Rethymnon-Stavromenos - Crete - Greece   Among all the restaurants and tavernas in  Crete which are published with  m-tours' web site, Taverna Vigla bears the closest resemblance to a traditional taverna. The difference is that a restaurant has a permanent menu, but a taverna offers 1 or 2 dishes of the day. These dishes depend on the current supply of ingredients: They will cook just what is available.   In Crete, they are however not very particular about this difference.   There are tavernas which since long always have the same dishes, actually working like restaurants (regardless whether there is a printed menu or not). And there are restaurants where the menus include just a basic stock of dishes which is completed by steadily changing dishes of the day. These restaurants actually are tavernas, and Taverna Vigla is one of this type.   Bifteki (burgers), Souflaki (skewered pork) and Horiatiki (village salad) are always on offer, and so is Tzatsiki (yoghurt with cucumber and garlic).   Everything else will turn out as soon as Yannis the host goes to the market in the morning, where he buys only those things which are the freshest ones. You will of course taste the freshness. For this reason it is advisable always to ask for the dishes of the day. The same is for starters as Yannis the host has some very personal imaginative formulas.   Do not miss to ask him for his garlic bread: He uses a kind of vegetable mixture which can not be found anywhere else.   The same is for his "Melitzano salata". Normally, that would be a creme made out of baked eggplant (without the skin), lemon juice and garlic. At Taverna Vigla it is something different, and it tastes much better. And do also not miss to try the stuffed specialties e.g. tomatoes, peppers and zucchini blossom: The stuffing is different from the ordinary, again.   They frequently have several dishes from the classical Cretan cuisine as well, which are unknown in many other parts of Greece, such as eggplant halves which are stuffed and scalloped with bechamel sauce ("Papoutsia"). Besides wine, beers, Raki, Ouzo and the usual soft drinks there are the basic ingredients for the preparation of some tall drinks available such as gin, whisky, vodka and Metaxa (Greek brandy).   Taverna Vigla is open all-year. During wintertime, guests sit inside, and during summertime outside on the front terrace under the pergola, enjoying Mediterranean nights. The audience includes all-season a high ratio of newcomers, which are non-Greek people who work in the area of Rethymnon or settled here for retirement.   The taverna is by the village border of  Stavromenos which is one of the suburbs of  Rethymnon town, in the eastern part of the bay.   When approaching from Rethymnon on the New National Road, you can exit by the eastern village border of Stavromenos and continue a short way on the side-lane which runs parallel to the National Road. When entering the bay of Rethymnon from Iraklion, you can immediately underpass the New National Road at  Scaleta, and then continue on the southern parallel lane until Taverna Vigla.     By the way: Yannis the host and his brother Manolis rent two holiday villas in their home village of Asteri (above Stavromenos), which are Villa Michalis (4 bedrooms) and Villa Evangelia (3 bedrooms). Holiday Villa Holiday Villa     Yannis                 Uncle Mihalis Text and photos by Ingo H. Dietrich   Taverna Vigla Yannis Kardamitsis Stavromenos GR-74100 Rethymnon Phone (0030) 28310 71845 You are visitor #   4 4 6 6   View the guestbook Sign the guestbook Recommend this site to a friend Recommendations: Holiday Villas Private property for sale Car Rental Private property for sale Apartments & Studios

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