Skoumbri — Restaurant in Athens

My friend of 30 years and I recently returned from a city break to Athens to celebrate 30 years of friendship. Whilst we were there, we did a few touristy things, including an e-bike/scooter tour of the ancient parts of the city, and it was after our very private tour that the tour guide recommended a few places to visit to eat. Skoumbri was one of those places he listed for us.

We arrived at Skoumbri in the late afternoon, and they weren’t busy at all. I think we may have arrived at the point between their lunch and dinner service. We were seated and given menus very quickly.

We ordered, and the food arrived within a very good time. We both had starters and a main. When my starter of Cod Patties arrived, I was blown away with the size of the portion. This wasn’t listed as an item to share, so I was very impressed with the amount of food for its price. For my main, I had the Fisherman’s Pasta, and that was again a large portion for its price. Both tasted amazing. Full of flavour, and the Fisherman’s Pasta wasn’t skimping on the seafood either….

The member of staff we encountered was very nice, polite, and even went to find out the name of a track that was playing in the restaurant when I recognised it after not hearing it for many years. If that’s not going the extra mile, I don’t know what is?!

Overall, I really enjoyed the food and the experience during our visit to this restaurant and will be returning here again when I’m back in Athens either in October or...

We went here based on our AirBnB host's recommendations despite the 4.3 stars on Google. Well lit with a clean atmosphere. But when we arrived it was full of tourists without any local guests we had seen in other restaurants further from the Acropolis. Service was indifferent. But the food was sadly not very good. The octopus starter was overcooked, chewy and warm. They cut the octopus into pieces rather than serving it whole as they had in their pics online. The squid was undercooked, and the pasta tasted like it had been boiling too long. Salad was small but fine and the starter dip was also good. What clinched it was when they told me that the government mandated that they charge for olive oil- when we asked for some for the bread. Wow. Surprising when all the other restaurants we had been to had provided this on request or had it on the table. It just seemed like another blatant attempt to squeeze some more tourists. I also asked for the calamari which was raw to be grilled some more, but what they did was just replate it and sent it back cold. Take a look at the other 1 star reviews. It's fine if you are staying nearby and don't want to make an effort to go somewhere else or I suppose if you are a guide and you want to bring your unsuspecting guests in for a group meal. Toward the end, we just wanted to leave. And the exit was the best part...

This was the first restaurant I tried when I visited Athens and it wasn't a pleasant experience. I ordered Codfish with garlic sauce and of course I should have realized the little star they put over the menu name for fish that isn't fresh since it was a frozen fish fillet and lacked flavor. It wasn't anything special and not really worth the price (after I compared to the other places I went to whilst I was there). They also provided a water and a basket of bread while we waited for the food to arrive and we had to pay for those as well. Usually they are complimentary so unless you want to pay extra for water and bread then tell them not to serve it. They didn't even ask for our consent before giving it to us (specially because it was included in the bill). My friend took the grilled sardines and I tried his food and it was delicious but the portion was small. Thankfully he took a greek salad appetizer and he was full. In conclusion, I don't recommend this place...