The Greek Cook Out — Restaurant in Municipality of Kissamos

The town of Kissamos is wonderful quite town. We had visited Chania twice during our two weeks here and it was a real bustling city. The restaurant is located on a small street off the square about 50 meters east of the Archaeological Museum of Kissamos. There is small square here with about a dozen places to park. There is a large parking lot further down the hill from the museum. Prior to going to the restaurant, we contacted one of the owners, Henrich, and he was very helpful with getting us there and seeing that we had parked in the right place. He was available on WhatsApp. The building is very welcoming and is a lovely bright yellow orange colour. From the time you enter the premises you are living the Greek experience. They have some nice signage that informed you some quirky Greek sayings. All of it gives the place an ambiance not unlike visiting some family for a festive meal. The owners are a family, and we were welcomed as if we were family, We can’t say enough good things about the owners and the staff, but I will try! Surprisingly the owners are not Greek. They are originally from South Africa but have embraced the Cretan life. They are friendly and open. The staff are wonderful. The waitperson that stands out the most went by the name Reigna. She exudes joy, kindness, and is a superb dancer. The owners talked with the guest at each individual table with sincere interest, asking for their names, any special occasions people may be celebrating, and where they were from. Henrich headed up the beer and wine tasting. All of which were locally mastered. There were 3 of each and the guest tasked with rating each one. Henrich made everyone feel special and floated from table to table asking for opinions. Words cannot describe the wonderful aromas and tastes of the dishes that were served. Chef Dora prepares everything from scratch and with fresh ingredients. The meats were divine and extremely tender. My husband exclaimed it was the best food he had ever had in his seventy-three years. You may think he was exaggerating, but you won’t know until you try for yourself..After we all had our fill of the great food, we were invited to come to the lower floor where we were taught a Greek circle dance.Then more fun began when the owner and staff all sang to guest who had a birthday or other event to celebrate. We all happily joined in for the 5 different guest special occasions. Birthdays, graduations, and marriages. At some point we also sang the national anthems of the countries that the guest were from. It was fabulous. There was Malta, Italy, Germany, Romania, the UK and the USA represented. This off course was followed by another shot of Raki. Next, a lovely speech was made to the effect that no matter where you are from or what you believe in, we all share this world and are family. This let us into song again and then on to the plate breaking! Some say it is done when something bad happens, yet we learned it is also done as an act of joy. Greeks believe a joyous occasion or celebration can attract evil spirits, and to ward them off, plates are smashed to indicate that they are not welcome near the happiness. They only used plates that were not fired for safety reasons. As the music began one by one the guest entered the circle and smashed their plates while doing a little dance of their choosing in the middle of the circle. The laughter was great and it was good fun. The group entered into the Macarena when the Greek tune ended. To finish off the evening upstairs another song about family and then we all bid farewell to our new friends. As you know, my post aren’t usually this detailed yet I have a real good feeling about this place and believe that when we return a year from now we may have to book far in advance to get a seat at the table of the Greek Cookout of Kissamos, Crete. Thank you all for a wonderfully wonderful and tasty evening. It was the most memorable evening we’ve had for years....

Where do I start with the Greek Cook Out. Firstly I'd like to say the owners and staff are very kind and work really hard. The food was really very nice and there seemed to be no end to it I do, however, have a few issues that would stop me recommending it Firstly, on our visit, there was a booking for a group of about 60 Americans. Although they were friendly and the staff tried, the remaining 9 customers effectively just felt like a spare part. We were left for an hour whilst the staff entertained the large group. I strongly believe that after such a large booking they should not have taken any more bookings, as for the rest of us the night failed to live up to expectations. Lastly, the night was billed as a Greek experience, but sadly, the whole thing just failed to deliver a Greek feel. The Greek dancers were waiters dressed in black jeans T-shirts with only 1 of them really knowing the dance. The other was very shy and clearly didn't know what she was doing. The plate smashing and group dance was really the only highlight but sadly came way too late and was too rushed as the space was too small for a large group. I've been to a few now and sadly this one will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. It's such a shame because the owners and staff were all very hard working and very friendly. The food was really nice even if the choice was a little limited. The drinks were also the dearest of anywhere we had been. Good food but failed to deliver the...

We went on the Balos Beach + Greek Cook Out Experience.

The Balos Beach Henry (part of the family that owns the business) was very nice and helpful and made everything possible to organize the trip for us even if our group was a bit too big. The beach was very nice and we had some complementary drinks and food. The whole experience on the boat was very nice.

The Greek coot out. The food was absolutely fantastic. If you want to have some tasty Greek food that is the place.

Our problem was that the experience for us was a bit too touristy. There was a lot of singing, but it was primarily influenced by the “Mamma Mia” movie. In the end the people even sang Sweet Caroline, which is definitely not part of the Greek culture.

We were expecting to learn and dance some real Sirtaki, but that didn’t really happen, which was kinda disappointing. Every country had to sing their national anthems, but to be honest, that didn’t really feel right in the setting of a restaurant.

Overall, the boat experience and the food were very and we recommend them hands down. The family that runs the business is polite and makes sure that everything goes smoothly. The actual experience, however, was a bit too touristy for our taste and oriented at people coming from the US/UK expecting to experience the...