Svoura — Restaurant in Athens

The food:

The food was exceptional. There isn't a differentiation between starters and main courses, so we ordered a grilled squid, dolmades (stuffed onion) and the beef liver (special of the day). All of the three dishes were very well done, not only cooked to the point, but also very well seasoned.

At this point I have to especially point out the liver with a sweet potato puree. As an Austrian I enjoy innards very much and a well done liver is something you rarely find (especially because everyone only wants the expensive meat and sadly many people avoid them for sole reason). The liver at this restaurant is en par with those served in good establishments at my home, so I was immediately hooked for the rest. The sweet potato puree was also well seasoned, creamy and had a very good taste. It mixed perfectly with the liver and it was an all around great dish!

The squid was also very well seasoned with a lemon and capers sauce. It was also grilled to the point and mixed very well with the sauce.

The Dolmades got served with a tomato sauce. They also were seasoned and cooked well.

The staff:

What sparked our interest in this restaurant were the two locals sitting in the outside enjoying their dinner. All the tables were already reserved, but the waitress gave us one of those and set up new tables as more and more guests were arriving. The staff was friendly but under quite some stress, they might need more waitresses to handle peak hours, that's the reason for only giving 4 stars concerning the service.

The ambience:

The reastaurant is in a pedestrian zone and next to a street. It's a lively location but we were still able to communicate with a normal voice and were never really disturbed by anything

Conclusion: If you want a good restaurant with matching prices and a nice staff visit this place. It apparently is not yet discovered by tourist masses as they mostly stroll around the northern area of the Acropolis. I hope that this place keeps on going as it was one of our best dinner experiences I had in...

We have a “no redos” rule - if a place is good don’t dare to go back because it’s never going to be as good the second time. We were here 3 years ago - in the peak of the pandemic and had such profound memories of the place that few places since have lived up to.

The Sunday lunch crowd starts around 2pm and we were glad to barely beat the crowd and get a seat. As the light summer rain unexpectedly rolled in the tables were quickly and expertly rearranged to something more like a Greek wedding and we were pleasantly surrounded by the steady beat of the low murmur of happy diners.

The cycladic salad - a cool and refreshing counterpoint to day with the crunch of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes and the tang of feta cheese was the perfect way to start the meal.

The fava don’t even get me started. We’ve searched the world for better fava than this and if you can find a better one then hats off to you! Finally the grilled squid was a testament to the skill of the kitchen. The flavorful char on the outside gave way to tender juicy flesh bursting with the flavors of fire, squid ink and leek.

The complimentary wine certainly helped us endure the last of the afternoon summer drizzle. If you're looking for a taste of Greece in the heart of the city, look no further—this...

The food was great. The service was good. Nice seating outside on side street. The food is medium size Greek (Crete) dishes. The salad is a 10/10 and is enough for a meal if you want a light dinner. I would definitely eat here again.

Update: I did eat here again. The service and food were great. I had the salad, fried gigante beans and the chicken meatball special. It was probably enough for three people but I wanted to try new things. Between the lamb special and the chicken meatballs, I preferred the lamb, but both were great. If you are in the area, I highly recommend.

Update: The one thing I give a bad review for is when the service is horrible and then the only time the server comes is to get your money AND ask for a tip. This is the fourth time I have been to this restaurant and the food is still good but today, a Saturday, they were out of many things by 6PM and although there were two servers, one of them did literally nothing. They brought out my starter and entree at same time, plopped them down, then came back 45 minutes later to clear the dishes, then ask if everything was ok, then to make sure I added a tip. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that the receipt the other times said service included. Anyway, if you are going to go, go...