The Olive, Wine And Cook House — Restaurant in Municipality of Rethymnon

My friends and I came to the Olive pretty worn out from our travels late, close to closing just looking for a bite to eat. What we ended up finding was incredible hospitality, amazing food, and great laughs. Adonis quickly issued us to our table, serving us some of the most mouth watering rabbit, beautifully baked breads, stunning eggplant, all paired with a wine that I still can't stop thinking about a week later. He regaled us with where the food had been sourced, where the wine was made and some general guidance on staying in Rethymno. Adonis' winning personality had found us back on his doorstep days later looking for a wine pairing for our dinner that night, after letting him know we were having fish we were met with a few options with one being heavily prescribed, that's what we went with and that's what we drank that night, 4 bottles of it, it was perfect (the fifth and last bottle didn't survive the next day). He sent us home with desert but not before letting us know that he makes a fish course on Tuesdays that he'd love for us to try. Unfortunately that's the day we'd all be departing Crete, he quickly asked what our lunch plans were for Sunday, we weren't booked up so he wrote in his planner right then and there "Sunday, 1:00 PM 9 Fish". On Crete a major maritime island you can imagine there's no shortage of seafood, but that Sunday I'd eaten the best fish I ever tasted.

We'll always have a culinary home in Prines.

Thank you Adonis and everyone...

Day by day this place looks like a Greek mens cafe, probably not routinely visited by us tourists, but hides a really nice and professional Taverna operation. The boss is happy to deal with our odd requests, happy to deal with Gluten free assistance and very graciously offering us the best outside table. Part of his hosting duties he got out his winter outdoor seating area heating, not that we really needed it, just made us more comfortable. I have now eaten there twice on this visit to Prines. I can easily recommend this Taverna and will be returning for a last night of holiday meal. One thing to note, his mum makes the best Tzatziki I have tasted. Something about home grown garlic which has a very slight peppery background. Delicious. Each time we left the Taverna stuffed without having more than Greek salad, with home made cheese, Tzatziki, main course Souvlaki, swordfish, fried potatoes and local bread. Both of us left commenting nice place, great...

Absolutely fantastic tavern providing authentic tasty cretan foot with outstanding service and friendliness.

The owner and his team take perfect care of you and make your stay a unique experience. This deserves a BIG compliment to the whole team ;-) !

Every day different dishes are provided, including local specialities made from fresh regional products, which I definitely recommend to try. The owner invites to have a look at the daily dishes in the kitchen. You should definitely trust the owners recommendations ("Village chicken" with Okra and the fresh fish (pre-order only) were simply amazing) ;-)

I also recommend to try the house wine and the desserts, which are fantastic and more than worth its price.

We'll always keep the evenings in "The Olive" in good memory and hope to come...