Marina's — Restaurant in Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

This place is indeed adorable, the food is fresh and the wine is good. But one of the waiters there - the only guy - is such a toxic personality that he needs to go. My Greek isn’t that great, but I’m 90% sure that when he handed me my glass of wine he muttered ‘malaka,’ which roughly means fool, or worse. A twosome came into the largely empty restaurant and the problematic waiter gruffly told them - refusing to even look at them - they were full for the night; the pair waited two minutes and asked one of the friendlier staff members for a table, and were who promptly seated. Ten minutes later someone else came without a reservation, and the angry man not only seated him immediately, but gave him his choice of indoor or outdoor tables. The other wait staff seemed completely frazzled by him.

Beyond the fact that the guy’s energy ruined the meal, I’m just personally not a fan of the feta that came on the Greek salad and on the eggplant dish - it has the same consistency and fat content as butter, so attempting to eat their generous portions of it wasn’t sustainable. I had been looking forward to their one offered dessert, which sounded lovely, but couldn’t take the overwhelmingly negative vibe anymore.

The interior is lovely, by the way. It comes across visually as an authentic local spot hidden in a sea of chic tourist-aimed sidewalk restaurants. But for the waiter, I’d give...

Marina's Tavern is the kingdom of culinary sincerity. Located a bit further from the crowded track, the place looks so ordinary, that you might be tempted to ask the waiter if you came to the right place. If you do that, you will be reassured and served with starters. Those simple (yet delicious) tzatziki and olives help you read the menu without uncontrollable drooling. The names of dishes are not translated, so it takes a few minutes to go through them (provided you are not a Greek language or/and cuisine expert). Our choice - Bourekakia patties with feta cheese, minced meat and chilli, soutzoukakia - a.k.a meatballs from Izmir and pastitsada - pasta with beef baked in tomato sauce - leave us speechless. The battle between perfectly made beef in pastitsada and the overwhelming presence of cumin in soutzoukakia has two winners. This calory-fuelled contemplation is interrupted by a surprise dessert. We finish our dinner knowing we have been truly welcome and grateful for all the hospitality. A very bright spot on the culinary map of the island, totally recommended!

What you get: excellent service moderate prices, especially when compared with the quality of food there big portions very calm surrounding, a rare luxury in...

I came here with very strong recommendation of friends. That’s probably why my expectation - reality match did not allow for a higher rating.

First of all, i booked for my own during the day for the dinner, and the booking felt as if they were doing me a big favor. They asked me to arrive early, and I thought it was super overbooked. Didn’t turn out to be the case when half the tables were still empty when I was leaving.

When I arrived, I was non-warmly welcomed. While ordering, my questions / efforts to chat were totally ignored, i knew their Sofrito was good and had already decided to order that. Normally when I asked in other tavernas what i should try, at least something comes up. Here, nothing. Similarly for wine, nothing.

The food was good, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t special good. The welcome kit of bread, tzatziki & olives come right away. Sofrito was good, meat indeed was very well cooked. But then, dead silence of no service, no ask of whether i want more wine, no ask of desserts. And when your base for the taverna experience also comes from the coziness and welcomingness, that not being in place for me is a...