Monastery Taverna - Kosta Varnali

This is one of the best restaurants here! Amazing service, super food and a perfect view, even if they just opened one month ago. Thanks for having me ?

Its a really beautiful and nice restaurant. The food was delicious and made in a cretan way. The lamb is the best I've eaten in my entire life. Its not that expensive and you can have a great night.

What is wanted from a restaurant? Good food, obviously, but married to good service. Sadly, we were let down on the latter and, to an extent, the former too. One thing that appealed was the view to the sea. The taverna was about half full. The overhead lighting was a lovely feature and the restaurant was clean. We overlooked a growing garden with chillis and strawberries - so far so good. There was unfortunately a rather large car park which dominated the view but we were happy to let that go. Unprompted, a waitress brought us some breads ... no menus though and no request for what to drink. We waited expecting someone to appear but nothing except for the waitress placing a folding apparatus next to our table (for a platter of food) and then taking it away again some minutes later (as we hadn't ordered a platter of food). We wondered if there was going to be anything to accompany the bread such as butter or olive paste or tzatziki or even olive oil (none on the table surprisingly) but, again, nothing. Unable to get anyone's attention after 15 minutes we reluctantly started to eat our bread which we were hoping to keep for our starters. Our two previous nights out at different restaurants had been lovely affairs so why should this restaurant, open since June 2018, not give us the same feeling? We were about to find out! Eventually it was realised that we'd not had any menus and so, feeling sorry for us, they decided to let us know what they served to the general public. The waitress who brought us the menus didn't stay around for any questions (perhaps her English wasn't too good so that was perhaps understandable) but at least we could decide what we wanted. Another reason for our visit was the 'Traditional Cretan Food' (or similar) tagline so we were going to pick items that fit that brief but before we had decided we were visited by a waiter. "Are you ready to order?", he asked. "Er ... could we have some dips with our bread please?". He shown me the menu's cold starter section and suggested that he bring a selection of dips and we can pick what we wanted. Our bread was a bit depleted anyway so we declined. He didn't offer an alternative but we did at least manage to request some drinks ... one litre of the house white plus a one litre bottle of water. The waitress arrived with glasses, the water and a HALF litre of wine. We queried the lack of the other half and she went away. Eventually the waiter returned. "We've only given you half a litre so we can keep the other half cold for you when you finish this". Now, we've been to a number of restaurants but have never had that reason foisted on us. Litre means litre! The litre of water arrived surprisingly as a single entity. We were going off the idea of the second half litre by this point and suggested that they keep hold of it. "But I've already charged you for a litre so I'll bring you another when you've finished this one". Despite feeling miffed we ordered our food. "The food better be good", we said after he left. My wife had the baked feta which was fine (and she used it to soften the texture of one of her rock hard pieces of bread) but my dish featured an under-poached egg. It was edible but disappointing. The waiter returned. "How was your food?". In jest, with empty plates in front of us we said "Horrible", "I didn't like it" which he heard none of as he'd left before our responses. The mains arrive, mine a pasta dish which was OK. My wife ordered the lamp chops which came, not which fried Cretan potatoes, but with chips. It was OK but nothing more than that. We asked for the bill and told the waiter to only charge for half a litre of wine. "You could always come back and have it next time". What?!? The bill arrived charging us for one litre. We sent it back and asked, less politely, for an alteration. We gave no tip. I doubt it would take too much to redress their issues but for their sakes I hope they do it soon. We however won't return.

I went to this restaurant tonight. From crossing the threshold of the arch into the premises the service was rubbish. My partner and I were placed at a table with no cutlery and spent the next 20 mins waiting for some sort of service & question as to what we might want to drink before our food order was placed . The main meal I ordered was lamb but appeared to be the last & worst slice left in the kitchen hashed together with thinly sliced over cooked potatoes reminiscent of a pack of burnt walkers crisps & a handful of lettuce florets as a side salad. My partners meal was no better ( a sub standard fish dish ). When the waiter came to collect the plates he asked whether we enjoyed our meal ( are you kidding? there is just as much going back on the plate as came out in the first place ) When my response to him wasn’t what he wanted to hear he just shrugged his shoulders & took our plates away with that “oh well “ expression on his face . Our table became the leppers table with staff carefully avoiding any eye or verbal contact with us. Anyway to cut a long story short we asked for the meats left on our plates to be parcelled up so that we could take it away and feed it to the numerous wild cats on this island , ( well why should they go hungry ! ) It’s not in my nature not to pay for a service but I came close tonight & to be honest I should have walked there and then . Maybe our experience was the exception to the rule at this premises but as a parting shot ,I would suggest that if you value your hard earned bucks that you work for at the end of the month then don’t eat here.

This taverna has only been open for 2 weeks. Hubby and myself decided to give it a go and we weren't disappointed. The greeting as we went in was so welcoming, service was excellent. No rushing you and the food was delicious. Atmosphere was lovely. All in all a great place

We've been staying at the 5* Abaton hotel. The service and food at this lovely restaurant was far better than our hotel. Highly recommended this restaurant.

Had a great night here. There was live music that was actually enjoyable (often I find live music to be rather annoying because it’s not that good or way to loud). The food was really good (the gyros and lamb chops are great if you don’t know what to pick) and the prices were okay. From your table you have a beautiful view of the sea. That paired with their overhanging lights makes a really nice scenery. There are a few points they can improve on: personally I would have liked some butter or olive oil with the bread they served us and I got the idea not every member of the staff spoke English that well.

Lovely food with chefs that take pride in their dishes. Wonderful waiting staff. I felt very welcome as a solo guest. A lovely dining experience. I definitely would recommend this place.