Gramboussa Restaurant — Restaurant in Municipality of Kissamos

Review for beginning of July 2025, A bit of a hidden gem, as for location, being out of reach for regular tourist as well as fir tastiness of food. This is no ordinary location, I've seen people traveling specifically for this location from far away, mostly locals or people aware that f the gem inside.

The restaurant, an stunning operation itself is quite large, and it's not something you figure out from outside, without entering. I assume there are at least 50 tables, various sizes, for guest at ground level. There is also some terrace a level up, but did not climb to have a look.

Located conveniently on the way back from Balos logo on, it s a good stopping point. Being a bit upscale place, expect a higher premium to be paid than a regular Taverna across the street or nearby, however this comes with a delicious taste and definitely some larger serving size.

I appreciate the free and rather automated water refill on the tables: water access is a human right, so there were a lot of waiters walking around the tables with glass container like bottles and would switch yours with a replenished one and also cold one. No waste on plastic containers.

I do recommend the grilled sardines, excellent in taste or the pasta with cheese and tomato. Cretan salad wad also nice, very large as serving size.

Immediately after ordering, you receive on the table the check. Once finished eating or when you do not want to order anything additionaly, you could head up directly to a centrally located counter desk where you could pay your bill either cash or via card or contactless or tap to pay or NFC. Easy settling the bill and leave, without waiting for bill at the table and loosing time.

They had on display very eye catching desserts, however serving sizes took their toll and was full.

Kind and smiling staff. They allowed easy relocation to another table, in another part of the terrace once I was engulfed in smoke from nearby guests. Do note: smoking is allowed on outwards terrace so if you want a smoke free area target some tables closer to inside of the establishment.

Definitely will...

10 years ago, we visited Gramboussa restaurant with my wife for the 1st time. It was already an established restaurant with queues of people waiting patiently at the door hoping to get a spot. Back then, the owner Panayotis, shared with me and my wife, his vision of how he wanted to develop his beautiful restaurant, produce as much as possible on site, to deliver fresh and delicious food, straight from his beautiful fields, adjacent to the restaurant, onto his patrons plates. Back then, we ended up visiting Gramboussa every single day. I had never tasted such incredible dishes. His passion was evident. Fast forward 10 years, our good fortunes brought us to Crete again, this time with our two daughters. Of course our top culinary priority would be Gramboussa. It was not as I expected it. It was even better. We experienced Panayotis 's vision having taken flesh... The restaurant is fantastic! There is a also an open air bar area where you can enjoy local beers and tsikoudia based cocktails whilst waiting for your table. Additionally there is a private hire area for private functions and celebrations. All this is of course next to Gramboussa 's beautifully kept fields, where many of the ingredients of the dishes served at the restaurant are produced. What I found truly unbelievable, apart from the quality of the food, is the speed of service. For a restaurant of this size, everything seems like a perfectly choreographed show. I would like to make recommendations but sadly I can't. Everything on the menu is fantastic. It's all about local Cretan cuisine. It may be hard to decide. I would suggest, you open the menu to a language you don't understand, and let you finger point at something. This will probably be the best "something" you 've ever ordered. Please consider booking in advance as the queue becomes pretty big and you don't want to miss out on the opportunity to eat some of the best food you will...

Whenever I come to Crete, I try to stay in Kaliviani - reason: the restaurant Grambussa. I know many restaurants, but only a few that have such a spirit: Something between traditional and modern - the cuisine between high-end mama cuisine and "new authentic creta kitchen style" - great! The whole place (which, by the way, you enter through a "wine barrel door") is so lovingly decorated - you can't get enough of it. The menu - in the form of a newspaper - reveals the range of cuisine in six languages. The team is mega-friendly and Cretan-casual. So it's not for the quickie... but what comes on the table: salad with tomato, onion, pepper, cucumber, misithra,(Cretan fresh goat cheese), olives, oregano, stamnagathi (Cretan leafy vegetables), paximadi (Cretan rusk) - from their own cultivation - baked vegetables - grilled Cretan sausages, artichokes with cheese, roasted lamb liver and my highlight: Local fish (I've forgotten the name again) grilled with grilled vegetables. Delicious. The house wine, not outstanding but delicious, carries the whole evening and in between you can "shoot off" with raki. Actually, everything about this restaurant is beautiful - almost all year round. It's worth making a trip to Kaliviani, because you rarely find such a culinary scenario on the island. By the way: the kitchen is "open" and the ladies at the cooker are always happy for a friendly word and if you are interested in the ingredients and the preparation. If you are still hungry at the end, which is doubtful due to the size of the portions, you can help yourself at the fruit bar... I've known the restaurant for almost 15 years now and I'm happy to be back every time, because every year there's something new: There is something new every year.

#buddyzipper #grambussa #grambussarestaurant...