Vayia — Restaurant in Municipality of Rhodes

The tavern is very impressive looking. We visited in the evening so it was already dark. The tavern is in a stand alone building just off the main road. It has a big sign with the name of the tavern on it and well lit so it can be seen from a distance. Our first impression is that this is quite a posh/fancy tavern.

As we approached the entrance we were greeted warmly by one of the twins and he showed us to the table. 10/10 so far. After giving us the menu, one of the twins bought out a trolley to introduce us to what they have, fresh fish, prawns, steak, pork chop, chicken and more. He also mentioned that everything is locally sourced and cooked fresh. Still 10/10 but the over the top politeness is getting repetitive and mechanical and losing some of its sincerity.

We ordered soft drinks which came in bottles and 2 x litre bottles of still water for the table. The waiter that brought the drinks gave us one glass each. The glass had ice in it as well as a slice of lemon. I poured the soft drink from the bottle into the glass and asked the waiter for another glass each for the water. A few minutes later, one of the twins came to the table and questioned my request for an additional glass each for the water. I said yes, it is for the water. Were we suppose to drink from the bottle? It is dirty. It would be fine if he gave us straws. As per norm, he said begrudgingly ok, thank you very much and went to fetch more glasses. By this time the politeness is now wearing thin, almost feeling that he is taking the mickey. It is now 9/10.

We had our starters. They were great and very tasty. When one of the twins came back to collect our plates he told us to take our knife and forks off so that they can be re-used for the mains. Really? For a nice restaurant like this!!! It is now 7/10. I forgot, as he left he said ‘thank you very much’ 😡

Mains came and went. To be fair it tasted very nice, flavoursome and meat tender.

We had a good evening, despite the glass incident and having to re-use our cutlery for our mains, I still left a 10% tip. That is not how the story ends. Unfortunately, 2 of us got food poisoning. Fortunately this only lasted for 24 hours when everything was out of our system.

Well ‘thank you very much’! No, no thank you. We will not be...

STOP! You just found a diamond…

We’ve really been searching for the true pearls on Rhodos; the high quality restaurants with a nice ambiance - and proper service - which is not easy on Rhodos between the many hundreds of restaurants.

By ‘accident’ we end up at Vayia because another restaurant we aimed for was closed.

Because of the closed restaurant, we drove back 15 minutes to the opposite side of our hotel to get back to Vayia’s.

This was by far our best “foodie” moment on Rhodos and definitely with the extra half an hour drive!

The service level of the ‘happy and kind twin-brothers’ Nikolas and Panagiotis is really outstanding.

They truly work from their hart and choose happiness over money. The prices of the dishes are more than reasonable, and at first we even doubt the food quality because it was so much more affordable than many other restaurants.

The food:

They grow their own bio vegetables and the meat and fish were really fresh! Really fresh fish is also not easy to find on Rhodos - although mostly every restaurant owner says their food is fresh.

The presentation of the dishes is really nice too and the preparation and taste is absolutely from an outstanding level!

Usually you only find this taste and quality in expensive restaurants close to a Michelin star.

It’s a pretty new restaurant so there weren’t many locals (yet), but I believe over time this will be a restaurant that will be loved by many locals too.

The ambiance on the veranda is very nice, the sound quality is very good (which can be annoying if not good) and the music selection makes sure you’ll really enjoy the night out with your loved one.

Usually my partner and I have a rule on holiday that we never choose the same restaurant twice (because the seconds time is usually disappointing if the first experience was that great) but for this restaurant we have made an exception the next day and before we leave, we will definitely come back for...

If there were an option to give zero stars, Vayia would be the prime candidate. This place is the definition of a tourist trap, and I can’t help but feel that the glowing reviews were written by people who’ve never tasted real food in their lives. We dined as a party of eight, and after trying each other's dishes, the unanimous consensus was that this restaurant has somehow cracked the code on how to make everything taste bland, overcooked, or charred to oblivion.

The fried squid? More like rubber bands on a plate, served in the form of baby squids with the flavour of... well, absolutely nothing. It’s almost impressive how tasteless they managed to make it. We kept chewing, hoping for some kind of taste revelation that never came. And don't get me started on the tzatziki—how on earth does someone ruin a dish so simple? It was like they'd forgotten the existence of garlic, cucumber, or anything that remotely resembles flavour.

The real mystery, though, is who's responsible for this travesty in the kitchen. Whoever it is should be legally barred from ever approaching a stove again. Mushy, burnt, and tasteless seemed to be the only themes running through every dish. How they managed to ruin everything we ordered is truly a culinary feat in itself.

Of all the wonderful flavours Greece has to offer, this place served us none. Save yourself the misery, and avoid Vayia at all costs. Easily the worst meal of our entire Rhodes trip—highly not recommended unless you're in the mood to punish your taste buds (oh and your ears too! Because they play the worst elevator music you...