Karatello Tavern — Restaurant in Limassol Municipality

I've visited Karatello on 2/8. The first disappointment was the fact that we've waited 15 minutes for drinks. We had to reorder one of the drinks, as it has not arrived. The bill indicated that we've ordered the drink in question twice, and since it was easy to prove that that was not the case, the drink was removed from the bill. The starters were nice and the portions big. I've ordered the vegetable moussaka and was discouraged to eat it just by the look of it. The dish consisted of an overwhelming amount of mushrooms and a very lumpy Béchamel. More than 5 waiters and waitresses passed our table but no one asked whether everything is okay. It was also not easy to gain the staff's attention. When a member of staff came to collect empty dishes, I've asked him whether the moussaka has been prepared fresh. He said that he'll get back to me in a minute with an answer from the kitchen but he never did. I've only tried the moussaka and decided not to eat it. The other server collected the dish and I was surprised to experience that he did not ask about the moussaka, even though he had seen that it was barely touched. I flagged this to the manager who visited our table later. I have never been faced with such misogynistic response from a member of management. Instead of answering my questions in English to myself, the manager decided to speak to my partner in Greek. I've asked him whether he has any issues with answering my questions to myself in English, however he ignored my question and asked me to repeat myself. When I did, he still choose to answer my question in Greek to my partner. The only answer I've received from him in English was 'I don't know what to tell you, all dishes are prepared fresh'. He said so in an arrogant manner. In the end, to avoid further arguments as I was already distressed, we paid the bill. The culinary experience was already poor, but this manager's behaviour was beyond disrespectful. Overpriced, unattractive and discomforting. I do not recommend...

Disclaimer: I did not dine here so this review does not reflect food quality, but only the behaviour of the restaurant’s manager.

On Tuesday I enquired with staff members about one of my guests allergies to decide if we could dine there. It’s an uncommon allergy so I always ask staff to confirm with the chef. Two waiters were quite helpful and directed me to the manager to liaise with chefs. The manager paid little to no attention and was rude both to me and the two waiters. He initially told me that no plates were using this ingredient. When I insisted on confirming with the chef it turned out that essentially most plates did and also cross-contamination would be a risk for every grilled item. The manager provided false information regarding allergies and was very indifferent, taking the matter extremely lightly and as if I was a burden. Had I accepted his first answer without confirming with the chef, my guest would have been at high risk of anaphylaxis.

I spent about 10-15 minutes waiting around and bouncing between people to get an answer. While I was there, the manager spoke in a very rude and unprofessional way to two other members of staff who were trying to help me, since he paid little attention. The behaviour and professionalism of your staff manager requires significant improvement. It’s unacceptable for staff members to demonstrate such behaviour to customers and even worse, in my opinion, to their colleagues.

Just to note that the complaint has nothing to do with the fact that I couldn’t be served due to the allergy, that is a non-issue. This complaint is solely related to his behaviour. It was also communicated to staff on site and also via email to...

A word to the wise, I went for a meal this evening with my family and had the Kleftiko. The meat was lovely and soft but I was not aware that this restaurant serves it with animal and human hair, as this was not in the menu description. Subsequently whilst eating I found one thin blond long human hair and one black thick coarse hair. When I pointed this out to the manager he explained it was normal to have hairs in the Kleftiko as these were from the animal and often the case. With their meat. He replaced the Kleftiko but to be honest my appetite was not the same. It is also worth mentioning that the grill chefs wear black gloves when handling raw meats onto the grill with complete disregard of cross contamination risks. Using the same glove they touch various surfaces, utensils and the cooked foods in the increasing the risk of cross contamination and the risk to put public health. Unfortunately much to people’s misconception, wearing gloves does not make a kitchen clean and hygienic and definitely does not negate the need for regular hand washing. For those wishing to wear gloves, please be advised that they must be replaced regularly and always be replaced after handling raw meats, not forgetting to wash your hands in between. I guess cross contamination risk of food poisoning is simply another item that is high on their agenda.

Disappointed to say the least and a great shame as unfortunately this is now restaurant I will not be returning to.

I have a great marketing idea for you guys at karatelo, you may wish to change the menu description and include the hairs as organic free dental floss included with every Kleftiko.

Bon...