The 21 best restaurants in Crete
All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best restaurants in Crete. Find out more below, or for more Crete inspiration, see our guides to the region's best hotels, bars, things to do and beaches.
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Best all-rounders
Kritamon
A cluster of tree-shaded wooden tables grouped around ancient trees are the humble backdrop for a dazzling display of dishes (many that you won't find elsewhere): delicate handmade skoufichta pasta (with mushroom); maggiri, a dish of fresh pasta (part fried, part boiled) in a meaty broth scattered with shavings of white cheese; and hilopites egg noodles with chicken chunks in a rich, dark sauce. Owner Dimitris Mavrakis learnt his trade from Alain Ducasse and other top chefs, before settling here, with his wife Maria, in the busy little village of Archanes 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of Heraklion.
Area: Archanes
Website: kritamon.gr
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Best table: There's more elbow room outside on the tree-shaded terrace
To Pigadi tou Tourkou
When you need a change from Cretan fare, The Well of the Turk – so-called because the building once housed a Turkish hammam – offers some tasty alternatives. Situated in Chania's Splanzia area, the low-vaulted interior, painted in Van Gogh hues of yellow and blue, spills out onto a paved street overlooking the 13th-century church of Agia Irini. Middle Eastern specialities include meltingly tender lamb, slow cooked with preserved lemons, and Turkish pizza topped with minced beef or lamb. Make sure to leave room for their rosewater and orange cheesecake.
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The 21 best restaurants in San Sebastián
San Sebastián 's reputation as a culinary capital is built on contrast: high-end tasting menus on white linen and two-bite pintxos eaten elbow-to-elbow at the bar. With more Michelin stars per capita than almost anywhere else, the city is known for excellence but it's the sheer range of flavours, from charcoal-grilled turbot to slow-braised beef cheeks on toast, that makes this spot worthy of flying for. While the pintxo, San Sebastián's answer to the tapa, has evolved into a miniature art form, its spirit remains delightfully informal: one drink, one bite, and on to the next. At the same time, locals pack into sit-down restaurants for hearty Basque classics made with pristine market ingredients. The proper way to eat here is all of the above: a bar crawl, a steakhouse and a tasting menu if you can. Few places reward the hungry like this coastal city. All our recommendations below have been hand-selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best restaurants in San Sebastián. Find out more below, or for more San Sebastián inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, bars and things to do. Find a restaurant by type: Best all-rounders Best for families Best for cheap eats Best for fine dining Best for walk-ins Best for pintxos Best all-rounders Casa Urola Many an unwitting diner has popped a pintxo or two downstairs at Casa Urola and moved on, not realising that upstairs sits one of the best restaurants in San Sebastián. Pablo Loureiro is a chef's chef, sticking to his guns when it comes to extreme seasonality and carefully sourced product. It's impossible to go wrong with the menu of vegetables, grilled meats and fish, and Basque specialties like cod kokotxas and line-caught squid. Share plates to try the most of what is, quite literally, the best produce you will find in town. Area: Old Town Website: Prices: ££ Reservations: Essential Best table: Technically, the restaurant is upstairs; however, there is a table for friends and insiders at the back of the pintxo bar, hidden behind a screen. Astelena 1997 Astelena 1997 is a local's favourite for a special meal out, mostly thanks to chef Ander Gonzalez's solid market-based cooking in which the only surprise factor is how consistently good it all tastes. It doesn't hurt that he is also at the helm of one of the top cooking television shows in Spain, for which he has traversed the Basque Country's winding roads to interview its most authentic farmers and artisans. It makes sense, then, that the sourcing is impeccable throughout the menu, from the squid rice to the tripe to the char-grilled steak. Don't miss the famous hake pate. Narru Chef Iñigo Peña has been perfecting the use of local produce at Narru for a decade – first in Gros, then on the shores of La Concha, and now under the shadow of the Buen Pastor cathedral. At Narru, you'll find some of the city's best kokotxas – the fleshy, gelatinous cheeks or throat of cod – and that's saying something in the cod-revering Basque Country. You'll also find all of San Sebastián's highish society – Narru is wildly popular. Be sure to order from the off-menu specials, as that's where you'll find the hyper seasonal produce and seafood. Area: Centro Website: Prices: ££ Reservations: Essential Best table: For a less formal atmosphere, reserve a table on the terrace, under the historic palisade arches. Maun Grill Bar What started as an informal pop-up in the San Martín market has evolved into one of San Sebastián's best stops for produce purists. Chef Mateus Mendes and Unai Paulis get the best from the greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers in the market, and their winning formula consists of cooking it perfectly with not much more than a kiss of smoke from the grill. The menu is short, so go in a group and order one of everything. Don't miss the rice dish – this is perhaps the only decent paella in the Basque Country, thin with edges crisped to perfection. Laia Laia is a theme park for meat lovers, where you can hop on the 140-day, dry-aged steak train or ride the roller coaster of a horizontal tasting of one-, two- and even five-month-aged beef. Chef Jon Ayala, winner of the National Spanish Grilling Contest, knows his way around a cut of beef, and at Laia, he showcases meat parts that rarely make menus, from heart to fat to bone marrow. Located on the gently sloping hills of the Txingudi bay, the asador also sees a rotation of spectacular local sea bream, squid, and other fresher-than-fresh seafood. Ganbara This family-run spot is still run daily by mother and son, Amaia and Amaiur, who deftly balance greeting longtime customers with placing orders and putting together their famous ham and cheese croissant. Don't be surprised if it's hard to spot them over the gigantic piles of seasonal produce. There are generally at least three types of exotic wild mushrooms on offer, which are seared and plated to order with a simple, silky egg yolk. Peppers, asparagus, artichokes – whatever the season has to offer occupies nearly half the bar, and this spot's pintxos are elegant classics designed to let the raw product shine. Back to index Best for families Zelai Txiki Zelai Txiki serves up traditional dishes with a modern touch, from a hill on the edge of San Sebastián. The ethos is self-sufficiency and control over every aspect of the food they cook and serve: vegetables come from their own garden, picked by the chefs, bread is made from a seven-year-old starter in a wood-fired oven, and even the txistorra sausage is made in house with a luscious mix of pancetta and presa, a meltingly tender cut of pork. The menu uses local produce in a playful way, topping traditional mains like squid with a tomato ice cream (it works) or using spherified citrus juices as a way to add a tart note to lobster. To try their famous wood-roasted suckling pig and lamb, reserve at least two days ahead. Zazpi STM Chef Paul Arrillaga and Maite Mujika built a following at their beloved pintxo bar, slinging flavourful oxtail ravioli and mini-dishes of rice with salsa verde for the masses. They uprooted their small operation to take up residence in the sprawling Museo San Telmo, San Sebastián's fine arts museum, and regulars have come to love the elevated versions of their cooking. Always surprising (try the squid rice with coconut and an ink 'snack') and deeply flavourful (confit suckling pig in its jus), Zazpi never disappoints. Patxikuenea This grill house sits in the hills outside of San Sebastián, and day after day, chef-owner Aitor Manterola does what he does best: stoke the flames and grill. His special passion for steak borders on obsession; from the selection and ageing of the meat to the application of salt and heat, Aitor has strong opinions on the best way to cook a txuleta. This makes Patxikuenea, which has been in the family for two generations, perhaps the best spot to try the thick-cut Basque steak. Eat as tradition mandates, crowned by roasted red Piquillo peppers, a sharp simple green salad, and fried potatoes. La Viña With its retro pintxos that still tout innovation awards from over two decades ago, La Viña would be easy to write off if it weren't for one thing: the cheesecake. Dozens are made and sold per day, and once they are gone for the day, they are gone. Order a slice of this ethereal tarta de queso, which has gone viral everywhere from Asia to the United States, and enjoy it with a dark glass of Pedro Ximenez sweet sherry for the perfect ending to a night of pintxos. Back to index Best for fine dining Arzak If you can only fit in one round of Michelin stars, book a table at Arzak. Juan Mari is one of the founders of the New Basque Cuisine, a movement dating back 50 years that combines Basque respect for ingredients with innovative techniques and molecular gastronomy. The restaurant is now driven by his daughter, Elena, and a research and development lab that churns out a selection of new dishes every year. Take the tasting menu, a comprehensive journey through both the seasons and some of the restaurant's greatest hits, like the capa de bogavante, a lobster salad wrapped in a thin carrot slice and garnished with wild flowers. Area: Intxaurrondo Website: Prices: £££ Reservations: Essential Best table: The chef's table in the kitchen is the most exclusive, but if you can't get in, ask for a table downstairs where natural light is abundant. Mugaritz This restaurant, opened in 1998 by a young, dream-filled Andoni Luis Aduriz, has come to dominate best restaurant lists (currently number 30 in the world) from its farmhouse out in the countryside. Synonymous with creativity and intellect, Mugaritz pushes the envelope more so than any other restaurant in San Sebastián. Diners should keep in mind that the tasting menu is as mentally challenging as physically satiating – some dishes, such as a pile of ice topped with scarlet prawn concentration, fare better when judged with the head than the palate. There are plenty of delicious dishes as well, and all of them surprising, thanks to a research and development department that devotes a third of every year to 'creativity'. Rekondo On the outskirts of San Sebastián, Rekondo has an exterior like that of any other Basque farmhouse. Inside these walls, however, lies one of the world's best wine cellars, captured and transcribed on a wine menu over 250 pages long. Owner Txomin opened the restaurant in 1964 to show off his personal wine collection, which features priceless bottles of everything from Rioja to Mouton Rothschild. Food refuses to fade into the background – Rekondo's menu is marked by refined Basque favourites. Order the two specialities: rice with clams and squid in its ink. Area: Antiguo Website: Prices: ££ Reservations: Essential Best table: In the summertime, ask for a table on the shaded, romantic terrace. Elkano Smack in the centre of the tiny fishing village of Getaria, about 25 minutes from San Sebastián, sits Elkano and its humble-looking outdoor grill. Worth what is a slight pilgrimage, this family-run restaurant focuses not on making lists and gaining stars but on maintaining a tightly-knit, decades-old relationship with local fishermen. Aitor Arregi is the second generation, and he continues that jovial relationship to bring in the freshest catch from the port, where they get their turn on the huge grill. The speciality is the wild turbot, which Aitor often serves himself, taking care to point out the cuts rarely given a second look, from the tiny cheeks to the gelatine gathering around the fin. Back to index Best for cheap eats Arenales The diminutive chalkboard menu at Arenales is like a greatest hits album –nothing but the best. At this tiny spot, run by Cynthia Pereira behind the bar and Santiago Torres Carrossia in the kitchen, every dish sings. From roasted carrots with mint and labneh to cured beef served with torn mozzarella, endive and almonds, the offerings have a delicate sensibility that veers slightly left of the city's standards. The wine menu is the most extensive natural wine offering in the city, with excellent bottles from the likes of Partida Creus and Matassa, which draws quite an eclectic, interesting crowd. Area: Centro Contact: 00 34 943 43 59 53 Prices: £ Reservations: Advisable, especially on weekends and in summer Best table: The restaurant is small and narrow; get the table in the front window for people watching and more space. Bodega Donostiarra Despite its ever-growing popularity, locals still line up for Bodega Donostiarra's individual Spanish omelettes, tomato-stewed meat, and cider-braised chorizo. The bustling bar has a gorgeous, pintxo-crowded marble bar top, where its famous banderillas glisten on their toothpicks. The Indurain is the one to try – a big chunk of conserved tuna, delicate pickled guindilla chilis, olives and the salt-cured anchovies the region is known for. Vie for a seat on the terrace and watch the world go by over a glass of fizzy txakoli wine. Eguzki Berri Awards scatter the wall of this hip pintxo bar in the corner of Gros. The space is small and the bar is packed with pintxos plated quite cheekily, in coffee cups or half-opened tins. A selection of nearly 20 vermouths (served up with a drop of bitters, gin, and dehydrated citrus fruits) pairs perfectly with the fried calamari with ink aioli, making this an ideal spot for a weekend pintxo hop. Back to index Best for walk-ins Bells Bar It's not every day that a new pintxo bar opens up in San Sebastián's old town, crowded as it is with family-run institutions. Bells Bar is a welcome addition, with a Spanish omelette so gooey and savoury it immediately became a neighbourhood legend. Chef Lancelot has worked across many of the best pintxo bars in the old town, and he fuses this experience with his English upbringing and his partner Sarah's Colombian culture to craft a menu of pintxos and small plates unlike anything else in the pintxo radius. Don't miss the croquetas de sancocho, fried balls redolent of the delicious Latin stew, or the crumpet topped with spider crab a la donostiarra. La Espiga If you only have time for one pintxo in San Sebastián, make it the delicia. This simple bite, from one of the city's oldest pintxo bars, defies the general rule that bar-top pintxos aren't worth the stomach space. A thin slice of bread with two thin slices of hard-boiled egg, salt-cured anchovy, and a finely chopped mixture of onion and garlic on top, finished with a dash of Worcestershire sauce – this pintxo also defies the laws of matter, packing more flavour than seems humanly possible into two small bites. Back to index Best for pintxos Txepetxa Txepetxa is an old-school spot, with walls covered in photos of famous guests and ceramic replicas of its famous anchovy toasts on the bar. The foundation of the menu is a daily selection of the freshest anchovies in the market, marinated according to a secret family recipe by second-generation chef and owner Manu. Try the silvery filets atop freshly toasted bread, garnished with signature mixtures from spider crab cream to the vinegary onion and pepper jardinera. Antonio Bar The nondescript frontage and minute size of Antonio Bar belies one of the best pintxo bars in the city. Gregarious owners, Humberto and Ramón, personally greet customers both new and old from behind the bar, half of which is weighted down by a selection of house-cured anchovies, salmon, cured beef and sardines, in casserole dishes filled with olive oil. Placed upon freshly toasted bread and served with unique garnishes, they are Antonio's signature. Be sure to order whatever is displayed in the way of fresh produce, like the porcinis (served with an egg yolk and foie) or green guindilla peppers (served flash fried and sprinkled with salt). Borda Berri A sign over the bar at this packed pintxo spot on Fermín Calbetón, San Sebastián's rowdiest street, reads ' Aki se guisa ', or 'Here, we cook slow'. A closer look reveals a bar empty of pintxos, scattered instead with diners, glasses of wine, and hot pintxos of braised meats and sauces shiny with demi-glace and solid cooking know-how. This is the spot to try traditional fish and meat dishes, from beef cheeks to cod tongues, each coaxed to tender perfection by the deft hands of chef Marc Clua. How we choose Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller's taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up-to-date recommendations. Marti Buckley I have lived in the delicious city of San Sebastián since 2010, and still think it's absolutely perfect (minus the rain). I left my job as a cook in the States and moved here for the food. I've since gone on to publish two acclaimed cookbooks, Basque Country and The Book of Pintxos, and you can find me trying every new pintxo in the name of research on my blog.
