Το Κάστρο (To Kastro) — Restaurant in Municipality of Mytilene

I went there with my wife the other day. here is what we think: FOOD: We ordered a portion of fried "small fish" ("hamsi" ) and beef. The FISH was fresh and nicely fried; so it was delicious. On a Greek island though I have never seen such a small portion. 10 to 12 tiny fish on a barren plate (no onions, no rocket.. nothing that would normally goes with such a dish.). The BEEF was tender and tasty yet again a noticeably small portion. SERVICE: We were seated at a table that seemed to be left by other costumers earlier on (i.e. with dirty plates and cutleries etc.) which in itself is not a big problem for us but we had to wait way too long for the staff to clean it. We also waited quite a long time to order our food. Finally we were given the menu and immediately afterwards the owner (also called "the magician" as he performs every now and again some "magical tricks", particularly to the kids of his customers) sat down to our table to take our order. We did not have enough time to look at the menu to decide, to start with. And then we really felt pushed to decide according to his limited recommendations. I don't think anyone likes that sort of service really. My personal impression is that he indulges himself a little too much in his image as an entertainer rather than a restaurant owner and this comes at a cost sometimes. The flip side of it, the young waitress who served our food was warm, more professional and efficient. ATHMOSPERE: It is a small yet very cosy place; we liked a lot the decoration and the small exterior area. The location is also...

1 tzatziki (caciki diyorlar ama haydari gibi, 4 euro civarı) 1 kızarmış jumbo karides (12 euro) 1 sardalya aldık. (7 veya 8 euroydu) 1 mythos bira (4 euro) sudan da 1 euro almışlar toplamda bir şekilde 29.5 euro yaptı Garsonluk yapan adamla ingilizce konuştuk ve zor iletişim kurduk, kulakları hem çok duymuyor gibiydi bağırmak lazım hem de ingilizcesi kötüydü. Ayrıca suratsızdı, siparişleri karıştırıyordu mesela başkasının salatasını bize getirdi mesela biz uyardık. Yemek tadı konusunda yediklerimizin hiçbirinin tadını beğenmedik, hani caciki bile nasıl lezzetsiz olabilir anlamadım. Mezelerde porsiyonlar ise kesinlikle küçük değildi alacaksanız çok almayın. Bir de benim için en büyük sıkıntı karidesti, içi hiç temizlenmemiş ve az pişirilmiş servis edildi. Ben nasıl yemem gerektiği konusunda hiçbir şey bilmiyordum dil farkından dolayı da anlaşamadık. Karidesin kafasını kopardım karidesin bağırsağındaki tüm siyah sıvı döküldü. Adama sorduk normal karşıladı göstermeye çalıştı falan ama bana hiç normal gelmedi, doğrusu mudur bilemem. Sonuç olarak kısa süreliğine geliyorsanız burayı tercih etmek yerine daha güzel yerler bulabilirsiniz, fiyatlar da aynı. İlla geleceğim diyorsanız garsonla iyi anlaşmaya iletişim kurabilmeye çalışın benim gibi bilmediğiniz yemek de söylemeyin.

1 tzatziki (they call it "caciki" but it's more like haydari, around 4 euros) 1 fried jumbo shrimp (12 euros) 1 sardine dish (it was 7 or 8 euros) 1 Mythos beer (4 euros) They also charged 1 euro for water Somehow, the total came to 29.5 euros

We spoke English with the waiter, but it was difficult to communicate. He seemed hard of hearing, so you had to speak loudly, and his English was poor. He was also unfriendly and kept mixing up orders — for example, he brought someone else’s salad to our table, and we had to correct him.

As for the taste, we didn’t like the flavor of anything we ate. I mean, I don’t even understand how you can make caciki taste bland. The portion sizes for the meze dishes weren’t small at all, so if you’re going to order, don’t order too much.

The biggest issue for me was the shrimp — it was served undercooked and completely uncleaned. I had no idea how to eat it, and due to the language barrier, we couldn’t understand each other. I tore off the shrimp’s head and all the black liquid from its intestines spilled out. We asked the guy and he acted like it was normal, tried to show us, but it didn’t feel normal to me at all. I don’t know if that’s actually how it’s supposed to be.

In short, if you're here for a short stay, I recommend finding a better place instead of choosing this one — the prices are the same. But if you really want to come here, try to establish good communication with the waiter and don’t order unfamiliar...

A very lucky accident!

We ended up in To Kastro unplanned as it was one of few restaurants open on a Sunday but it was very lucky that we did! The owner Giorgios is quite the character, he will come to the table and tell you what is available that day. Everything we ordered was really good or fantastic. Our favourites were the stuffed zucchini flowers with rice and the fried anchovies, which were amazing! Also really inexpensive: for 5 dishes, wine and water we paid just 32,50€ - so, excellent value for money.

The location is also wonderful, you sit on an elevated terrace with a view on the sea, the decoration is very nice, with photos of the old times on the tables.

We won't forget our visit and will be...