We visited "Taverna Onisimos" on our way back from Elafonisi. Our friend's parents grew up in the next town over, so she recommended the Taverna. We arrived to the Taverna earlier in the evening, before the dinner crowds. The owners, a wife and husband team,...greeted us and gave us a tour of the Taverna, which opened about 15 years ago after being rebuilt by the owners. The interior has a very homely feeling and has memorabilia of the owner's dad.
The wife is in charge of running the kitchen using her family recipes, while the husband procures produce from local sources and makes the excellent house wine. All dishes are lovingly prepared by the wife, who stays after the Taverna closes to prepare some menu items for the next day. Everything we had in our party of four was outstanding. It truly demonstrated the variety and richness of Cretan cuisine. The menu is in Greek, but there is an english menu with pictures. Everything we ordered was delicious!
Our appetizers were tasty dolmadakia (grape leaves and pumpkin flowers!) filled with rice and herbs, house salad (garden vegetables seasoned with herbs) and a delicious Cretan cream cheese. Our entrees were the most delicious baked feta cheese in tomato sauce, goat meat stew in tomato accompanied with rice prepared with stock from goat meat (this dish was the winner!), and grilled lamb chops. As if all this was not enough, we were treated to the most wonderful dessert sampler, which included crystalized bergamot orange, Cretan cheese with fruit preserves, both sweet and sour cheese pastries, raki (Cretan wine), bergamot liquor and a fresh fruit platter.
Taverna Onisimos was hands down the best restaurant we visited in Crete and Greece, and our dinner there was the highlight of our trip. We will fondly remember meeting the owners and look forward to return to the Taverna again. We highly recommend it.More