Μαγικό Βουνό / Magic Mountain — Restaurant in Municipality of Kos

After a heroic trek up the rugged path to Palio Pili Castle—part hike, part archaeological excavation—we were sweaty, hungry, and one poorly-placed rock away from collapsing into a dramatic heap. What we needed was dinner with a view, a chair that didn’t wobble, and preferably someone bringing carbs to our table.

The restaurant across the street was fully booked (rude), so we tried our luck at Magic Mountain—and honestly, the universe did us a solid.

Enter Yannis: part host, part miracle worker, full charm. With the kind of warm smile that says, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he asked us to wait five minutes while he did some ancient Greek scroll-level navigating through the reservation book. The restaurant was clearly packed, but Yannis moved mountains (magic ones, presumably) and got us a table just like that. Already a win.

The place itself? Absolutely adorable. Rustic charm, friendly energy, and a view of the sunset that was slightly obstructed but still totally romantic in a “this-is-what-the-gods-watch-while-eating-olives” kind of way.

And then came the food. Oh, the food.

We started with the homemade bread and tzatziki, which should frankly come with a warning label because you’ll want to eat your weight in both. The Greek salad was peak freshness—those tomatoes and cucumbers snapped with flavor like they were picked just moments before landing on the plate.

But the star of the show? The Magic Mountain steak—a glorious slab of meat glazed with local honey and accompanied by some of the best steak fries this side of Olympus. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and emotionally healing.

Everything—from the service to the setting to the lovingly grilled protein—was spot-on. If you’re in Zia and need a reward after hiking like a Mycenaean warrior, this is your place.

Ask for Yannis. Tell him the people with the destroyed hiking...

Right this place is phenomenal! Obviously the reason me and my girlfriend went was for the sunset but in all honesty I’d go again just for the food and service… we walked in with no booking about an hour before the sunset and were sat immediately by this really nice guy wearing a cool shirt. He seemed more interested in getting us a good seat with a nice view than we were ourselves, never felt more cared for and appreciated eating ever before! The food was amazing I had a bolognese and it was unreal! Tried some of my woman’s fish and it was class too! We also had this bread… omg this bread man! Was so fresh it was still warm! I’m a bread lover as well and this might have been the best bread I’ve ever had in full honesty! We then had a strawberry daiquiri and it was massive man and for only like €9 or smth! The food was so good and pretty reasonably priced for the fact it was in a big tourist location with the best views for the sunset. But the best part was how great the staff were! I sat and watched as they physically RAN around the restaurant taking orders and getting people sat… amazing service! And they were all really friendly as well! This lady even laughed at me for just getting spaghetti when my girlfriend got a fish lol! I think the best part of my experience was watching the staff interact with the most stupid customers ever! Seen reviews saying the staff are rude and it’s just plain not true… they are just blunt and honest with idiotic mammals that call themselves people… stupid people that come in and demand a seat with a view of the sunset when you can clearly see the restaurant is full?!? And then stand there like :0 when the staff say it’s physically impossible! Do you have no common sense?!? What do you want them to do build you a table?!? But yeah 10/10 would recommend if you go anywhere to eat in Zia this...

Food was good, prices also when you consider the great location. Only thing that kind of ruined the evening was when the cashier informed us when we wanted to pay that only cash is possible. Normally that is an information you get at the start because not everyone has cash on hand. However we had some cash and asked what our final bill would be which he first had to ask someone. After 10 minutes he came back with a receipt that was just 50 cents over the cash we had left. He said he has to check if that would be ok as it’s just a little less than our bill. While we waited for another 5 to 10 minutes in which he cleaned other tables we then saw the guests next to us asking to pay with card (not the same waiter but the manager) and he told them that’s no problem. I asked him as well and he said the system has problems sometimes and won’t work for 10 to 15 mins but now it’s working again. I was a little bit confused because our cashier even went away to ask if card is possible before he said we can only pay cash. I tried to explain to the manager that the cashier didn’t say we have to wait for card payment he said it’s impossible. At that point he seemed kind of upset and also told me that now the receipt is printed we have to pay cash even though card payment works again. First of all we never agreed to cash payment so why did the cashier even lock that in and also why is there no way of cancelling the cash payment? However when he realized it’s only 50 cents we are missing he said it’s fine and we could just pay 50 cents less. That is after all was very nice of him but waiting so long and having to argue really ruined the otherwise good...