Laska — Restaurant in Municipality of Naxos and the Lesser Cyclades

Let me explain my two stars. The night started very good. The venue is fantastic and the location is great. We were a table of 4 arrived at 9 pm. The first server who came to our table didn’t give us the impression that was aware of the menu as he didn’t answer any of our questions. I then asked information about the wine to a second server who attended our table for drinks. This person disappeared with excuse that she wasn’t the right person to talk about wines. 15 minutes later and when no one came to order our drinks we asked again if could order wine. A third server came around (a tad arrogant) and we eventually order a very nice rose. We also ordered salads and a starter and few sharing plates as per staff’s recommendation, that Laska had a sharing culture cuisine and also if we were to order mains they would come late and in random order … Which I found very weird … The dishes arrived shortly after and everything was very good. We only had one main (Lamb chops) and it arrived 25 minutes after everything else. We then decided to try one of the fish mains … After we asked two different severs which fish main to try, we concluded to order the Fish fricassee. It was an absolute disaster and this where everything went wrong … We know this recipe and we were curious to try it with fish as it sounded very interesting … The sauce was very creamy and thick but that’s not the point, the point is that the fish was not fresh at all, it was almost off and it looked like they tried to cover it with the thick creamy sauce … I find this absurd for a fish restaurant in a place like Koufonisia where you can eat fish of the net.. We complaint about the main and we sent it back to the kitchen. We spoke to 3 severs about it and the last one said that he would talk to the kitchen but no feedback or respond came back. This was a 26 euros main and no one cared to explain why it was so bad or at least show a hint of interest. My conclusion is that this restaurant is trying to sell a concept that they are not ready for, on an island that doesn’t need it. I find the service inadequate as 4 servers attended our table during the night. We had to ask 3 times to pay and it took 20 minutes … They don’t know what they are doing...

Should have read the bad reviews before coming here and regret not leaving after being told there was no wine list. The recommended wine was good, but would have much preferred making our own selection from a menu - we gave it the benefit of the doubt after a good wine recommendation, but good wine is where the positives end. The host was rude and ignored their barking pet dog throughout the meal - we are dog lovers, but the pet was clearly not happy and not comforted, and barking throughout our meal. The breads were okay, the potato salad was fine but the popcorn shrimp was inedible. The shrimps were not fresh and overcooked in a batter that was far too thick. We also ordered the fish of the day which was cooked nicely, but the dish was not well conceived and the aubergine that accompanied the fish totally overpowered it and did not compliment it at all. We hadn’t touched our prawns and it was obvious by the staff but at no point was there a check back to find out how the meal was. The whole time the hostess was on her phone smoking and telling off her dog but not interacting with guests. We fed back about the untouched prawns to the girl who cleared our plates, but she was defensive and said this was a local recipe and how it should be?! I fed back to the “sommelier” when I paid the bill, but the prawns remained on the bill. I asked them to be removed as we hadn’t touched them. The bill was still €100 without service. I can make exceptions for average food but paired with underwhelming and disappointing service I can’t ignore it. Plenty of great local places to eat so save your money and...

The place is nice and the staff very friendly and helpful, however the food is mediocre, if not bad, and totally does not worth the (at least) 40€ per person.

The starters and salad were very good, but very expensive for the portion. As main dishes we had chicken pasta and Moussakas. Chicken was dry and tasted like a normal pasta dish you can have anywhere for less than half the price (costs 21€). Moussakas had too much oil and way too much aneth, to the extent that it didn't resemble a Moussakas at all. Again extremely expensive for what it was (19€).

If the owners want to have a high-end restaurant and justify their prices they need to improve drastically not only the food quality and taste but also their services. For example: Taste the wine. They have a great list of greek wines but as foreigners don't know the local varieties it's good to let them taste the wine before serving it. Fancy dish serving. The waiter brought one of the dishes and mixed it for us, but ended spilling it outside of the dish. Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones. Not only it's better for the environment but also you will avoid having napkins flying around the restaurant because of the air.

Overall the place and the experience is a bit pretentious. Until the food is improved it definitely doesn't...