[June 2025] There was a colourful restaurant right near the Airbnb we were staying at in Agios Nikolaos, eastern Crete, Greece.
We noticed it just before arriving at the Airbnb by taxi, and my husband and I had already decided to go there once we dropped off our luggage.
It had such a charming atmosphere.
It’s called Se Meli.
The restaurant itself is a shack across a narrow street from the main house where the kitchen is located, and it doesn’t have air conditioning.
The cluttered decorations more than make up for the impersonal nature of the Airbnb, making it a delight.
For the starter, we had tzatziki and a crab salad that didn’t really taste like crab (it turned out to be crab sticks).
For main courses, we shared the “village sausage” and the day’s special: chicken and okra stewed in tomato sauce.
The sausage I was expecting was something like Tuscan-style, but they were German-style and served with plenty of mild mustard.
I had been wanting to try something like this in Germany, but I missed it during our trip in April.
It wasn’t too heavy and was delicious.
The chicken was just as I’d imagined, with a simple flavour.
We were told the red wine wasn’t chilled, so we ordered half a litre of rosé.
The dessert was complimentary: sweet yogurt and sweetly stewed carrots.
We didn’t know what this orange thing was at first, and we asked and found out.
The combination was unexpected and incredibly delicious.
Adding Greek coffee it was €42.80, a steal.
In fact, two cups of coffee cost €5, so the meal alone was only €37.80.
This restaurant is run by a mother and daughters.
We loved it so much that we went three times during our week-long stay.
The second time we went, they already recognized us, and even though it wasn’t open yet, they asked us to come in and served our drinks first.
They served an interesting snack.
We learned that it was salted peanuts in the shell, and that you were supposed to chew the shell, taste the salt, and then remove the peanuts and eat them.
The second time, the special for the day was rabbit, which I was very satisfied with.
My husband had a dish like a Lazagna with macaroni spread instead of Lasagna pasta—apparently it’s called Pastitsio.
He loved it so much that he had it again on our third visit.
By the way, the third time was on our last night, when the mother, the owner of the restaurant, came to our table for a quick chat.
I was impressed by what she said: “I’ve built my own paradise here.”
At the end, I was treated to a cinnamon drink and my husband was treated to raki.
So when I think of restaurants this holiday, this is the first one that comes to mind.
