KALIVIANI FISH & MEAT TAVERNA — Restaurant in Municipality of Kissamos

Best in Crete! Small, local, family-run! Taverna Kaliviani was a real cuisine highlight of our 9-day western Creatan exploration. We tried a bunch of different tavernas and this is the only one that truly deserves a 5 star rating! Not only the food, but also the service - Eirini and Michalis serve you more than just excellent food and drinks but also the warmest Greek hospitality you can imagine! We even changed our last day plans before flying out so that we could stop and eat here again, that's how good this place is. They have fresh, local fish and octopus every day, which of course means they can run out of some dishes if you come late. But their menu is packed with great options. The calamari (fried squid) were the best we ever had in any restaurant and the chicken pita gyros was the best of the ones we tried on Crete. The greek pizza was, for me, surprisingly good! Who knew you could put so many Greek flavors on a pizza and it would work so good?! And it was even without meat, but you don't even miss it with all of the other flavors. The octopus (we had it cooked in wine) and the daily fresh fish (on the grill) were also excellent, Michalis is an true master chef. Since we ordered foods that have different cooking time Eirini made sure to ask if we want them all to be served at the same time, which was really thoughtful. Also, we were given the option of local raki or ouzo when asking for the check (which is not common on Crete - raki is usually served without question). We went with ouzo the first time and raki the second - both were great, of course. Greeks know their spirits. The prices here are cheaper than their neighboring tavernas so there really is no reason why not to give this little gem a try! You'll surely want...

Skip the restaurants on the harbor in Chania and visit this restaurant; we ate at Kaliviani's twice coming back from Falasarna beach. The restaurant had such a nice aura from the location in the small village to the staff. Featuring 2 levels (I suggest the upper level especially if its a date), it was a virtually a sterile establishment (cleanest bathrooms I've seen) with some traditional Cretan music playing softly in the background, along with some wandering but well behaved cats- it was never loud and a pleasantly intimate and relaxing atmosphere. We ordered fish each time we went- each entree comes with either fries OR rice and a small salad. The portions are very generous, if not large. Their plates had great presentation and were prepared nicely. Homemade garlic bread from a nearby local in the village, hand cut french fries and slightly cheaper prices than what you can order at tourist restaurant traps on the harbor. Lastly, the staff were probably the best part of our experience- they were genuinely warm and you had great attention as there were plenty of waiters to cater to what you needed rather than understaffed tourist traps where the overwhelmed staff is running around like rabid chickens. I may sound like I'm exaggerating but I'm not... Such a nice place for a quiet and authentic meal away from the hustle and...

We were really looking forward to returning to this taverna. We went there several times the year before and we had the most delicious meals. Unfortunately, the quality of the food seemed a bit off this time and I'm really sorry to say this. The service was very slow, but it was understandable since the place was full, so I don't count that as a problem. We ordered the baked bread, fried zucchini and taramosalata for starters. The zucchini were tasteless and the taramosalata was very very salty. For the main course we ordered the lamb and the grilled calamari. I must mention that we tried the lamb in many locations all over Crete and while last year Kaliviani's was the best, this year it was a disappointment. The Calamari was bitter and a bit burnt. I'm really sorry to give this review, but maybe they can take some measures to improve the quality of their food again. Maybe next time it...