Piatakia — Restaurant in Municipality of Rhodes

I went there with my wife and we ordered tasting menu. In general, it was a great experience and you should definitely try this menu if you have enough time. Whole dining experience takes almost 3 hours in total sum. Here is what we had: Aubergine dipping sauce This was a delicious meze. It had mainly aubergine puree, caramelized onions and tahini. I think caramelized onions were too strong for this dish since it is becoming the only flavour you taste. But in general, I liked it. -Beetroot dipping sauce This meze was definetely my favourite. It has beetroot, feta cheese and parsley in it. Perfectly balanced, blow my mind. -Salad This was a good salad with halloumi cheese, which was cooked and caramelized to perfection, tomatoes, some green herbs, seeds and balsamic vinegar. I think the amount of vinegar was a little bit too much and the acidity was pretty high. Also my humble suggestion is; please don't serve the salad on a flat plate guys. It can become hard to eat from that. -Fried zucchini balls Those zucchini balls were fried perfectly. They are serving it with romesco sauce and some raw fennel on top. This was a great combination. Especially fennel touch is genious I think which brings a fresh and juicy touch to dish. -Mushroom At the first sight, I thought why did they put a sauteed mushroom to this tasting menu. But I felt like I was eating a perfectly cooked juicy steak :) some chopped herbs and lemon touch at the end carries those simple mushrooms to another level. Great cooking technique -Risotto Shrimps and muscles were really tasty. Also the rice was delicious. Unfortunately it wasn't cooked well and a little bit raw. -Tuna tartar They told us normally they were serving sole fish but that day, they couldn't find fresh and good ingredient so they were serving tuna tartar with avocado sauce. It was a nice combination and the acidity was pretty good. -Lamb Final dish of the menu was this superb lamb dish with sweet celery sauce and kale. Very simple presentation and perfectly cooked meat. When you have a bite, it makes you smile :) -Pannacotta Well, I can't imagine a better end for this menu. Light and delicious yoghurt and lemon pannacotta with sweet almonds on top. Bravo!

To sum up, it was a great experience for us. Tasting menu was only 24 euros and this is a very good price for such a great menu. Apart from that, staff was really friendly and helpful. They keep asking if you are enjoying your night or dishes after every dish you taste. Personally, I find it a little bit too much but of course it doesn't harm anyone. I have one last criticism about the breaks between dishes. 2 times we waited for more than 20 minutes which is too much for such a tasting menu. Because you feel full after waiting so long. As far as I was informed they have 2 chefs and 2 waiters in total sum. Capacity of the restaurant is around 30-35 people so these things are pretty normal. Also I guess the problems with the risotto and salad were related to this. Well done guys, I am glad I've brought my wife to your restaurant and we have experienced such a...

So I am conflicted about this review, simply because I want to give seven stars and google only allows 5...

Where to start?

5 stars because the food and the place is absolutely fantastic. I had the tasting menu (which i highly recommend, notnonly is it great value for your money, but more importantly, you get a chance to try all this different delicous plates). My personal favourite were the mushrooms, but dear lord the perfectly prepared lamb with rosemary that seemed to melt on my tongue, or the tuna with mustard and capers are strong competitors as well. Also worth mentioning: they have a collection of fine greek craft beers, from which the Jasmine (IPA with a fruity summery feeling) and the Blame it on the sun (Tropical ale) are real winners. But choose them wisely or ask which ones pairs with the food well, so as not to spoil your tastebuds too much.

Star 6: because Chef Daniel was so kind to adapt my menu for my lactose intolerance, without me at any point having the feeling i was on some sort of limited diet. (I sat next to a lovely English couple on their honeymoon and we got served at the same time, giving me a chance to peek and see what some dishes looked like and to hear how good theirs were. Let's just say we were all very happy foodies)

Star 7: because this place has a soul, which you taste, which you feel from the details of the interior, and which you feel when talking to the inspiring owner, kind staff, and passionate chef and sous-chef. And this soul is warm, welcoming and generous. Wait, does that...

We had three dinners on Crete, and one on Rhodes. Honestly, we were convinced that Greece had nothing to offer us. The meal at Piatakia was a total game changer. It was literally the meal that salvaged the entire trip. You can order à la carte from the menu, or you can do the tasting menu of 11 courses for €25. Yes, €25. Every single thing we tasted was delicious. There were two different kinds of hummus, from artichoke hearts and beet root. There was a beautiful salad with grilled halloumi cheese and peaches, along with toasted pumpkin seeds. There were crispy mushrooms, roasted cauliflower, tuna tartare, and grilled steak. The stuffed squash blossoms were out of this world. The caramel Panna cotta was heavenly. We had two full meals, two glasses of wine and a near beer, +2 bottles of mineral water for €72. We left a generous tip and felt it would have been worth it at twice the price. Seriously cannot recommend this place...