15 editor picks in Heraklion.
15 upscale places in Heraklion, editor-picked. occasion restaurants in Heraklion: destination kitchens for celebrations and visits. All Heraklion food.
Parasties runs an open wood fire opposite the Historical Museum in Heraklion, turning out smoked steak, big pork fillets and long-cooked Cretan plates.
OrderSmoked steak straight off the open wood fire
TipSit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Parasties has cooked Cretan food over live fire in the centre of Heraklion since 1999, and is one of the city's steadiest special-occasion rooms.
OrderSmoked steak straight off the open wood fire
TipSit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Parasties runs a Cretan-leaning wine list beside its open fire in Heraklion, with floor staff who match bottles to whatever the oven is cooking.
OrderA Cretan red poured to match the smoked steak
TipThe floor staff will steer the list if you tell them what is coming off the fire.
The Walls plates crab samosas, duck and sea bream in a garden inside the Venetian walls of Heraklion, the city's most composed modern Greek cooking.
OrderCrab-stuffed samosas, then the duck
TipThe dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
Herb's Garden runs the Lato hotel roof in Heraklion from April to October, looking straight at Koules over fish, Cretan cheeses and seasonal salads.
OrderFresh fish with a Cretan white, watching the fortress
TipRooftop of the Lato Boutique Hotel, and seasonal: the team moves downstairs to Brillant from November to March.
The Walls is the most technical cooking in Heraklion, a garden dining room inside the Venetian ramparts, run as a modern Greek gastrobistro.
OrderCrab-stuffed samosas, then the duck
TipThe dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
Herb's Garden is the Heraklion rooftop for an occasion dinner, plating contemporary Greek food above the Venetian harbour from April to October.
OrderFresh fish with a Cretan white, watching the fortress
TipRooftop of the Lato Boutique Hotel, and seasonal: the team moves downstairs to Brillant from November to March.
Thigaterra cooks to a declared Slow Food brief on the Ammoudara strip west of Heraklion, working Greek producers and Cretan seas rather than a fixed menu.
OrderThe seasonal vegetable plates the menu is built around
TipReserve at least three days ahead. The kitchen asks for confirmation before it holds a table, which weeds out no-shows.
Thigaterra is the Slow Food table of the Heraklion coast, cooking Greek producers and Cretan sea catch on the Ammoudara strip west of the city.
OrderThe seasonal vegetable plates the menu is built around
TipReserve at least three days ahead. The kitchen asks for confirmation before it holds a table, which weeds out no-shows.
7 Thalasses is the garden fish restaurant in Nea Alikarnassos, east of Heraklion, known for lobster spaghetti, paella and a bright courtyard room.
OrderLobster spaghetti, the reason people drive out here
TipIt sits by the municipal park in Nea Alikarnassos near the airport, so it works as a last dinner before an early flight.
Brillant is the winter dining room of the Lato hotel in Heraklion, running Mediterranean and Cretan cooking from November until the roof reopens.
OrderThe winter Cretan plates the kitchen builds each season
TipBrillant is the winter half of the Lato hotel operation. From April the same team moves up to the Herb's Garden roof.
Kouzeineri is the steak address in Heraklion, working charcoal near Agiou Titou square with pork hock, chicken wings and a long Greek wine list.
OrderPork hock, or a steak off the charcoal
TipTables sit out on Agiou Titou square, and those are the ones worth a booking.
Kouzeineri is where Heraklion goes for a serious steak, a charcoal kitchen near Agiou Titou square with a Greek wine cellar to match the meat.
OrderPork hock, or a steak off the charcoal
TipTables sit out on Agiou Titou square, and those are the ones worth a booking.
Toucan Skybar takes the fifth floor above Plateia Eleftherias in Heraklion, the highest cocktail terrace in the city and the best sunset seat.
OrderA cocktail on the terrace, facing the harbour
TipFifth floor on Plateia Eleftherias, so it catches the light long after the street below has gone dark.
Kouzeineri backs its charcoal steaks with a Greek wine list, which makes it the Heraklion address for red wine and grilled meat in one sitting.
OrderA Greek red chosen against the charcoal steak
TipThe cellar leans on international labels as much as Greek ones, so ask the floor to match a bottle to the cut you order.
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