Dolphin — Restaurant in Municipality of Malevizi

Taverna Dolphin is located off E75 in Fodele beach (only about 22km from Heraklion toward Rethymnon). I was staying in Fodele beach for a month and this place became my second home! It is a traditional Greek taverna cafe with delicious food, drinks and amazing relaxing atmosphere. The owner is extremely nice and welcoming, once you walk in - you feel right at home. And to top it off - parking is never an issue here (free with plenty of space!), beach access (just a step from the taverna and you are on the beautiful quiet beach with soft sand and sky-blue water, it is also suitable for children as the water is not deep for couple meters), free sun beds with umbrellas (this is a huge plus since in other places you have to pay at least couple euros per space), free wifi (stay connected while you enjoy your meal or bathe in a warm sunlight). Shall I even say more?! :) If you are in thr area and looking for traditional Greek experience away from city noise, crowds and traffic - this is a perfect place to spend your day! Trust me - once you've visited once, you will want to come back. Oh, and one more thing - the owner, Nikos, plays traditional music in the evenings for his favorite customers when the place is not too crowded ;))) enjoy...

Disappointing experience, despite good intentions

We were really looking forward to a traditional meal at Dolphin Tavern in Fodele, but unfortunately, it ended up being one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had. I say this with genuine regret, as it’s clear this is a family-run business where everyone is trying their best.

That said, the food quality was extremely poor. Even simple dishes like horta and pasta were overcooked and unpleasant. The veal was tough, and the fried squid was bad quality of frozen bags, was rubbery and flavourless. We barely touched our food, something I’ve truly never done before, especially in Crete.

What made me particularly uncomfortable was seeing so many children working, more than adults. While they were clearly doing their best and working hard, it felt overwhelming for them and created a sense of disorganisation. Perhaps the tavern was just handling more guests than they could manage that day.

I rarely write negative reviews, especially for family businesses, but I hope this feedback is taken as constructive. With some attention to food quality and capacity, this place could be much better. But as it stands, I sadly couldn’t...

Chose this place because of the fantastic reviews and was sadly disappointed The service was slow and not a smile in site except for tje manager. We ordered a selection of starters to share which never arrived, I requested the moussaka. They were out of moussaka. I requested the stuffed tomatoes instead, they were also out of stuffed tomatoes They offered to replace with stuffed vine leaves which in the photo were served with tomatoes and olives but when they arrived there were just 15 small wrapped vine leaves on a plate. The other dishes were served without any style or decoration and were passable but not amazing in quality. When we said that the starter had not arrived at all the manager was very apologetic and immediately took it off the bill, explaining that it was very busy that day, but not having two mainstay dishes and completely forgetting the starter with only the manager actually giving any kind of service made for a very...