Nolan — Restaurant in Athens

Nolan is an amazing experience and worth more than a FOOD TASTE YUM review. Nolan is ART on a plate. I can’t do it justice on a Google post but I can certainly try.

So, let’s discuss the 2nd picture’s dish, short fin squid in a wine sauce with fennel to hopefully show you what fusion cuisine (and culinary art) is as its absolute best — ingredient by ingredient.

Wine of course can make a very nice base for sauce, but also has a strong character. Usually it’s a bit all or none, because the wine flavor would easily overpower a more subtle bouquet, but not here:

Fennel (which I just love in general) adds a clear identity to the dish which helps to offset the wine, but in a complementary way — the dish tastes clearly of fennel, but you can still feel the wine as well.

I also really liked the addition of a few sprinkled sultanas (or raisins? Idk) here and there: most of the time, the food would have a fennel/wine flavor, but the sprinkling of sultanas and other things added occasional bursts of taste as well.

Here too, high risk high reward cooking paid off: too many sultanas would have either made the whole dish taste sweet, or would make too many bites have a sweet aspect — in which case the dish would lose its “squid with fennel in a wine sauce” character — but add too little, and my palate would get too used to the fennel. It would be a good dish, passable, but unremarkable.

The amount of sultanas was Just. Enough. To create a few bursts of flavor which were frequent enough to not let my palate settle, but not so much that the dish would lose its identity.

This was basically my experience with everything I had: the food is crafted with a lot of love and respect for the ingredients, and enough creativity to think outside the box. If you’re in Athens, this is an experience you MUST have for yourself, if you enjoy fine dining.

My only gripe is that the supervisor on the day gave Mean Greek Matriarch vibes and killed the mood when my friend and I were having good rapport with our waitress (who was very nice actually, and clearly had a passion for the food herself).

The MOD saw us talking with the waitress and, probably assuming we were dissatisfied, jumped in and shooed the waitress off elsewhere.

Just in case anyone at Nolan reads this — let your waitstaff do their jobs. 🙃 It’s disrespectful to the waiters AND the customers to undermine their server by barging in to what is actually a nice, amiable environment. If a waitress needs backup, let them ask for it.

Bumbling managers aside though, impeccable experience. Definitely gonna return soon. Eyxarigato gozaipoly

P.S. Advice to everyone — BOOK IN ADVANCE. We went on Tuesday and the restaurant was almost fully booked by Monday evening — we wanted 8 but seatings were only available at 7 or 10. We chose 7. (Not a complaint, just advice — this restaurant is deservedly popular. You’re not gonna be able to...

It was my absolutely favorite restaurant when I lived in Athens 3 years ago, I had lunch/dinner here 1-3 times a week. Last week I couldn't wait to come there to celebrate my baby's birthday and to show my partner my favorite place in Athens. What I didn't know - there was a recent change in chef/menu/service. And it was a heartbreaking experience. The service was horrible. The waitress twice offered us to leave if we didn't like the menu and stopped from pouring free (!) tap water (although we didn't plan to leave and we looking through the menu). Instead of sharing about new chef or highlighting menu favorites, or chatting about our preferences, she was purely cold and rude. We were the only people in the restaurant (inside and out) all the time of our visit, and there was minimal needed service. And still, she asked for tips. We usually give tips without asking us, and this case we left tips to just get away from there, we wouldn't. And we hated the experience. The menu is meh. We didn't have much choice as before, so we ordered three dishes (cucumber, cabbage and crab). All were cold, like from a fridge. Cucumber and cabbage were same in taste - just added yogurt to a vegetable. Crab was ok. No bread, no cornbread, no rice, all good was fridge cold - there was nothing to share with the baby. We couldn't wait to just leave. We ate it in 15 min and left. NOTHING to compare with dishes at Nolan before. There was no one. Usually, it was a miracle to get a table only outside and only during lunch without reservation. This time we stayed till 13:42, then open at 13:00 and there was no one inside and outside.

We didn't feel welcome, our happy baby annoyed everyone (that is super unique in Greece), food was boring and not tasty, service was cold and eye rolling but asked for tips.

We left as soon as we could, hungry, with hungry baby whose birthday we came to celebrate. And the funniest part that after expensive and bogie Nolan we went straight to Vegan Beat where we all got warm tasty food for €6, and baby got free hummus, cause "he was...

Nolan offers a stylish ambiance and excellent service — the staff were warm, knowledgeable, and guided us through the menu with care, clearly explaining their sharing concept. The atmosphere is modern yet welcoming, and it definitely sets the stage for a special dining experience.

We started with two salads: the smashed cucumber, which was refreshing and light, and the rhubarb-strawberry, which didn’t quite land for me flavor-wise. From the seafood selection, the tuna tataki was nicely done, while the pilmeni — handmade pasta stuffed with seafood — was subtle and enjoyable. The shrimps with noodles and tamarindus sauce were also a solid dish, full of flavor and well-balanced.

The meat dishes stood out more. The French cut Iberico pork was cooked to perfection and paired beautifully with the raspberry and beetroot sauce — an unexpected but excellent combination. The kishiyaki duck was also well-prepared, though not particularly memorable. One of my favorites was the Nolan dry-aged beef burger — perfectly medium, with a handmade bun, melted cheese, and caramelized onions. Another standout was the crispy chicken thigh with pineapple glacage and albufera sauce — tender, flavorful, and absolutely delicious.

Overall, I found the meat dishes to be much more satisfying than the salads or seafood. All the ingredients were clearly high quality and thoughtfully chosen. However, despite the quality and the service, I wouldn’t return — and here’s why: we were a group of five, spent €44 each, and left still hungry and we didn’t even get wine. The portions are extremely small, and the pricing just doesn’t align with the quantity served. It left us feeling underwhelmed, especially considering how many other great food options Athens has to offer at better value.

If you’re looking for a trendy experience and are okay with paying a premium for presentation and service, Nolan may be worth a visit. But for those seeking a satisfying and balanced dining experience, the price-to-portion ratio is a...