Ierapetra offers an excellent choice of fine restaurants and tavernas, with local dishes of fresh fish, lobster, lamb and goat or more international dishes.
The Cretan wine is excellent and so are the olive oil and the Raki, a tasty spirit made from the remains of the wine production. Greek salad with Olives and Feta cheese, yemista (stuffed vegetables), mizithra (soft Cretan cheese), staka (warm cheese made of the cream of the milk), olives, dakos (hard Cretan bread with oil, tomato, cheese and herb topping), pilafi (rice), stifado (meat stew), biftekia (homemade beef burgers), brizoles (pork chops), paidakia (small lamb chops), loukanika (spicy sausages), boureki (zucchini, potato and cheese pie) and kaltsounia (cheese/spinach pies).
Here some delicious suggestions :
Starters & Snacks:
Choriatiki (Salata)	Tomato, cucumber, onions, olives, feta, olive oil.
Lachano (Salata)	Green cabbage, carrot, olive oil, lemon.
Marouli (Salata)	Lettuce salad with spring onions and fresh herbs.
Horta	Like spinach, boiled, with olive oil and lemon, served warm or cold, goes well with fish.
Kolokithakia tiganita	Slices of zucchini fried crispy.
Melidsanes tiganites	Slices of eggplant fried crispy.
Piperies tiganites	Whole "pepperoni" fried, not hot.
Kolokithokioftedes	Deep-fried zucchini burgers (mashed zucchini and feta).
Feta	Fresh (usually sheep’s) milk cheese.
Tsatsiki	Yoghurt with cucumber and garlic.
Saganaki tiri	Fried cheese (like feta) with lemon.
Xynomysithra	Soft and slightly sour, but mild white cheese.
Tirokeftedes	Deep-fried cheese balls (like Feta).
Dolmades	Rice and mince-meat rolled in vine-leaves and boiled, with lemon sauce.
Melidsanosalata	Mashed eggplant salad.
Skordalia	(garlic sauce) mashed potatoes with garlic.
Saganaki garides	Shrimps cooked in little pan with sauce.
Patato-Salata	Potato salad.
Spanakopita	Spinach Pie (puff pastry).
Tiropita	Cheese Pie (puff pastry).
Giemista	With rice and (sometimes) minced meat stuffed tomatoes/ zucchini/ eggplant/ peppers/ pepperoni; good also as main dish; served hot or cold.
Main dishes:
Grilled fish	Any kind of fish grilled, best chosen directly in kitchen in restaurant.
Chtapodi psito	Grilled Octopus.
Kalamari	Fresh fried Squid.
Atherina	Very small fish, fried crispy & eaten whole.
Maridaki	Different kind of small fish, also fried crispy.
Bakaliaros	Kind of sword fish, deep-fried, with garlic sauce.
Grilled meat	Any kind of meat grilled, Greeks’ speciality.
Souvlaki pita	Any kind of grilled meat, with tomato, onion, plus optionally tsatsiki, mayonnaise etc., rolled in traditional bread (pita).
Paidakia	Lamb chops grilled.
Youvetsi	Beef stew with kritharaki (rice-noodles) and red sauce.
Moussaka	Eggplant, minced meat, béchamel sauce in layers baked in the oven.
Pastitsio	Minced meat, noodles, béchamel sauce baked in the oven with cheese cover.
Sweets:
Kalitsounia	Delicious little pies with (mizithra) Cretan sweat cream cheese.
Yoghurt with honey	Natural 10% fat Greek yoghurt, with honey and optional with fresh fruit.
Galaktoboureko	Milk pie, like semolina
Kataifi	Traditional sweet with walnuts and honey.
Baklavas	Traditional sweet (puff pastry) with walnuts and honey.
Tsoureki	Sweet Easter buns.