Iodio — Restaurant in Athens

Pros:

Food that is as fresh as you can possibly get cooked to perfection. Whatever we ordered was either very good or excellent. No disappointments at all. If you love fish and seafood you will have a hard time disliking this place

Vibe is really nice. Music is excellent and very suitable for this type of restaurant. Design of the restaurant is also really nice

The chef is very present and very talkative and shows a real interest to the diners’ opinion. She is a true gem and one of the best Greek chefs

Service at the bar at least was excellent despite a couple of mistakes to which i didnt pay too much attention as our server (barman) was excellent

Cons:

The attitude: located in kolonaki you do expect a type of attitude associated with people (running the place, as well as dining in it). what i do not expect and i dont accept as well is to be seated at the bar area to dine (i had specifically asked when making the reservation if the bar area is suitable for dining) and having the owner (?) of the place ordering drinks for two friends of his and drinking and placing them where i was eating at the bar. It was like we were all drinking and dining together. If you offer your bar for dinners then they should be respected. Would you go have your drink and stand literally next to a dining table? No. Why do that to the ones dining at the bar then?

Prices: really really on the high end. Especially wine list needs some reconsideration.

Verdict. Yes it’s expensive yes it needs to figure out some things and take better care of all their customers and not only their friends but it offers amazing food that you should try at least once. If you are visiting Athens and you like fish & seafood, visiting...

Very bad/ rude service from the hostess. They made a mistake with our reservation, instead of outside (where we had booked), they seated us inside. It took them 25 minutes to seat us, although we were on time for our reservation, and gave us a 2 hour time slot from the original time of the reservation. Having us wait outside in the rain in the meantime, not offering us somewhere to sit (even though i told them i was pregnant). After we were seated, having 1:30 hrs left, we ordered immediately and ate at a normal pace. They came for our desert order and told us we had time and not to rush with our desert. They let us order, and when the deserts arrived (we ordered alot) they gave us 5 minutes to eat, and brought us the check to pay, without us having asked for it yet. Whilst we were eating our deserts, the lady at the entrace literally asked us to leave because the next reservation had arrived. They didnt even offer to reimburse us for some of the deserts given that we didnt have time to eat them. Huge mismanagement of time, and very bad/ rude attitude form the hostess in charge of the seating. Very upsetting for this type of restaurant, and given that we paid 450€ for a group of 6 people. Very dissapointing, because the food was actually very nice but our night was ruined by the bad behaviour and us...

The atmosphere is elegant but relaxed, with warm lighting and simple décor that keeps the focus where it should be — on the food. Service was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable, adding to the overall sense of care.

We tried a variety of dishes to get a good feel for the menu, and most of them really impressed us.

Cod “seftalia” wasn’t that good. It reminded me more of a plain seftalia without the fish. However this was the dish that impressed me the least.

Bottarga with butter and white chocolate – An unusual combination that actually works. The saltiness of the bottarga pairs surprisingly well with the creamy butter and subtle sweetness of white chocolate. Fish soup – A comforting and well-made dish with a clean, balanced flavor of the sea. Potato chips with bottarga – A fun and tasty snack with great texture and a nice salty kick. Calamari “Cacio e Pepe” – One of the highlights of the night. The calamari was perfectly cooked, with the peppery and creamy sauce giving it an Italian twist that felt both familiar and original. Desserts: “Chicago” and pistachio dessert – Both were excellent. The Chicago was rich without being heavy, and the pistachio one had a lovely balance of sweetness and nutty flavor.

Definitely recommended even...