Trattoria Plaka — Restaurant in Athens

Right downstairs from our rooms, plenty of tables inside and around (they even have a covered area 20 feet from entrance). 2 single stall bathrooms behind a wall on the left side as you go in.

We ordered a grilled shrimp, Greek pizza, linguine with seafood, fried cheese and garlic bread. For dessert we had a capuchino and pistachio ice cream.

The shrimp were large but seemed like prawns almost. They were lightly seasoned with salt and olive oil which tasted delicious and shell was so crispy i could eat it like a chip. My mom really enjoyed her linguine al dente with a delicious seafood broth, but the only seafood on it was shrimp.

My greek pizza had a perfect crust so it was crispy and fluffy inside but there were many ingredients that created a heavy wet addition to the pie (tomato, green peppers and mushrooms) so I had to eat it with a fork. The feta cheese was very fresh and lightly salted (best version of feta I have had).

The garlic bread was ok, but it didn't have much garlic taste. The fried cheese had a japanese like name, which makes sense since it had a very light batter, which was done so well. It was delicious, super crispy outside, and gooey inside. It came with a slice of lemon, which I also tried, and I liked the combo. It is good by itself with the garlic bread or with the lemon.

My mom says her capuchino was very watery, but it could be just the way greek drink their coffee (water down) since she had the same issue elsewhere. It is also important to note that she loves coffee and is used to strong Cuban coladas (like super concentrated expresso).

The only thing I didn't enjoy was the pistachio ice cream because it was the typical neon green sweet cream version you get in the States. I had really good pistachio at the vendors around the corner by the shops nearby (check the color, if it looks dark green like the nut itself then you have a better chance of an good one). I will include a picture of a pistachio from outside vendors for comparison.

Overall, it was a lovely meal and very friendly staff. I'm definitely coming back for more if I get a chance (there are so many great options to...

BAD. I rarely leave negative reviews, but my experience at Trattoria Plaka was disappointing enough to speak up.

I ordered a Chicken Caesar Salad, and it arrived in poor condition—the lettuce was soggy, wilted, and clearly not fresh. A lot of mayonnaise dressing had been added just to mask it. (First time in my life doing this) I returned it out of genuine health concern, and while the replacement was better, the damage was done.

What made it worse was the service. After I returned the salad, the server ignored us. Even stopping by our table to stare us down then walk away. And at the end of the meal, instead of offering an apology, the manager came over to justify the issue rather than take responsibility. He tried very hard to gaslight us into believing the salad is made up of various lettuces that just “look wilted” and that it happens all the time that people make that mistake. He, a man that didn’t see the salad, wants us, the people that saw/ate/tasted the salad, to believe we were just confused. He held out his hand and tried to talk over us, never wanting our response, but to play along with his false narrative. I’ve never been in a restaurant where I felt so dismissed and disrespected for expressing a valid concern.

With so many great dining options in Athens, I regret choosing this one. Poor quality, even worse attitude. I will not return—and I don’t...

not sure how this restaurant got 4.5 rating. the food was not good at all, we only ordered a few simple dishes, a Greek salad, a pizza, deep fried squid/octopus (not exactly what they called), and Carbonara. The deep fried squid must be done for a long time but the waiter forgot to bring it to the table. When we got it, it's kind of cool, and not crispy at all. The pizza was so so, the dough was thick, the meat was over-baked for too long and kind of dry. The Carbonara was not good either, the pasta was dry and very salty. The only normal one was the Greek salad, maybe because there's not much technique required to prepare this one, since it's just choked vegi and a big piece of feta cheese. The service was even worse: first, the whole area was jam packed, all restaurants were busy (in the end of June), lot of tourists in Athens. The waiters couldn't careless about the customers had been waiting for long time, we waited for at least 5 minutes before we're being served. The service was lousy, the waiters were rude: when we ordered something we need to pay, such as soft drink, they served quick, however, when we wanted to get some water, they just said "wait!" rudely. The food was overpriced. Not sure how did they get 4.5 rating. Unless you have no choice and this is the only restaurant with seats available, otherwise please try other...