Restaurant Socrates

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#26 of 111 Restaurants in Malia€€ - €€€, Seafood, Mediterranean, Vegetarian friendly

+30 2897 031016+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

11:00 - 0:00

Mon

11:00 - 0:00

Tue

11:00 - 0:00

Wed

11:00 - 0:00

Thu

11:00 - 0:00

Fri

11:00 - 0:00

Sat

11:00 - 0:00

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

443 reviews

#26 of 111 Restaurants in Malia

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, Seafood, Mediterranean, European, Greek, Healthy

“My husband enjoyed the mixed grill, moussaka and baked feta in the oven to na...”

“Traditional Greek Food”

“... on the spot - as well as the filets and the calamari, pure yummyness.”

“(My 5 year old loved his calamari and 4 year highly recommended the homemade...”

Location and contact

Beach Road, Malia, Crete 700 07 Greece

+30 2897 031016

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Is this an European restaurant?

Yes

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Details

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CUISINES

Seafood, Mediterranean, European, Greek, Healthy

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, After-hours

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Highchairs Available, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service

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4.5

443 reviews

Excellent

336

Very good

Average

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Terrible

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Yes

Kamini B

2 contributions

Food, flavour and ambience

Jul 2021 • none

Excellent cuisine with a home-cooked flavour, warm and friendly ambience and excellent customer service. One of the best places on the beach road in Malia to spend a happy, vibrant evening with tasty food, good soft music, cocktails and other varieties of alocholic and non-alcoholic beverages including fresh fruit juices on the house. And the staff are just so relaxed and can cheer you up even more after a realxed day at the beach or local sightseeing day. Also the staff speak several languages - English, German .....etc.

Written 20 July 2021

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lies R

2 contributions

Simply the best, much better than all the rest ;-)

Jul 2021 • couples

Delicious food! If you want so, the owner suggests great and typical Greek dishes. But if you don't want these, there's also a variety of nice, more commonly known, dishes on the menu. The owner is super friendly and if you have special wishes, he takes care of it with a big smile. We tried several restaurants (even real expensive ones), but we kept coming back to this one because the food was great, the ingredients were fresh and everything was homemade. When you're in the neighbourhood, just go there, you will enjoy every bite! If heaven really existed, you'd be enjoying the Greek version of it here!

Written 26 July 2021

Lucy H

3 contributions

Fabulous food, great company

Oct 2021 • couples

Well, what can I say, Adonis is a fantastic host. Very warm and welcoming, great service and fabulous food. All the clientele are as friendly too which makes for a wonderful atmosphere, there are no nationalities here, just one big happy group eating the if the gods from the god Adonis. Thank you Joanna for working so hard to keep Adonis in check, thank you Mrs Adonis for the wonderful food and finally, thank you Adonis for the friendship. There are no poor dishes, just tell him to feed you and he will at a VERY reasonable price. Good luck in the future, we can't wait to see you again

Written 30 October 2021

ToastMasterX

London101 contributions

Friendly staff but food just ok

Sept 2021 • family

Disappointed after the rave reviews. The meat looked ok on other tables but we chose a mixed seafood platter for two and unfortunately the whole lot had been thrown in the deep fat fryer. Whole fish, the works. It used to be that Crete did excellent grilled fish but it seems most restaurants can’t be bothered now. The three stars are for the guy who runs the place who was very friendly

Written 7 September 2021

Flyer794940

1 contribution

Excellent authentic food and fantastic staff.

May 2022 • none

We'd been to Socrates before but had really missed it during the Covid years so it was such a pleasure to return and find that everything was just as good as before. The staff are friendly and attentive without being 'too much' and the food is spot on, especially the Feta in the Oven starter. We never have room for dessert but something is always delivered to the table anyway, along with some shots. Don't leave without Adonis, the owner, twirling your drinks glass over without spilling a drop! A real gem.

Written 23 June 2022

Karl_Lane

Lichfield135 contributions

Great food, great people, great memories.

Oct 2021 • couples

The food is great, the staff are friendly and entertaining and the atmosphere is very good. We ate at this restaurant several times during our stay in Stalis and could not fault it. We are so happy we turned left one night and walked towards Malia otherwise we would never have found this gem. Joanna and Adonis (mad as a box of frogs) are fantastic hosts. We had many interactions with people at other tables, who like us, seemed to return night after night. Going on holiday is about making memories and I certainly will not forget Socrates. Unfortunately a lot of the restaurants seem to pipe a lot of 80s rock tunes through the speakers. I personally do not want to listen to Bon Jovi whilst eating. If Sirtaki is more preferable then Socrates is the place. My tip - all the food is good here, but ask what the recommendation is (some ingredients are seasonal after all). My wife commented that she liked skordalia, which was not on the menu, but Adonis arranged for some especially for our next visit. We also had excellent fish, pork and liver dishes, not all of which were listed on the menu. Thank you Adonis and Joanna. 👍

Written 26 October 2021

Paul H

17 contributions

Used to like this restaurant but!

Oct 2024 • couples

Been going to this restaurant during our holidays for the last 4 years at least 4 or 5 times a week but after tonights visit it will probably be our last. The waitress was pushing beef stroganoff as a special, bearing in mind specials are usually around 13 euros my wife and I decided to both have this. Main course dishes are mostly between 11 and 15 euros. Imagine our surprise when the bill came and the stroganoff was 23.9 euros each! And it was far from special as the meat was quite fatty. When the bill came we questioned the price but the waitress brought a copy of the standard menu and indeed the stroganoff was 23.9 euros but why push it as a special? We are still in Stalis for a few more days but this restaurant has lost our custom from any future holidays and will no longer recommend the restaurant to other holidaymakers.

Written 7 October 2024

warbz

46 contributions

Excellent Greek food.

Sept 2023 • family

We have stayed local to Socrates for many years but sadly only this time did we eat here. I must say that we have missed out such a great opportunity. We were in a hotel but like to eat out to sample “proper local food”, the place is full every night so it’s advisable to book. This tells a story itself. The food is excellent and I ate a different dish each night. 6 nights in total. I had goat for my first time which was great. The prices of the food are excellent. Our examples of , Stefado for me, roast chicken for my wife, two garlic bread starters, 1/2 l of white wine and a bottle of water. €32. The portion size were ample for each meal we had. Steaks are more expensive and my wife had a fillet steak which was extremely tender. Adonis is the owner and works extremely hard and is very much an entertaining character. He is particularly proud of the food he produces. He also takes a shot of rakki on every table. I don’t know how he does it. Joanna is the other waitress who is also lovely and nothing is too much trouble. All in all an extremely worthwhile place to eat. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed for sure.

Written 1 October 2023

Paul H

17 contributions

Excellent food and service

Sept 2022 • none

Just returned from holiday to Crete. My wife and I were staying half board but have eaten at Socrates on previous holidays so decided to try it again. We visited twice during our stay and it did not disappoint. The service and food were excellent and the cost was very reasonable. and the complimentary sweet and raki were a welcome touch at the end of the meal. This restaurant is always full so get there early or you can always phone ahead to book a table. There are daily specials that do not appear on the standard menu so be sure to ask the staff. We hope to return next year. (The address for the restaurant is Malia but it is actually on the road as you walk out of Stalis).

Written 30 September 2022

axle266

25 contributions

Food, fun and friendly!

Jul 2024 • couples

We were in Malia last week and returned home this morning. Sokrates Taverna was one of the restaurants we ate ate and it became our favourite. The food here is homemade and it is excellent, moreover Adonis (owner) and Joanna (best waitress) in Malia were very friendly from our first sitting. Joanne is front of house and makes you feel very welcome, she is so down to earth and naturally easy going and always joking with the clientele, my wife Diane and myself were greeted like family each time we ate there and it was not only us but many returning patrons were treated equally with the same warmth and friendship. Adonis had a wealth of knowledge locally and spoke several languages, so no problems in ordering, he did find it hard understanding my Scottish accent. We would rate their efforts a good 5 out of 5 for food, service and price. Thank you both for being great at doing what you do, hopefully we will return to you one day.

Written 5 July 2024

Encike

4 contributions

The best taverna in Malia 🥘🍲

Jun 2024 • couples

We spent a week in Malia and wanted to go different restaurants each night just to try out as many as we could 😊 but this was the only one where we returned twice during our stay 😊 the portion is more than enough and everything we had was sooooo delicious 😋 As it's a family run restaurant the atmosphere is like you were in your own family 👪 the staff is very funny, lovely, friendly and helpful. They work so hard to make you feel happy and for you to have a great time. Thank you very much for the best foods we have had, we would definitely come back again as you represent the greek hospitality 🙏 ❤ 😊 Highly recommended 👌 hope to see you all again soon

Written 26 June 2024

Martin D

Lutterworth15 contributions

Unfortunate experience

Sept 2021 • none

This was the 2nd time we visited during our stay. My Wife ordered the Kleftico, as this is one of her favourite dishes. Unfortunately the lamb was tough so inedible. When asked by the owner if the meals were ok, my Wife explained the situation. He the proceeded to say that maybe she should have chosen a different dish? We were shocked at his response, but didn’t want to make a scene. The least we would have expected, was for him to knock this off the bill, which wasn’t the case. At the end of the evening, we paid the bill and explained to the lovely waitress that we hadn’t expected to pay for the Kleftico and said we wouldn’t be returning. What a shame.

Written 1 September 2021

HugoMerlijn

56 contributions

Small scale but very good

Sept 2024 • couples

Socrates has been around for a long time. The first time we ate here was already in 2009, later years several times. The food is always fresh, the salads lavish, the Owner is called Adonis and is the always cheerful note, without being intrusive. Highly recommended to eat or lunch here.

Automatically translated

Written 28 September 2024

Maureen B

London48 contributions

Lovely and friendly authentic Greek restaurant

Sept 2023 • couples

We visited Socrates several times during our holiday and can say that the food really was the best! The owner, Adonis, made us feel extremely welcome. In particular, I would recommend the vine leaves (amazing) and the Baclava was the best we have ever tried. My husband enjoyed the mixed grill, moussaka and baked feta in the oven to name a few. I enjoyed the schnitzel and baked pasta in the oven. There are many restaurants along the strip but this one was by far the best in our opinion. Always extremely busy with plenty of atmosphere and definitely worth a visit.

Written 26 September 2023

Nicola Calvert

2 contributions

Rude welcome

May 2022 • friends

I have eaten here several times over the last few years . The food is lovely. However tonight my friend and I went to the restaurant for an evening meal. As we walked in a group of 4 people entered the restaurant behind us, Adonis the owner completely ignored my friend and I and walked past us to take said 4 people to a table. I then asked for a table for 2 people and he pointed to a table and said you can sit here if you like. I found that very rude . We left immediately feeling very insulted. I won’t be going there again.

Written 1 June 2022

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