onions, Worcestershire sauce, and Chinese braising sauce. He was kind and welcoming, and made us weary travellers feel at home. He even gave us some of his homemade velvet sponge cake to bring home, which was absolutely wonderful.

All in all, Umami's food is exactly that: umami as hell, packs a powerful punch while not trying to replicate or mimic meat-centric foods (like certain Impossible meat brands) but instead showcasing what vegan food can achieve if given access to homemade ingredients, fresh produce, and a whole lot of love. If you're in Heraklion and are looking for a good meal that showcases a whole different side of Greek cuisine, then Umami...

Umami, Heraklion ⭐️Rating: 7.8/10⭐️

Let me paint you a picture: It’s my birthday. We’ve been travelling all morning on a hot bus after waiting for close to 2 hours. We get to a new city with all our luggage for the first day of our unplanned holiday extension. I’m a control-freak and I don’t always like change so my stress levels are already at a solid 5. We’re both hungry (read: hangry) and emotions are running high. This could all lead to a full blown meltdown in the middle of Heraklion. We’re scouring Google maps for a guaranteed tasty, vegan meal and we find Umami. We get there and it’s a little cafe with rickety tables, no music and a bit of a clinical feel. He’s only just opening and the food’s going to take at least 20 minutes, but any further decision making might tip me over the edge (Libra + Hanger + Decisions = 🔥) so we take a seat.

Best. Decision. Ever.

This place. Omg. If you want the tastiest mushroom gyros you’re ever going to eat in your life, this is where you’re going to get it. Kev has a thing about mushrooms being cooked well (caramelisation is key) and this guy knows what he’s doing. As we took that first bite, we just looked at each other and it was like we could feel all the hatred and frustration that we’d been feeling for the last 30 minutes just melt away. It was so simple, yet so delicious, that I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to wolf it down or savour every last bite.

Being the greedy gets we are, we didn’t stop there. Once we’d finished the gyros we decided to get the Mushroom Spaghetti (you know, for research purposes since we wouldn’t have time to go back 👀). Again, no regrets. The balance between salty, spicy and sweet was just right, and the mushrooms were cooked to absolute perfection. My mouth is literally watering thinking about it.

I also want to add an acknowledgment for the service at Umami too. The guy working there was literally doing it all on his own. He prepped and cooked the food, served it and actually took the time to come talk to us about our trip and our plans (he even gave us a free beer). You couldn’t find a nicer guy and he totally deserves all the support for his business if you’re in Heraklion.

I mean it, take this post as your sign that you have to go because if you don’t, you’re going to...

Not wanting to visit the same generic hotel or seafront food places you see in any city anywhere, I always like to try to find a local favourite or something slightly off the beaten track. This popped up on Google and was tucked away around the corner from the archeology museum. Two of our family are vegetarians too so this seemed like a good choice. We arrived at the same time as another larger family and with a family of three already waiting for food. The restaurant is run by a lovely man who does the whole lot by himself, takes orders, cooks from scratch, and genuinely passionate about what he serves. He was understandably flustered with so many tables to serve and warned us about the wait, and had to turn a couple away after us because it would be far too long to wait, and he said that was not acceptable (and seemed almost upset he couldn't provide the service he wanted). We chose to wait, and it was a bit of a wait, but we had nowhere else to be so honestly didn't mind. The food was delicious and well presented, and he even provided water and snacks for the wait. Love supporting local businesses where possible and this man truly deserved it. Would...