Orizontes Lycabettus — Restaurant in Athens

Like you are doing now, I googled and searched for the best restaurants in Athens. Orizontes was on the top of most lists dating back several years. It is famous for being the restaurant on the highest peak in Athens, affording it spectacular views of the city to the sea. The view is indeed incredible but the ONLY good thing about the restaurant. First, what the website doesn’t tell you: to get to this “fancy” restaurant, you have to trek up that highest hill or pay $10 EUR round trip for EACH person to take the packed funicular. It’s a very uncomfortable albeit short ride to the top. The greeter asks, “Inside or out?” We indicated our interest to sit outside and he says, “No, it’s too windy.” Why offer it then? He walks us to a table at the window. And yes the view is lovely. But the decor inside is dated and worn. Maybe this was once a fine establishment when it first opened? Maybe they changed owners but never the furnishings nor cleaned? We sat for at least 10 mins and then the waiter allows us to place our first order: very dry, very cold martinis to start and the bread and olive oil, please. The entire time the waiter kept trying to walk away before taking the order. It was so odd. 15+ mins later, the waiter brings us mostly vermouth martinis that are practically lukewarm. The bread basket consists of 4 rolls slightly larger than ping pong balls and a small bottle of inexpensive tasting olive oil. The bread is $8 EUR. The menu says $4 but they charge per person for 2 small, tepid, dry rolls each. Maybe they were freshly baked at some time, but not when we received them. Our plan was to pair each course with a cocktail or wine and get something from each section of the menu for 5-6 courses, ending with the pistachio crusted lamb and a nice bottle of Greek red. We never made it that far. We had to flag down a busboy to order the next course. He goes to grab our waiter who begrudgingly comes over to take our order. He seems pleased that we ordered 2 glasses of most expensive champagne by the glass but is walking away as I tried to place the order for the eggplant starter. He wouldn’t even look at me. My husband then realized that the waiter did not like a woman ordering for our table. Is it misogyny or racism? Not sure but he never acknowledged my existence even when I was the only one placing the order. I love researching menus/wine lists at restaurants to create pairings for each course, so my husband usually has me take the lead. This guy did not appreciate that. The restaurant starts to fill up a bit. And we notice other people are being sat OUTSIDE! We wait for our champagne glasses that are $22 EUR each. We wait for our 1st starter. Nothing. We eventually get the champagne and take a quick sip but wait and wait for the eggplant app. Nothing. We flag down a busboy to ask about the eggplant while our champagne sweats. 15+ mins later it is brought out. Cheese isn’t even melted. Dish is not even hot. We notice everyone around us is getting bowls of soup right after being seated. We see our surly waiter laughing with and taking pictures for other tables, outside. We ask the mother with her young son sitting at a table an inch away what soup they ordered. She says, “Oh, I don’t know they just brought it.” Everyone around us with bowls of soup or their food and we can’t even order. My husband asks a random server about the soup and she asks, “You didn’t get the soup?!” Some 10+ mins later this watery, pale, room temp soup is brought out. It’s disgusting. We decide the staff actually saved us hundreds of Euro by showing us how awful the food and service is, early on—before we had ordered the other courses and bottles of wine. We decided to cut our losses, grab the check, and leave. Save yourself the insult, the gross, overpriced food, and avoid this decrepit restaurant. Orizontes has chosen its hill to die on.

(If you must go up the hill, grab a quick drink at SkyBar for the great view without the rude attitude—then head to Athina Bistrot for some of the best...

I really wanted to like this place because the view really is phenomenal. When you first walk in it feels very fancy and like you're about to experience something great.

However, the whole experience did not live up to the first impressions at all. The service was just ok, they were polite but not very attentive, we were left with the menu for a really long time even though we were ready to order, and when we wanted to order more drinks it took at least 10 minutes to get a waiters attention even though they were standing around. They pour the wine for you initially but do not come around to refill your glass or provide any additional service, you are simply given your serviette and cutlery and left alone.

On to the food, the quality is average, the concept of the menu is creative and interesting but the execution was poor. We ordered the green salad with fruits of the season and the cherries they included (which were described on the menu as fresh) were definitely not fresh and came from a can/jar soaked in syrup yet somehow were still bitter. This flavour ruined the whole salad. The mushroom appetizer was decent, although the potatoes it was garnished with were quite stale. The chicken main dish was completely dry, and the quinoa salad it came with was bland. We were also given three tiny bread rolls without ordering them and we're charged 8€. This bread wasn't even worthwhile as it was stale and tasted like cardboard, with no butter to help enjoy it.

It's worth noting that the cable car to get up the hill costs 10€ per person for a return trip, so definitely plan ahead to save yourself additional disappointment.

As other reviews have stated, the restaurant is definitely a tourist trap and you pay for the views. It is ridiculously expensive for what you get and to top it off they charge you for the tap water and the bread you never asked for. So if you decide to come, make sure you make a reservation to avoid getting a disappointing seat, and ensure you come with deep pockets and without a care in the world or else you will be sitting waiting for a cable car, fuming about being...

So I called first thing as they opened as specifically booked the top terrace and asked for the best view possible as it was my partners and i anniversary. They told me 9:30pm was the only time so i booked, he then asked for my name.. on arrival of our booking at 9:30pm they turned around and said sorry it’s booked out and there is only inside left! I explained myself that I had called and booked prior and that it was a special occasion. The gentleman told us to go have a drink at the bar and come back, we went to the bar sat for 15 minutes and no one came and cleaned the table nor did they acknowledge we where there waiting so we went back upstairs and all of a sudden there was a table for two because my wife had spoken in Greek to them. We still didn’t get the view I asked for when I called and booked, it really bothered me as I tried to make this occasion as special as I could. The waiter that was serving us, took one of our mains to the wrong table, then when I tried to explain to him he didn’t understand, 10 minutes later the steak arrives and they apologise, which is fine but the steak was cold and tasteless. Followed by this we then asked for the bill and the same waiter took our bill to the wrong table, i then tried to speak to him to explain but he didn’t know what I was trying to say. Finally we get our bill only to notice that they charged us for water we never ordered, every restaurant you go to in Greece has complimentary water. For the price of 150 Euro for dinner for two, this was absolutely disappointing, you would think they would’ve given us a refund for the cold steak, seems like they’re just there to make money off the tourists. The cable cart is a absolute rip off 20 Euro for a 3 minute ride in a tunnel with compacted cabins overfilled with people, no curtsey for Covid. Overall the food was very good but very dissatisfied with the service and lack of care when it came to compensating for there mistakes. Wouldn’t recommend going to the restaurant but it’s worth going up for the view and take some photos, there are much better restaurants with much better service...