(Rethymno, Crete, Greece)

I often scout out lunch options well before arriving in a new town on a day trip. This time, however, we decided not to overplan…especially as we didn’t know exactly when or where hunger would hit. After all, we had been having such great breakfasts each day at our hotel.

Our usual strategy in a tourist-oriented town: find the place with great reviews *in the local language* that is still a significant walk from the main tourist sites. Chances are that it will be authentically local, catering to repeat customers, and priced fairly. My quick research pointed to a place called Kafe Armonikon. Would my hunch be correct?

It wasn’t easy to find. There was no English sign. It was only in Greek, and it was very subtle. Peering inside, there was no English anywhere. It looked very old-fashioned…almost like 1950. Every photo on the wall looked to be from about that time. Every customer was speaking Greek, and there was also a steady stream of people arriving for take-out. A husband-and-wife team appeared to be running the place. She beckoned us to the kitchen area.

There was no menu, paper or posted. She was inviting us to see what they were offering that day. Not everything had an English equivalent. But it all looked really good. We both opted for the pastitsio, which looked somewhat like lasagna with bechamel cheese. Except that the pieces were much bigger. The above picture includes a full-sized plate!

In short, it was tremendous. Definitely the best lasagna (or pastitsio) that I have ever had. My hunch had proven correct! The place was really busy, so I wasn’t able to take too many pictures. I quickly snapped the above photo of the walls between groups of local customers. Given the Greek name Armonikon (similar to our “harmony”), the photos on the walls made it clear that the restaurant paid tribute to local musicians from bygone times.

I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures of the kitchen area, even though all the food looked so good. You will just have to take my word for it! And we were treated very warmly there, despite a bit of a language barrier. And they continued the wonderful Cretan tradition of hospitality: we also received a free dessert and some raki afterward!

After lunch, we spent some time in the harbour area. After our excellent experience at Armonikon, we were almost sad to see a restaurant near the harbour specializing in “Mexican Sushi.” Maybe it’s very good. And I do like interesting fusion food. But Mexican Sushi just didn’t seem right today.

Some of the “streets” in the old town were clearly not built for vehicles. They were narrow, and often contained steps. But one, in particular, was far more dangerous than the others. Yes, we had run into a gang. And this gang, with at least 10 members, was hungry. They gave us evil eyes, and didn’t appreciate our intrusion on their turf. One of the toughest ones was missing a leg. It took us a while to figure out that these feral cats were hanging around a house that was known to put food out for them.

As we got farther away from the Fortezza and the harbour area, Rethymno began to look less like a tourist destination and more like a place where real people led real lives. Shaken, but not deterred, by our gang encounter, we slowly made our way to the bus station so that we could catch our bus back to Heraklion.

Stay tuned for the post dedicated to the Rethymno Fortezza!