Benaki Museum Cafe Restaurant / Benaki Museum of Greek Culture — Restaurant in Athens

VERY expensive : example, the small ouzo bottle, which is anywhere charged between 8 and 12 euros, was there at 17,5 euros, i.e. almost 50% more expensive. Incompetent and inefficient service : We were there at about 16.00 or 16.30 (a Thursday, 19/1), the place was almost empty, we ordered some meatballs to accompany our glasses of wine and they took 35-40 minutes to arrive, without any warning as to a possible delay etc. On the contrary, the usual reply (at least for the last quarter of an hour) was «coming in 2 minutes». Lack of any sense of commercial gestures : a couple of minutes (or almost) after the (very late) arrival of the meatballs, and having had the time to consume just one of them, we asked for the bill, in order to leave and go back to our work. The meatballs were charged, as if nothing had happened! Following our laughing protests for this surrealistic situation, there were long internal consultations and eventually the person in charge announced proudly to us that the meatballs were on the house, but that we should of course pay for our drinks (21 euros !). No comment. The sad thing is that, by coincidence, both myself and the person who accompanied me had organized in the past (including the very recent past) a number of receptions, precisely with the company which runs this...

I love the fact that all of the museums in Athens have their own coffee and food place and they are usually very good and cozy. But I loved this particular restaurant on the rooftop of The Benaki Museum the most. I’ve had a brunch there and ordered salmon open sandwich, which came with a very big and delicious smoked salmon slice and sourdough bread and I loved it. The Greek yogurt with fruits was very good too, just only wish is that local fruits may be used instead of kiwi and mango, but no complaints about taste. Coffee was also very good. And I liked the atmosphere, waiter was attentive. Their plates and cutlery are beautiful and you can see that it was designed thoroughly and thoughtfully, which is very nice of them. When I was leaving, I had a short chat with two local women who were leaving same time and I’ve asked them if locals visit museums. They told me they come for coffee shops or restaurants to museums a lot, because most of them are very nice but this particular one is their...

While the cafe’s atmosphere is lovely, the wait staff couldn’t be more rude and indifferent. After touring the museum for 2-1/2 hours, we were ready for a break. We chose a table outside and were promptly told that we couldn’t sit there, that the table was reserved. Had there been any signage or any other indication that it was reserved, we certainly would not have chosen that table. Instead, we were shown to a table in the direct sun. After waiting approximately 10 minutes, a server finally acknowledged us and brought a menu. We ordered a glass of wine each and requested a basket of their €2 bread and dip. We were told we couldn’t have the bread unless we ordered food. Why have it on the appetizer menu with a price attached if it cannot be served separately? Ridiculous. After a 20 minute wait, we were ready to leave without being served but, coincidentally, our wine arrived at that moment. In summary, a waste of our time and money that could have been better...