Taverna " o Nikolas" — Restaurant in Municipality of Malevizi

Rating: 3/5

Price: 4/5 Food: 4/5 Service: 3/5 Atmosphere: 2/5

Short: the price was very reasonable for how good the food was, I felt like it matched it very well. the food was good, nothing amazing but pretty good, however this could be my personal preference. I judged by the Greek salad, which I have at most places and it was just slightly above standard. the food seemed to take very long for most people, everyone seemed to be waiting around, the staff took ages to get our order, the food took a while, which was only a problem because the staff took so long to get our order. However the staff were very funny and friendly clearly being a nice family run place. They also gave a free desert at the end of the meal. however the whole night was ruined by the atmosphere, I was generous to give it 2 stars. I swear this is not an exaggeration, there were bugs everywhere, not just because it was dark and lit up like lots more than usual. They got in the food all the time, we had to constantly pick them out, it got to the point we had to stop eating our food and leave, we didn’t get the free desert. It was very gross picking out bugs and shewing big flys away. The reason there was these bugs was there was. Lack of covering up to the sky, the place was very bright, there were bins next to the restaurant attracting lots of bugs, and most importantly there was a high speed fan above that produced a small vortex for humans but it would pick up any flys and send them towards the restaurant, and next to the restaurant was a bunch of plants and flowers. All this accumulated into bugs being constantly thrown by the breeze into our food. I genuinely enjoyed the food and general lovely homely feel but having to pick out flys from my girlfriends drink, our slide plates, finding them under the cucumber of the salad and worrying about eating them grossed me out a lot. However the atmosphere without the bugs felt wholesome, homely and the view was amazing, probably the best view I’ve seen outside of being on the beach.

From the photos you can clearly see how bright the restaurant was, it was nighttime and an open restaurant.

If I were to edit this restaurant to help it fend off the bugs I would recommend putting a bug net across the walls where most the bugs come from, find another type of fan or cooling method to cool customers down and reduce the lighting making a more atmospheric dining experience anyways as the view outside is lovely.

Also there was a very adorable cat that wanted to...

I cannot recommend this place enough. The food was outstanding, by far our favourite restaurant we went to in Crete, it was so good we visited it twice during a 7 day trip! It is very popular so I would strongly advise booking, we were lucky to get a walk-in table on the first trip but only because we went shortly after opening, most groups after us were turned away. We booked the second time around.

The food on offer is that of a typical Greek taverna, but much better in it's approach because the core starters/mains change daily reflecting the fresh produce available that day. There is a 'permanent' menu with salads and other appetizers/sides and this is by no means bad, but you should definitely focus on the daily menu to get the best experience. The staff are very friendly and helpful taking you through the menu, advising on what is fresh and what quantity of food to order etc. and it really seems like they want you to have the best experience.

All of the food that we had was fantastic, dishes we tried across both visits included goat cooked with aubergine, stewed green beans, pastitsio (Greek lasgana), grilled fresh sardines, fresh Dorado, mussels in white wine, stuffed vine leaves, aubergine spread and more. The fish was very fresh and good quality - the Dorado was the best fish that we are on the trip, and the goat with aubergine was also a stand-out dish. I think it's difficult to go wrong here though, and if in doubt the staff will assist in picking the best options.

The prices are extremely good, especially considering that we were given complimentary fruit, ice cream and ouzo/raki afterwards! Frankly I was shocked when our bill for 2 people including drinks came in at a smidgen over 40 euros, we'd have happily paid more.

If I had to give a negative it would be that the location is not the best/most picturesque - specifically the view is obscured by an ugly chainlink fence separating an undeveloped area of the town... however it is definitely worth a visit/detour and the food is a notch above the food offered by the beach side tavernas in Agia Pelagia (some of which, in fairness, are still...

We went to „O NIKOLAS” without a reservation on a Tuesday night. We arrived at 8pm and no table was available which we understood taking into cosideration the great reviews.

We were asked to come back an hour later because then for sure a table would be free. The atmosphere was nice and welcoming and we left with a „see you later”. At this moment they could have simply tell us to make a reservation for another day which we would have done for sure.

As agreed we arrived at 9pm, hungry and eager to taste the delicious seafood. The waiter recognized us and asked us to wait for another couple of minutes to wait as some other guests are about to leave and they need to clean up the table. Ok, fine, no problem at all. We waited and waited. 20 more minutes. As the table was cleaned up, a woman with her child came in and sat down as apparently the table was free.

Once we asked the waiter about the situation he insisted that the table was reserved upfront which wasn’t true as I asked the lady if she had a reservation and she said „no”.

The staff did nothing with that, just kept discussing with us. To be honest, we expected more than that from a place with 100% positive reviews, at least an apology.

Unfortunately O NIKOLAS did everything to keep us away from the tasty looking seafood. We waited more than 1,5h and no effort was done to recompensate in any way.

Long story short, make a reservation and expect poor cuatomet service...