Mavro Provato of Press Café — Restaurant in Athens

We met some local Greek friends out for dinner at the Black Sheep in the Pagrati neighborhood where we were staying. We were a group of 4 adults and 2 children (9 and 12). It is a very small little restaurant with a few tables close together inside and the doors and windows open to sidewalk where more tables were located. I suggest reservations because this place can be popular with the local aristocrats that live or work nearby.

There menu selection was great and also listed on their website. Both English and Greek menus were offered by server. They also had an extra Daily Specials menu which had another 6 or so additional items.

They brought out complimentary Greek Tsipouro shots with crisp bread and tomato sauce dip for the adults. Water was a offered as either tap, 1 liter bottle, or with gas (carbonated). We had the bottled waters which are 1L size. 2 was good for our table. We ordered a lot to share. A classic greek salad, quinoa salad (which they served the feta mousse sperated for the vegan), pickled Gavros which are sardines I believe, grilled mushrooms (vegan), a type of Hungarian pot roast I think, beef patties served with mash potatoes (the patties were like little footballs and seasoned well, grilled chicken fillets, linguine with mussels and shrimp, vegetable orzo (which was altered by removing all dairy to be made VEGAN), a plate of opened mussels, and a type of grilled pork.

They had a small selection of beers and local wine then of course corked wine. We had some rose and a craft IPA of sorts. We didn't have room for dessert. I wish I had taken more pictures. I only got the vegan orzo dish.

Everyone loved their food. Portions were average but filling. Nothing huge. The smallest portions out of everything was the quinoa salad and the sardines.

At one point a roaming singer with clarinet player walked by serenading people with a mini speaker on the sidewalk for money and it was sooooo loud for 2 or 3 minutes then they moved on. Other than that no loud music was on but as you know. Greeks are loud talkers, so I could get in there sometimes. Especially since the restaurant is maybe half the size of a regular Starbucks. The servers answered all our questions and the food was delicious. They spoke English decently for those that need it. It was a nice twist on some traditional Greek food. Picture of the receipt shows how much we got and the price was not bad at all for the downtown area which can be touristy.

No need to dress up as most everyone was dressed casual for summer. AC was on as were fans but with all the doors and windows open it didn't help. Our reservations were for 9pm so by then the city was starting to cool off. Food started coming out quickly. Within 10 minutes the first cold appetizers and salads popped up. Presentation was good. I would say the beef patties were the simplest presentation, 2 football shaped patties and a blob of mashed potatoes. The rest all looked and tasted amazing.

I would definitely recommend if you want a break from the heavy meats on Greek menus. I will 100% go back when I return next year. Kids loved it too. The kids with us were the only kids we saw there that night. Most customers were couples, friends, or coworkers.

I want to try more options of things they...

Well they were very polite to explain that if we were to make a reservation, it would be for two hours only. We agreed and went anyway. It was our first time visiting the restaurant and our table was on the sidewalk. There was a garbage about 20 meters by the restaurant and the wind was carrying an unpleasant smell. So, not a good location for us to sit. The tables were turned 90 degrees to be more narrow so that more tables would fit side by side on the sidewalk. That meant that your knees touched the sides from under the tables causing you to sit very very uncomfortably and surely far from the table. Sneaky way to make people not linger at your restaurant. The food was really nice, the staff was friendly and the raki was excellent. Even though we knew we had to leave by 20.15, the waiter came at 20.16 kindly letting us know that the next reservation had arrived and we had to leave. Shame that they made us definitely not want to visit again. The price range was close to the average (~20€ pp) but the environment is what made us never to go back there again. We have many more options in Athens (thankfully) to a much more cozy and comfortable environment with similar and even better food at this price range - the raki is debatable. IMO they should relocate to a bigger place with comfortable tables and chairs and stop this two hour...

Great service, excellent food, great prices, the worst interior decor for seated dining in Athens. Black walls, wooden benches, awful naked filament light bulbs. Oh who allowed this crime to happen! The food super tasty, well-priced, the staff are top notch, but the atmosphere is unbearable. Already the space is small and I can imagine that someone thought it a brilliant idea to paint everything black just because the place is called black sheep. It isn’t, the place was dingy and depressing, I lost my appetite, felt sad and stressed. Could not read the menu nor see my food of course. The waiter increased the light intensity but that couldn’t really fix what I consider a ridiculous lighting scheme for a restaurant. My back was aching as I could not rest it (except on the wall at the back of the bench). The seating outside is preferred evidently although there are only a few tables on the pavement and cars drive by. Make a reservation asap to avoid sitting inside - the food and service are definitely worth it. To the owners, PLEASE redecorate! The excellent effort made by the chef and the waiters do not deserve this horrible black bleak space. Minimalism should not be confused...