Greek Islands FOOD TOUR in Crete - Seafood and MOUTHWATERING Gyros in Chania!

- [Mark] The flavor of that lamb is just bursting.
I'm willing to put my bet,
if I bite right here it'll just slide right off the bone.
Now that is pure joy, pure lamb joy.
(intense music)
I hope you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens and I am in the beautiful little town
of Chania, which is on the island of Crete in Greece.
This is a place I've always wanted to visit.
I'm excited to be here.
Today we're going to explore Chania.
I'm going to give you a full food tour.
We're going to eat some incredible local Cretan food
and Greek food.
And then we're going to do some sight-seeing around Chania
so stay tuned.
This is going to be a day of food and sight-seeing,
of the amazing town of Chania in Crete.
On our way first to go eat an extremely popular
local breakfast,
which is just outside of the old city.
But one of the joys of being in Chania
is just exploring the old town.
These are actually the old walls, but then if you walk,
there's so many cool places.
And it has so much character, it's so charming.
It's just absolutely beautiful to just get lost
in the network of old lanes and alleys within the old town.
(intense music)
One of the best things you can possibly start
your day with in Crete is bougatsa,
an incredible Greek breakfast pastry
that will surely satisfy all of your melted cheese dreams.
This is filo?
- [Baker] Yes.
- [Mark] Okay.
- [Baker] You see how thin it is.
- [Mark] Yeah, it's very very.
And is it olive oil?
- [Baker] Yes.
- [Mark] Wow, okay.
They have the shop back here where the kitchen is here
where the uncle is cooking.
And he's the one, he's the chef of the bougatsa.
And his son walked me over here.
It's a different shop hidden back in the alley here
whereas the storefront is the cafe.
And so he makes the bougatsa so delicately
and so beautifully.
And just takes his time to take that filo
and make it extremely paper thin.
You can actually see through it.
It's so thin that it's translucent.
And then he adds on another type of dough
and then folds it up.
And then he adds on a handful of the ...
- [Baker] Mizithra.
- [Mark] Mizithra.
- [Baker] Mizithra.
- They told me that it's a mixture of sheep and goat cheese
and it's a very popular type of cheese in Crete
made in Chania.
And that's really all there is to it.
And there's also a lot of olive oil,
which is very famous in Crete as well.
And so he uses olive oil to make these pastries.
Then they bake in these ovens right here
until golden perfection.
And then they transport them over to the storefront
to serve them.
Thank you very much.
(man speaking in foreign language)
So you can either order your bougatsa here
plain with no sugar or cinnamon.
Or they'll add the sugar for you.
Or they'll serve the sugar and cinnamon
on the side for you even.
You can add as much as you want.
So I decided to go for no sugar at first.
Then I might add a little bit as I taste it.
Look at that ratio of cheese to filo dough.
It's just a couple layers of thin filo.
And then you've got just a heap of oozing, melting cheese
in the middle there.
That is beautiful.
Oh that is amazing.
Oh that cheese is really sharp
and a little bit sour.
And then you've got just the very thin layer of the filo
which is crispy.
And right now with no sugar on it it's not sweet at all.
It's just like a giant cheese pastry.
Oh this is the real deal right here.
And the coffee has just arrived.
That is the perfect accompaniment to a
mound of melted cheese in the morning for breakfast.
(chuckling)
Oh it's nice and stout.
Oh yeah, that is just a must.
And they go so well together.
They're so complementary.
To be honest, I'm so satisfied with no sugar or cinnamon
that I just want to eat the whole thing.
I like this but I will try a little bit
with the cinnamon and sugar.
Because I think the majority of people do.
Okay, I do see the attraction in that.
It is really good.
It really transforms it into,
almost like a French toast tasting type of thing,
but full of cheese.
I'm more of a savory kind of guy
so I like the straight cheese pastry.
That was just nothing short of incredible.
That is possibly the best way to get your morning started
in Chania, Crete.
(groovy music)
Conveniently located, literally just down the road
from where we just at that cafe
is another legendary place to eat gyro souvlaki,
which is called Oasis.
And this is, the owner is a really friendly jolly man.
He has been telling me that they've been open
for over 50 years.
And you walk into this little place.
It's just a little hole in the wall style place.
You walk in here and immediately
your nose just gets overwhelmed by that sensational aroma
of oregano.
And then you look at the gyro, which is the revolving
hunk of meat, which is pork.
It slow moves on that spit.
You see it's just caked in oregano and some herbs.
And then as soon as you order one, he grabs a hot pita.
He adds in some tomatoes and onions and tzatziki.
And then adds in the meat.
And then adds in a handful of seasonings.
Sprinkles on some salt and some
I think some chili powder.
And then he wraps it up into a handheld treat.
It's hot and fresh.
Okay I cannot wait to try it.
Thank you.
Like this.
Okay, wow.
And they have some seats on the inside.
And it's just a classic, classic.
You can smell the history in there along with the oregano.
But I like these random high chairs out here
on the side of the sidewalk.
Oh it's so hot and fresh.
You gotta come take a close up look at
what's all in here though.
A handheld beauty, all those thin strips of pork.
You can see how much oregano is in there.
That's tzatziki.
And it's warm, it's hot, it's fresh.
The onions, the chili powder.
Okay, I can't talk any longer.
Wow, give it a little squish
to get all those ingredients mingling.
You can taste the garlic in that tzatziki.
And just like you can smell the oregano,
you can really taste the oregano in there.
You've got the fresh onions and the fresh tomatoes.
Those strips of slow-cooked pork and the pita
is just hot and fresh and fluffy.
You're gonna get some tzatziki and some sauce
on your lips and you don't want that to go to waste.
This is something you've got to try when you're in Chania.
And that pork is nice and tender, too.
And it's literally just caked in oregano.
- Okay?
- [Mark] Thank you very much.
Really good.
Thank you, thank you.
Amazing, thank you.
- Bye bye.
- [Mark] Bye bye.
That went down very very easily.
And not only, it's actually,
he serves what's called a gyro pita.
So it's gyro, which is the round of meat,
the revolving round of meat within a pita bread.
And not only was that just absolutely insanely incredible,
you will love it,
but the owner's friendliness and kindness
will really blow you away, too.
And that's really what eating and traveling is all about,
is meeting so many people who are passionate about food.
(horse feet clip-clopping)
Next up this food tour and sight-seeing tour of Chania
is continuing.
We're going to go, which is actually again,
right across the street, and this is the old market.
This is a really calm and really nice, pleasant market
to visit.
They have all sorts of traditional Cretan ingredients
that you can buy here, from vegetables.
They have some specialty Cretan cheese shops
where you can buy your cheese, you can buy Cretan honey.
You can buy Cretan spices like lots of oregano.
But then they also have a mix of souvenir shops
and clothes shops and then a couple of restaurants
and cafes that you can try within the market, too.
But I like how it's open air.
It's covered, but it's very spacious, it's open air.
This market has lots of history to it in Chania.
And this is a great place to wander and to stroll
and especially you and I as food lovers.
It's a great place to introduce yourself
to the different gourmet delicacies that Crete has to offer.
- [Man] This is lamb with lettuce, lemon sauce
and white wine.
Traditional tripe.
For lamb, very very good.
The lamb.
- [Mark] Oh yeah, I'll have lamb soup.
Next up on this Cretan food tour in Chania,
we're stopping at a restaurant.
They serve traditional Cretan food here.
And they say that all the food is prepared
with local meats and vegetables
and lots of Cretan virgin olive oil.
And this is the type of place that I love.
They cook all the dishes fresh.
And they display all the dishes here in the cabinet
that you can pick and choose from,
all the different Cretan stews
and different dishes of the day.
This is authentic, traditional Cretan food.
Everything looks outstanding.
They have a lot of lamb dishes, a lot of meat.
Everything looks like they've been slow-cooked for hours
to brew all those flavors together.
And I got a couple of dishes
that I'm so excited to try right now.
I gotta move in directly for this lamb soup
because it's just, he served it just hot and piping.
There are pieces of lamb here.
I got some ribs and some chunks and then on the bottom
is the pasta.
And this is a traditional lamb soup, Cretan style.
So let me just taste that soup.
But he told me I could garnish with chili flakes,
which I absolutely will.
Oh, oh yeah.
You can taste it, that's lamb.
That's some real lamb right there.
And then it has a tomato-y flavor broth.
A salty, tomato-y broth.
That will be awesome with some citrus
and some chilies in it.
Oh yes, please.
Chili flakes.
And hit that with that lime,
squeeze in that citrus.
Yeah I'm not sure what type of citrus this is.
It looks like a cross between a lemon and a lime.
Okay and I have to go in directly for that lamb.
Oh, look at that, look at that cap.
That cap of meat.
Okay this sort of needs to be picked up.
And scoop over, okay, perfect.
Oh, there's nothing better
than going in for a bite of meat and coming out
with just a completely clean bone.
When I saw the lamb stomach stew, I had to go for it.
This is a well-known dish in Crete.
And you can see these are little pads of stew right here.
This thing is quite a interesting,
oh wow, that's like the entire, oh look at that.
It's like, okay, I don't really know what that is.
But you can see it's kind of an olive oil stew.
I think there's some herbs in there, maybe oregano.
And then there's a zucchini over here on the side.
But this appears like it's been stewed
for a very very long time.
You can see the different textures.
I'll go in for two different types of the stomach.
I'm a huge lover of tripe, I love tripe.
But sometimes depending on how it's cooked
it can be either tender or rubbery or very rubbery.
This is really tender.
Like your first bite you do have a little bit of bounce.
Your teeth bounce off the tripe.
But then after that, it just sinks into it.
It's very very tender.
You can taste those little textural,
they're kinda like sponges,
but kinda like pieces of towel at the same time.
Get this with some chili flakes going on.
The chili is not really very spicy.
You could eat it by the spoonful.
And then for this bite I'll grab a piece of bread.
Break bread, dip right into that sauce.
You always gotta go with the soft side down
so you can absorb as much of that goodness as possible.
And I will scoop up a few pieces of the tripe as well,
the stomach.
Oh, oh that is a, that is a dish right there.
The last dish I got is an eggplant,
which has been stuffed with feta cheese.
Oh and more things, too.
There are more things in here, too.
Oh ...
Looks like some peppers and some carrots
and all sorts of things.
I didn't even barely touch it with my spoon and fork
and it just completely fell apart.
And you've got some cheese here.
Look at how just completely soft that eggplant is.
Okay I'm gonna have a piece,
make sure I get some of that cheese with it.
And mix it up, oh here we go.
Oh that's hot.
That's right out of the oven.
That is so juicy.
Oh that's like a crazy juicy eggplant.
And it just melts in your mouth.
All the food is good.
This soup is outstanding.
And I already ate that other piece of lamb.
But I just have to show you the tenderness of this lamb.
It's just, it's just mind-blowingly tender.
Watch, watch.
Oh.
That is a beautiful sight.
That is a happy happy soup.
The tripe is also outstanding, but I have to be honest,
I have no idea what this is.
Let me rehydrate it with some of that oil.
What could this be?
I'm honestly not sure.
This is some kind of tube but it looks wrapped
at the same time.
Um I guess we just kinda break into this.
Oh it's so tender.
Oh and look at that.
Yeah, it's just wrapped up.
I think this is a bite that needs an extra hit of chili.
And by the way, I'm loving how they love chili here as well.
It's the perfect complement.
Oh yeah, it's tender.
It has the same texture as the other pieces of tripe.
But without the padding.
Oh, oh as you keep on tasting it, though,
oh, okay, you can taste a little bit of the entrail remains,
if you know what I mean.
And as I keep on chewing, the more I can taste
kind of some natural particles.
Like maybe some fibers of grass within that.
That's a bit of an adventurous bit right there.
I think that's a special piece.
Just finished with that meal.
That was some incredibly good Cretan food.
This is a place that you can come.
It's right within the market in Chania town.
And you can get some authentic Cretan food.
Okay I'm starting to get a little bit full now.
I think it's time to walk around a little bit.
(motorcycle engine revving)
Old town Crete is just a fantastic place to explore on foot.
You can walk around the narrow alleys.
And there's something you can discover everywhere you walk.
And we're navigating our way over to a church now.
(traditional Greek music)
Church is called Agio Nikolaos.
And it's right within the old town.
It kind of has a fortress-like appearance to it.
They don't allow any photos or videos on the inside
so you'll have to come see it for yourself.
But the inside is also really spectacular.
It's colorful, there are beautiful paintings
and pieces of artwork.
And I also really like the floor inside as well.
(traditional Greek music)
One of the places that you will inevitably come to explore
is the central promenade,
right within the old town of Chania.
And it's kind of the central part of old town.
It's the place where now you'll find a lot of restaurants
and cafes that surround the water.
But it's really extremely picturesque.
It's a great place to take
a morning or afternoon stroll, especially.
And the water, what impresses me is just how clean
and clear the water is.
I'm gonna keep on walking along the promenade
and try to make my way to the lighthouse.
And on my way to the lighthouse, though,
I'm passing through the old Venetian harbor,
now home to some really incredible yachts.
It's actually quite a long walk.
You need to walk all the way around,
past the arsenal, past all the docks,
all the ship docks, the yacht docks,
to be able to reach the base of the lighthouse.
I finally made it to the base of the lighthouse barricade,
which creates the docks and the calm water.
And there's quite amazing views from here
'cause you can see the shore and the old town.
And that's the arsenal back there and all the boats.
But the lighthouse is a ways up ahead.
(intense music)
The lighthouse itself is beautiful
but the views of Chania, the old town
and the mountains in the background is spectacular.
And you can do a little bit of rock hopping
to get to the other side of the light house.
It's just on a base of rocks.
The view is spectacular.
And look at the lighthouse above me.
Oh, I'm getting the sea breeze.
You can see islands and just the rugged peaks of Crete.
Oh man, this is fantastic.
That sea breeze is amazing.
(waves crashing)
(intense music)
I had a little bit of a rest after going to the lighthouse.
The lighthouse was well worth the visit.
You get some amazing views when you walk out
to the lighthouse.
Highly recommended.
And we are now walking.
It's going to be a little bit of a walk,
but we wanted to enjoy the evening on our way
to a seafood restaurant about two and half kilometers
up the coast.
(waves crashing)
The walk so far has been beautiful.
We're coming up on another swimming beach.
And I think the restaurant that we're going to
is right over there, like before the cliff starts.
Getting closer to seafood.
(traditional Greek music)
Along with the seafood, part of the reason
that this restaurant is so well-known
is because it's right along the water, the beautiful water,
and also along the beautiful abandoned buildings,
which sets the atmosphere.
So they set the tables out right on the beach,
right on the water.
And we are arriving right now.
We made it to the restaurant.
This place has so much character.
It's a really cool place and it's a really popular place.
And so that's part of the reason we got here
a little earlier than most people would eat dinner.
But most of the tables, like all of these tables
here on the shore are all reserved.
So there was just three tables up here
that are not reserved.
So Ying and I got a table up here.
But I'm not complaining at all.
The view is still spectacular and the food,
well, I came here mostly for the food, rather than the view,
but the view is fantastic.
It's so quiet over here.
It's among deserted, abandoned buildings.
And the water is calm and just lapping against the rocks.
And this is fantastic.
Hi.
We're all here to eat some seafood.
(traditional Greek music)
The first round of food has all arrived.
They brought us a big plate of bread topped with oregano.
And then we got some fried fresh squid.
This is one of the classic things that you have to eat
when you are in Crete.
It's called dakos.
And then I also got some mussels.
And also I had to go for a plate of fried zucchini.
This all looks and smells spectacular.
Wow, that melts in your mouth.
That's like eggplant but even like mushier
and more dissolving.
Next up I gotta try the dakos.
It is a rusk which is a crunchy piece of bread
on the bottom topped with a tomato herb puree
and then Cretan cheese.
And this is a huge dakos.
Oh wow, I think you have to go in with your spoon
and everything.
And that bread just absorbs all that tomato.
Look at that.
Mmm.
That's a wonderfully simple combination.
It's like a sponge.
At first it's crunchy but then it just absorbs
all of that tomato juice.
And then you've got the salted cheese on top.
You've got the oregano.
And I like that it's really really refreshing, served cool.
Next up for the mussels which have been cooked
in olive oil.
You can see there's a pool of olive oil at the bottom.
And I'm gonna just go ahead and squeeze on that lemon
because I know it needs it.
This is what it needs.
And this guy right here.
There's some parsley on top.
Oh, look at that.
Let me pull him,
oh you can feel how juicy it is immediately.
Oh.
Those aren't like huge mussels, but they are hugely juicy.
It's like absolutely pure.
You can taste a hint of that olive oil
and then just that lemon that I squeezed on top.
Scoop some of that olive oil into this shell
with that mussel and eat it altogether in one.
Oh that's gonna be a juicy one.
Oh with that olive oil soup at the bottom.
Oh that's extraordinary.
It's mostly all just because of those fresh mussels.
I think the squid has just been very lightly breaded
or battered and then deep-fried.
Oh, mussel just fell onto the plate.
Okay, we can detach the head.
I'll go in for this body section.
Oh you can see some of those eggs squishing out.
That's insanely tender.
And its like, those eggs in there, they're like butter.
Oh that just melts in your mouth.
And because it has eggs in it, it literally gushes
with a buttery consistency in your mouth.
Oh yeah.
(man speaking indistinctly to Mark)
We're usually from US but from Thailand.
- [Man] You're from which city?
- [Mark] Bangkok.
- [Cook] The stomach, the liver, we don't clean it.
We leave everything inside.
It's like pate.
- [Mark] One of the best things about this restaurant
is the fresh fish.
It's just straight out.
- I like the way you carry your son.
- Oh thank you very much.
- Very clever.
- Thank you.
This is an amazing place.
And you can go in there,
they have the fresh catch of the day.
You can choose your fish.
So we just got two different fish to try for this meal.
(traditional Greek music)
That is a crazy good mussel.
Just finished with those appetizers
and now just taking a little stroll
and enjoying the sunset views.
Such a fantastic place.
And right now, now that the sun is going down,
it's becoming even better and quieter and more peaceful,
now the sun is not so hot and intense.
Thank you.
I was going back and forth about deciding
which fish to order.
But the owner finally talked me into ordering two fish.
Both of them kinda small in size so that we could taste.
He said they're completely different textures
and different tastes, so we had to get them both.
Say hello to this guy.
He looks fantastic, look at that sauce.
Okay I'm gonna dig into the cod first.
He said this is the softest fish you'll ever have.
Okay, oh, and just look at that flakiness.
It does look unbelievably soft and melt-in-your mouth.
Oh yeah, that is indeed one of the most tender fish.
The texture is just amazing.
It's so soft, it's so juicy.
You can tell that it's cod.
It's almost like the texture of crab, almost.
Okay and next up for the other fish,
which, I think, locally, it's called skaros.
Mmm.
It's more of that kinda drier texture,
kinda flakier, a little bit stringier,
as opposed to the cod.
Both are incredibly different in texture.
And I think that is olive oil sauce that they've put over it
that makes it juicier and really fragrant as well.
And I'll take some of the fish as well.
Wow.
I think the cod is the winner.
Okay, one of the benefits of eating this fish
that the owner told me is that they keep the liver in it
and you eat the liver, and eggs too.
Mmm, oh that is insanely creamy.
Oh that's like fish pudding.
Just made it back to the house after an amazing dinner.
The sunset with the water and those old abandoned buildings
really made for a serene environment.
The food was also outstanding.
Those two fish at the end were awesome.
And it's been an amazing day in Chania, Crete.
Everything we did, all the restaurants,
I'll leave them in the description box below
so you can check them all out.
And I wanna say a big thank you for watching this video.
Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
And if you're not already subscribed,
click subscribe for lots more food and travel videos.
Thank you for watching this Greek food in Crete,
Chania Crete food tour.
And I'll see you on the next video.
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Greek Islands FOOD TOUR in Crete - Seafood and MOUTHWATERING Gyros in Chania!

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