Monastre — Restaurant in Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

Truly excellent food, location as well. Unfortunately, we had a very unpleasant and unprofessional experience with the service. Probably due to the not exactly excellent level of English and general customer service, and the not-so-precise menu (the first courses are not included on the main courses page, but actually they are) the waitress brought risotto (which generally is intended as a first course) and tagliata (which generally is intended as main course) at the same time. Obviously, I did not want to hurry to eat the risotto to prevent the tagliata from getting cold, so I pointed out to the waitress that it did not make sense for me to have two plates on the table of which I would only eat one at that moment. Whereupon, the waitress took the tagliata back to the kitchen, telling me that the cook would not redo it and that I would have to eat it warmed up (we are talking about one of the most expensive restaurants in the city...). In my opinion, a good waitress should have clarified the order in which the dishes were served by asking when to bring them (instead of blaming the customers for not understanding 'the concept' of the restaurant, a very unprofessional gesture in my opinion) and simply taken responsibility for the misunderstanding. Not satisfied, the waitress insistently and rudely created an argument by saying that there was no way they would change the order and that there was no way they would redo the cut, so she would bring it to me anyway and put it on the table. At that point, I refused the order and asked to speak to the manager. I would have liked to clarify the misunderstanding with the manager, perhaps trying to understand each other points of view in a calm and polite manner, considering we were in a big table of 8 people. Instead, in my opinion the waitress did not call the manager because in fact the manager never showed up. She, instead, started ignoring our table and not even offered us the dessert, which we wanted. She informed all her colleagues to clean our table and bring us the bill. My guests wanted dessert, so I politely asked them to re-set the table for dessert. I must continue to mention for the sake of the record that this is one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, so the service up to this point was really disappointing and irritating. Dinner ended with the waitress bringing the final bill. After checking, I thanked her for removing the dish that could not be eaten, to which the waitress replied with a passive aggressive 'I'll have to pay for it, thank you' - probably another reason why she was so reluctant from the very beginning. I leave the judgement to you... I don't think we will come again.

If the restaurant management sees this message, please know that we asked to speak with you to resolve the situation politely and respectfully, but were not given the opportunity.

EDIT: the response from the restaurant again demonstrates the underlying unprofessionality mentioned on the review. Given that this was meant to be a constructive criticism, to which we could have added many more details of how we are treated during the evening but preferred not to do so, and considering the fact that we asked in the very first place to resolve the situation politely face to face, I do not think there is any basis for removing this review, even though I understand the frustration in getting a bad review in a newly-opened restaurant. It will serve you as a lesson next time - talking to customers and trying to resolve the situation with kindness and trying to understand the customers' reasons is vital for improvement, rather than attacking again. In addition, I suggest that whoever posted the comment reread Google's guidelines before making real public threats against a situation that even you...

This brand new restaurant which we found whilst visiting the monastery has lots of potential. The location and view from the restaurant are just beautiful. We have ordered 2 starter (sea bass carpaccio and grilled calamari), 2 salads(Greek and Summer), 1 main (chicken) and 1 dessert (mille feuille) and we had 4 glasses of wine. The bill was expensive at €117 for 2 people, but here the positives about this place in our opinion: +The Chef knows what he is doing. The preparation, presentation and taste of some of the dishes where mouthwatering. +The sea bass carpaccio was so tender that it melted in the mouth and +we have never had a chicken so tender and juicy before. +The cheese used in the salads was really really good. +The dessert was also very tasty and the caramel complemented the dish perfectly. +The service was friendly and professional.

What we think didn't go to plan are the following: -We felt the grilled calamari was partly undercooked and partly slightly overcooked. We also felt that the dish needed a bit more seasoning too. We still enjoyed it but wasn't perfect. -The Greek salad could have given a bit more for the price, the mixed cherry tomato were good but the few slices of avocado and goat cheese didn't complement the salad for us. -There wasn't an option to buy a glass of red which we found bizarre.. -Because of the heat and proximity to some bushes and the lights there were a few moschitos and other insects. The place could try to provide some relief with using anti-mosquito products.

To conclude we think that there are plenty of room for improvement but that the place has great potential to become one of the top rated in the area if the right choices are make in how to position the restaurant. If fine dining is chosen a few adjustments are needed otherwise people won't be happy to pay for the price in the long run. Obviously you pay for the view too but there are plenty of restaurants with the view and with good food for more than half the price.

Keep up the good work though. Considering you have just opened you are doing great. We highly recommend this place to any food lover with a few extra money to spend. Thanks to Chef Michalis and his staff for the great evening and...

Came here for lunch before a visit to the monastery next door.

Pros: The views from here are beautiful, and it's only a short walk from the beaches which have paid parking, or alternatively there's limited parking right outside. Everything is very clean and the chairs/tables etc. have a lovely style. There's a bar area at the entrance and then seating for lunch/dinner further through on a large terrace. Food quality was 10/10.

Cons: The homemade lemonade was a slightly bitter for our liking. There were also a lot of staff and some seemed a little unsure of themselves, no complaints against them but it felt a bit strange being served by 3 people at once! Also we were asked to move a small water bottle that we had with us from the table as we "didn't have a receipt for it". We weren't drinking from it and had ordered drinks, so it just felt a little awkward and unnecessary (although I do understand some places have rules like this). Also, one of the starter dishes was bread with hummus, and we were advised that it only came with two small bits of bread so we should get more bread separately, which seems a bit strange to have to order something else on top to complete the dish if it already comes with that... (See photos for the bread to hummus ratio). Apart from that, overall it was very pleasant, and considering the quality of the food the higher prices were definitely acceptable.

FYI: This is a slightly fancier place, so if you're expecting large portions and a overly casual atmosphere you might feel a little...