Garden Arkoudainas — Restaurant in Municipality of Rethymnon

First visited in July 2021. Stunning location, beautiful restaurant and exciting menu. We were served by a fantastic waiter and all was perfect, except for a rather bizarre encounter with the owner when we were leaving who was aggressive and rude... Returning to Chania in late summer with extended family we again planned our visit, telling family how great it was. Bad mistake.... Owner was the first to 'greet' us, and within moments we felt uncomfortable. He wanted to know where we were from and started a 15 minute political rant about covid, conspiracy theories and the rest. When he eventually stopped to draw breath, we politely requested a menu. He told us it was the end of the season and therefore he had only two dishes available, neither of which suited our party. We made the decision - based on his aggressive behaviour and threatening manner - to thank him for his time but due to the limited menu, we would make alternative plans. At this he quite simply exploded and ordered us out of the restaurant. As I said we had politely said we would leave however he aggressively 'herded' us out shouting terrible language at us. When I asked him not to be so rude to our party, he said to get 'your wife out of here or I will cook her'....which would have been fairly hilarious and silly sounding if the owner was not displaying such appalling temper.

Such an enormous shame as we really did enjoy our first visit but no restaurant is worth tolerating such vicious abuse from someone who clearly has problems.

Plenty more fabulous...

What a beautiful and colorful experience!! Each tiny corner yells authentic and you can surely tell that someone has personally involved with creating a colorful ambient, defying the soulless latest trends in design and cuisine. Only an intense persona could have given life to such a place! The amazing and really talkative George! A highly intelligent, resourceful and kind owner, recommending the dishes of the day. We went by his suggestions and truly exposed our pallates to a unique culinary experience. The salad of 40+ ingredients with the edible flower on top, the saganaki with graviera cheese and bukovo, apaki with eggs.... Such a delight! I do not care if the ingredients were not at season. The combinations were really imaginative and the result exquisite. Plus, it was top notch clean. Bathroom as well. The surrounding area where George keeps his cats, dogs, horses and chickens is also great to see especially if you have children or just wish to take a walk after an excessive meal! A huge bravo to the whole team! P. S. Do not go if you are a fast-food/chain/all-by-the-book...

The garden and vibe is perfect and enjoyable. However, to be honest, I was really disappointed by the food. The grilled pork rib with dry fruits is over salty, both for the meat part and the fruit part, which I cannot even took one bite (while drink tons of water). The 49 ingredients salat looks beautiful, but I find the price-quality ratio is very low (16/18€ depends on persons). The salat is made mostly with lettuce actually and with only very few extra ingredients on the top to cover. The taste of salat is also very normal in my personal view, with too much vinegar. The chaco lava cake offered after meal is good though.

The service is over slow compared to many other restaurants in the local area. Not sure if it is because of understaff or something. We have been waiting for someone to help us to clean the table for over half hour after we finished the meal, while the owner was chatting with other guests all the time. And be careful here...