Mazu Thessaloniki — Restaurant in Municipality of Thessaloniki

Disappointing visit and concerning after-effects Visited: August 23, 2025 — Thessaloniki

I rarely write negative reviews, but I feel obligated to share my experience at Mazu so other diners can make an informed decision.

Yesterday (August 23, 2025) I visited Mazu and ordered the tuna as my main dish. In the moment, the plate looked fine and tasted acceptable—nothing remarkable, just average. Unfortunately, what happened after the meal turned this into one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had on this trip.

Within hours of eating there, and especially today, I’ve been dealing with stomach pain and persistent diarrhea, along with general discomfort that has disrupted my plans in Thessaloniki. I can’t state with absolute certainty what caused it, but the timing is hard to ignore: the tuna at Mazu was the only notable meal I had yesterday, and these symptoms began shortly afterward and continued into today.

Beyond the health concerns, the overall value and experience did not justify the price. The dish itself was unmemorable and lacked the freshness and clean finish I expect from a seafood restaurant that highlights fish. When you order tuna—something that requires careful handling, proper refrigeration, and precise cooking—you expect a bright, clean taste and a texture that signals top quality. Instead, the flavor was flat and the overall impression left me second-guessing the quality. At the time I didn’t think much of it, but given how I feel today, I wish I had trusted that hesitation.

I also want to emphasize that this review reflects my personal experience. Correlation is not proof, and I understand that many factors can contribute to gastrointestinal issues. Still, as a paying customer who became ill right after eating the tuna here, I think it’s reasonable to raise a red flag—especially because seafood safety is non-negotiable. When a restaurant chooses to serve tuna, it assumes the responsibility to handle it with rigorous standards from sourcing to storage to preparation.

What would have helped? • More evident attention to seafood quality. Tuna should taste pristine and leave you feeling light, not worse the next day. • Transparency and care. If a guest expresses concerns (even after the fact), a thoughtful response matters. I’m sharing mine publicly because it affected my health and my trip.

I’m now having to adjust my plans due to stomach cramps and diarrhea today, which is not how anyone wants to spend their time (or money) while traveling. Even setting the illness aside, the dish did not meet expectations for flavor or freshness, and given the aftermath, I cannot recommend Mazu—especially for tuna—based on this visit.

I hope management takes this seriously and reviews their seafood handling and quality control procedures. Diners deserve to leave a seafood restaurant feeling satisfied and well, not worried and unwell the next day.

Bottom line: My experience with the tuna at Mazu was poor in taste and followed by stomach pain and diarrhea today. Whether or not the meal was the sole cause, the timing and severity are enough that I won’t be returning. With so many excellent places to eat in Thessaloniki, I suggest looking elsewhere—particularly if you are considering...

Most awful staff I've ever dealt with.

When we got there, the restaurant was EMPTY, maybe three tables occupied in total, yet they still asked if we were there for food or drinks so they could “see” if they had a free table… in their empty restaurant.

As soon as we sat down, before even bringing us menus, we got asked if we’d be paying cash or card. I thought, okay, maybe this is just how their system works - but then they brought a separate receipt for every single thing we ordered before we even received our food/drinks, instead of adding it all up at the end and giving us one bill.

They first gave us only their small sushi menu. We had to stop them and say we wanted the full menu. Ended up ordering two things: an appetiser and a dessert. For the dessert, they asked if we wanted it right away or later. We said later. The appetiser (just fries, so not exactly complicated) took ages to come. When we later asked about our dessert, the waiter told us they didn’t have it, offered to bring a menu so we could choose something else, then walked off and never came back. We waited and tried waving down staff for another 20 minutes to order any other dessert, but no one came and we decided to give up and leave. At no point did anyone tell us beforehand that the dessert wasn’t available, the waiter took the order like everything was fine.

It was the same nonsense with drinks. We had to chase down the waiter for over 40 minutes just to get a drink menu. Once we finally got it, no one came back for another 20 minutes to take our order. We literally had to call staff over multiple times for anything... even to pay.

Rude. Unprofessional. Pretentious. Mediocre food at best, on an overpriced menu. Absolute waste of time and money - do...

The worst service I have ever been in Thessaloniki. The receptionist is extremely snob and think she’s a diva herself. The things started bad when they put the water battle in the table without serving us, which would never be a problem for us if it doesn’t seem to be the standard of the place, because every other table were being served. Then, we asked them to bring the cocktails menu, it took ages, we asked again, then they finally brought, but took another 20 min to take our order. I must quote that the waiter (the ginger one, also snob) came first to a table next to us that had just arrived (they seemed “with more money” so that’s probably the reason the service were faster!?) and would pass on us if my boyfriend hadn’t call her (she seemed like doing us a favor!). We decided to not eat there, due to obvious reasons, and asked for the bill. That it took so fking long again that we decided to go inside and pay it directly so we could run from this place.

It has a very nice decoration and very good view to the sea but unfortunately the employees turn the experience a nightmare. Maybe next time I go better well dressed or looking like a thessalonikian influencer to get the service we should get? I would suggest the management to either hire better waiters or to give them some training. Considering other comments mentioning the same problems and the SAME waiters, it doesn’t seem random or rare. And taking a look on the answers, they don’t seem to improve...