Eleas Gi — Restaurant in Municipality of Kifisia

Nice location and good views over Athens (which always looks prettier at night...), the restaurant also offers parking.

Decided to go for dinner with a friend, we had no reservation. The restaurant was able to accommodate us nevertheless (and was admittedly somewhat busier than one would have expected on a rainy Monday night). We were politely greeted and shown to our table and were asked if we would need a "timologio" (this is an invoice so as to expense it to a company account for those not familiar with Greek "traditions"). We had the 14 course tasting menu and two bottles of wine.

Off to the starters, not much to say here. Tasted 10 starters and cannot remember a single one of them. Neither good nor bad, just totally indifferent.

Both me and my friend ordered a meat dish for the main course. When asked for the waiter's recommendation over the tagliata or picanha, the waiter suggested that we "try something different to what we might be used to eating" (!!) and that both dishes are similar and are highly recommended cooked up to medium and no more (oh, the irony!). He also recommended the rib eye as something we have probably not tasted before. This felt a bit "racist" for a moment (this is what happens if you speak Greek in a non-American accent) but then again we had forgotten our Rolexes at home, so no offense taken. Following from his "recommendation", and having tasted perfectly cooked ribeyes in the US before, we decided to go for the picanha and tagliata instead and asked for them to be cooked to medium wellness.

The mains were really late for some reason, and all other tables around us seemed to have been served even though we had arrived the earliest. At some point, and after much deliberation, we decided to politely ask the waiter (just in case we had been accidentally forgotten) - as soon as we waved at him he came over and, without us having a chance to say a word, he muttered "yes, they're coming, they're coming". Well, something good must be happening in the kitchen, you would have thought. Alas, soon after we were presented with two steaks that were so overcooked that it was like chewing on a car's tire - what a disappointment after such a long wait (or was it the case that our food had actually been forgotten after all, but on the grill instead?!). Dessert was the best part of the menu.

The drinks menu was yet another letdown. Ok-ish variety of Greek (only) wines but nothing special (for the price tags). A big foul was the pricing of single glasses: two 170ml glasses of dessert wine cost as much as the whole 700ml bottle (of course we had the whole bottle!) - that's quite a steep markup there sir!

Totally pointless to comment any further on the "service" - suffice it to say that hospitality and politeness are clearly not their forte.

Total bill amounted to 170 euros. Considering the tasting menu that 50gbp/person buys you in a place like Pachamama Mayfair for example (best Peruvian in London imho), for 50eur/person what you get here is not overly impressive, and definitely emphasizes the greek preference of quantity over quality and appearance over substance.

Overall, the place is trying too hard to be something it is not, and can be fairly described as an overhyped (and overpriced) taverna - it has potential but definitely needs more work, and the overall experience leaves much to be desired. Might be ok if you are there on a "timologio", but would consider it twice if you were to spend after-tax $$$ on this...

All in all, you can enjoy similar if not better views from elsewhere on Mt. Penteli, accompanied by a souvlaki of your choice if you fancy something actually better to eat. Donate the difference to a person in need instead, and you'll feel much happier and less of a sucker the...

Wonderful place, great food and amazing service. The staff is friendly and cheerful. You really feel welcomed in the restaurant from the very moment you enter.

The cellar (optional but highly recommended to go through that entrance) is beautiful and well decorated, with a shot of Mastixa and olives served right before entering the restaurant (even the olives were delicious, and one of us asked which olives they were specifically so we could get the same ones). The waiter serving it always has a smile on his face when welcoming customers.

As soon as you enter the restaurant, you experience the traditional yet elegant atmosphere present (I recommend going early, a bit after it opens so that you can see the sunset which is fascinating). The maitre greets customers at the entrance yet again with a smile and seats them where they please (book a table in advance just in case, the place can get crowded later during the night).

We chose the 14 dish menu this time, as another time when I went with the 24 dish menu, the meat was slightly overdone and tough. Apart from that there are no complaints. The food reflects traditional Greek cuisine, and takes you on a culinary journey across all sorts of small meze dishes, ranging from homemade olive bread straight out of the oven to a fresh bean salad and all the way to rooster medallions on artichoke puree. The main dishes were incredible, highly recommend the psaronefri (pork fillet) which was extremely tender and juicy while being cooked to perfection. The meal ends with rosewater ice cream, bitter chocolate mousse and greek kantaifi. All three were a beautiful end to this tasteful meal. It was one of us's birthday, and as soon as I told the maitre he said he would make sure to bring an extra small kantaifi (different from the one included in the menu) with a candle on it for the birthday boy.

TL DR: Do not miss out on this experience for a journey of flavors of Greek cuisine served by friendly and...

My husband and I travel and eat out a lot so we understand good taste and know about hospitable services. This is my review on the highly recommended Eleas GI in Greece ☹️

What a wow entrance to this highly rated restaurant but really the food and service is nothing to rave or write home about. With all these 5 star reviews I'm asking myself what did we miss. Initially the waiter was also frustrated leaving us with a negative feel. We really wanted to walk out. We multiply our currency by 16 to get to the cost of the Euro so this was infact a pricey experience that literally went down the loo.

We waited for around 25 minutes after being seated to get any attention and it was water. About 20 minutes after that menus were presented and drink orders taken around 15 minutes later. Our staters was done and still no drinks.

If you are a vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian don't even consider this restaurant. I was told that I was getting a whole grilled fish but was served with a piece that was infact oily and fried. Did not even eat it. My husband ordered a meat dish that he was so looking forward to but was told that it was finished. How does a restaurant that supposed to be so top rated run out of a popular dish?????? Even the dessert was 0,5 star and not recommended

Got back to the hotel and both my husband and Threw up...