Cantina — Restaurant in Municipality of Sifnos

It is with great trepidation that I visited Cantina restaurant having experienced Yiorgos Samoilis’ inventive and refreshing cuisine at his previous venture. As expected, I was not disappointed. His use of local produce, meat and fish proves that this young chef and his stellar team have mastered their art, offering the customer a unique culinary experience. Gone are the days of overcooked meats and dishes drowned in oil, in order to cover their tastelessness. Kantina’s selection gave me the opportunity to sample local products of rare quality, usually overlooked by Greek cuisine, which tends to mimic western european trends, mindlessly (mis)appropriating Asian or LatAm dishes. Kantina’s expert blend (or fusion) of timeless Greek dishes with age old and far flung cooking traditions (ceviche, sea weed smoking) produces a truly stunning result. The chef’s light touch ensures that every ingredient is given its rightful spot and importance, titillating even the most demanding of palates. I will avoid any suggestion to prospective patrons, since I consider every dish worthy of effusive praise! I decided to suppress my suspicious nature and my stated dislike of white wine, following the somelier’s advice, and ordered a fruity but still austere white Santorini Asyrtiko wine. A true revelation, as it turned out. I also must commend the esthetic of Kantina’s architecture, offering every customer a masterclass in tasteful minimalism, without compromising in any way the customers’ comfort. The informality and effortless friendliness of the staff and their ingrained sense of humor enhanced the gastronomic experience. I am determined to visit Kantina again in the nearest possible future, since this restaurant has become for me a destination unto itself. Keep up...

I wish I had heeded the warning of the other negative reviewers. Was really looking forward to dinner here so we went anyway but it didn’t live up to the hype! It’s mysterious and cool but Sifnos has other amazing restaurants that exceed Cantina and don’t make you question if they care if you’re visiting.

The service is where it all fell apart. We had a server but they never returned. We shared that we were interested in choosing glasses as the meal progressed. Since we had ordered all the dishes we thought it would be fun to have input about pairings. But the server didn’t return. We only ever saw those who were running dishes. Towards the end of the meal it was apparent that we might have a struggle ordering dessert. So we decided to skip it and left.

Something was off. At least 3-4 servers were attending to a large table of 7 demanding guests right behind us. This left us and many other two tops without the attention that the large party was receiving. So I guess if you’re lucky and there when there isn’t a large party, your experience may be different. But for us, it was a very disappointing experience at a place I had been looking forward to for a year.

If you choose to go, here are some tips. We had all the starters and the salad! Smoked eggplant mousse and Fava crepe are amazing. Salad was tasty but nothing mind blowing. Swordfish gyros was fun but skip the Smoked pork slices. It was very tough and chewy. Shared this and I guess the chef will...

Setting is unquestionably stunning. But unfortunately the server was - not once (which I can let slip), but repeatedly - rude and inattentive throughout the meal, and this overshadowed everything else to create an overall very negative experience. Pointing to the top of the menu, his opening line was "this is our concept - read it". I found myself having to get up repeatedly to ask for things that should have been attended to, given the server/customer ratio. I equally found myself in the embarrassing situation where the larger plate I had chosen came out some 15 minutes before that of my guest, who was then left sitting hungry while I ate - and I got an unpleasant response when I had the audacity to question this delay and why I was not 'sharing', with no thought to the fact that perhaps I preferred 'my' dish and my guest preferred 'his' because this wasn't in keeping with the restaurant's 'concept'. Food was decent, but not on the level anticipated/prices would indicate and certainly nowhere near that of Omega3, its sister restaurant. At the end, I was asked for a tip, on top of already inflated prices. I can deal with poor food and poor service, but I do not enjoy being lectured to by patronising staff about how I should read a menu or eat a meal I am paying for. Very poor experience overall - the worst of a two week holiday. On Sifnos, there are many far superior options for less cost and...