Il Casta — Restaurant in Municipality of Hydra

Avoid if you are Greek... saying the above as the only reason for the way we were treated at Il Casta.

The 4 of us had planned our visit in the island for some time and we had made a reservation in this restaurant days before our arrival, so it was something we were expecting, soon to regret our choice.

The food: well for a "fancy" Italian restaurant, owned by Italians, the expectation is much higher from what we were served. The portions are really small and the quality mediocre at the best. As a starter we had one dish of bruschetta which was none other than a 4 small slice from a baguette with some tomato on top, and a carpaccio which was served plain, with no oil (or truffle oil as it is commonly served) or anything else. From the main dishes, one of the pasta (ravioli) was so bad that the person ended up not eating them.

The attitude/service: this is were the "magic" of the restaurant is at. During our night in Il Casa, at some point it started raining, not much, but still drops were coming in (generally it was a rainy weekend). As some of the rest of the tables were at that time empty, the owner proposed to all tables that were in the open to move to tables with some cover. Well not all of them, not only did he never approach us, but when we asked to be moved (there were still available tables), the owner with a fake smile said "It is not raining that much". Of course we did move, but that was simply unacceptable. Looking around at the rest of the tables, with the receipt, the owner was also offering some limoncello, of course to all other tables apart from us (he is not obliged to, but since he is doing this to all others as a custom, the expectation was there). By being the only Greeks around, we came to the conclusion that this was his problem.

Prices: we ended up paying €45 per person that night, definitely a pricy option for a bad restaurant. There are more options in Ydra at the same cost or even cheaper, with much better quality and service.

We are definitely not going back and certainly do...

Rude owner. We booked a table, we ate (decent food) and the moment the transaction of the POS was approved (approximately 1,5 hours later), the owner informed me - in a different manner that the one before we payed - in a hurry that there is another reservation and that we should leave immediately. Important note: He didn’t clarify that when we booked. When I explained that we needed more time to enjoy the wine he pointed at a small note, (obviously) hidden in the door, that informed us about the booking policy. And with this he ruined a - mediocre - experience of touristic Italian food. The wine was fine.

PS: regarding the reply below; This is indeed my first review since this is something that has never happened before so rudely in my culinary experience. All the above happened on 2/9/2022. So the owner is not only rude, but also a liar. The reason I wrote it a year later is because someone told me about a similar experience and I wanted to warn people. So please stop trying to convince people it's fake and start informing anyone who books about the policy. This is how it's done everywhere in the world - apart from money grabbing rude owners in the...

We were early, so they were able to fit us in without a reservation, but I highly recommend a reservation. All the pasta is hand made and the food was just amazing. I had the ravioli ragu and my husband had the shrimp with pasta. Both were excellent. Since I was only have a glass of wine, I ordered the house white. It was excellent and the best house white I had during our trip. The service was excellent and it was clear that Pietro and his team care deeply about the product they deliver to their customers. Since we didn't want to overstay our time given they fit us in before their other reservations arrived, we didn't have dessert, but I would bet $ that it would be fantastic. Il Casta was one of our favorite restaurants from our three and a half...