Restaurant Bar Panorama. — Restaurant in Municipality of Northern Corfu

Decided to eat here on our last night of holiday in Corfu, as reviews seemed good and in a lovely location, looking out onto the beach. Got a table straight away, was served by the owner who was quite friendly, chatted to us and brought over our wine order. Ordered our food-I went with the Carbonara as it’s a favourite pasta dish of mine, and on the menu it described it was made with proper Italian guanciale. I even asked if this was the case and the owner said it was. Hubby ordered the mixed grill. He asked if it came with any sauce or bread and he was told no, you need to order this separately and was offered ketchup or mayo…not very Greek! So, he ordered some tzatziki, bread and side of baked giant beans. Food came out nice and quick and was hot. My carbonara was nice, however it was definitely not guanciale as stated. The mixed grill was very disappointing and poor value for money at nearly €20. Small amount of meat, no sides apart from a tiny bit of salad and meat not very good quality at all. Tzatziki and beans were good. My hubby was really not happy with the mixed grill and quite frankly felt ripped off, so had to say something to the owner. He said he felt the meat was not worth the price tag and it really should come with at least a little side of bread and sauce, not have to order and pay for this separately. The owner wasn’t at all apologetic and just disagreed, saying it’s the same amount of meat we would get in any restaurant, as they they do it by weight. This didn’t really wash with us, as we go on several foreign holidays a year and have had much better quality mixed grills for less money elsewhere, including in Corfu. It always tends to come with bread and sauce as well. He also argued if we’d asked for sauce on the side, he could have added a little tzatziki….I had to jump in at this stage and point out, sorry, but he did ask this and was offered ketchup and mayo, hence having to pay almost €5 extra for the tzatziki! The conversation got us nowhere, so we ate our food and left. Stupidly, we thought maybe he might knock some money off the bill as a good will gesture, but no. All in all, whether it was because it was towards the end of the season, we were unlucky, or this is the usual standard for here, we wouldn’t recommend this place. The only positives really would be the wine...

To be honest I am even being generous!

Positive: The only thing is that the prices for the sunbeds are decent and the beach is clear, but so are the other nearby beach restaurants.

Negative:

1. The guy on the beach taking orders, adds on top of the bill (50p, per order). This has been noticed when ordered via him and directly from the restaurant bar.
2. You can pay cash on the beach only, if you want to pay card - you need to go to the restaurant that is out of the beach, crossing the road. And you get a tax for doing so. Also by the looks - they are not big fans of the card payments, as getting irritated when you need to do so.
3. For 3 Gyros pitas - we waited approximately 45m, Eventho the restaurant was almost empty. And the Gyros itselfs were 30% bread, 50% potatoes, 10% onion and 5% meat.
4. Eventho we were ordering the whole day on the beach and ate at the restaurant. When I had to stay after lunch for an additional hour to work. They told me I cannot sit anymore, as wasn't consuming anything and I am wasting space. Note: there was only 2 tables taken at that time(20% capacity or less)
5. The waiters are either lazy, irritated or just do not like their job. That's not how you handle customers.

Came optimistic - but for sure would not advise to visit if other...

The owner and I sort of clashed. I sat down on one of his loungers around midnight to watch the stars. The beach was completely empty, not a soul around.

He passed me and asked for 5 Euros of charge for using it. He said, he had been working since 7 in the morning and some people leave sand on the loungers at night and in the morning, customers might complain. I respect, he’s hard working, and I can imagine how picky some of the tourists around here are. However, I did not leave any sand on his lounger. And I would not have left any when continuing to walk.

I paid him 10 Euros, but he was still complaining, nor did he give me back any change. On one side, I felt empathy for him, it really must be a tough job with so many picky, snobby, drunk tourists around. On the other hand, it made me sad to see what this kind of surrounding leads to. An environment, where you’re only focussing on money - and cannot differenciate situations anymore. When it might be humane to let someone enjoy a peaceful moment - and when it might be necessary to stop intrusion.

Sure, I was intruding somehow. But in a really considerate way. I guess, one could have reacted in a different way to this. A bit less greedy...