Ammoudi Fish Tavern — Restaurant in Municipality of Thira

We had a reservation at 19:45 and got seated almost immediately. Within 5 minutes we were given water and expected our menus to follow…they didn’t. We asked 3 different waiters for menus. Each said “of course, one moment please” and then never returned. After 20 minutes, we were finally given a food menu, but no drinks menu. This time, we asked 2 different waiters for a drinks menu before finally being given one. We decided what we wanted to eat and drink, but no waiters were taking our orders. It was incredibly hard to get their attention - half of them were running around in mad chaos, the other half walking around staring into space. We finally got the attention of a waiter and told him that we were ready to order. He said “one moment please”, walked away and told another waiter, who seemed visibly annoyed and looked away from us. When we made eye contact with him, he came over, said that he would take our drinks orders, and said that somebody else would come over to take our food order. Nobody came to take our food order. We finally got the attention of another waiter, and told him that we had been there for nearly an hour and still hadn’t managed to order food. Again, he said “one moment please” and disappeared. Eventually, at 20:35, 50 minutes after sitting down, another waiter came over to take our order. At 20:45, our wine came, as did my partner’s starter. The bread basket we ordered never arrived. I was still waiting for my appetizer (calamari) and told multiple waiters that it still hadn’t arrived.

At 21:20, a waiter came over and asked if we still wanted the calamari. We said yes. We also told him that our bread never arrived, but we told him to forget about the bread. Our mains came at 21:30 - still no calamari. The waiter came over again and asked if we still wanted the calamari, even though the mains were already out. We said yes. The calamari appetizer finally came out at 21:40, 2 hours after sitting down, an hour after my partner’s appetizer came out, 10 minutes after the mains came out.

Then, it came time to pay the bill. At this point, we just wanted to leave. The waiter brought the bill over and it was wrong. When we told the waiter this, he was not apologetic, he was annoyed. Another waiter brought out another bill - it was wrong again. Again, he was annoyed, not apologetic. Then, the waiter finally brought the bill over the third time and it was right. Amongst all this, they did not believe that we paid the €20 deposit to book online, and got the front of house staff member to come and confirm this on our booking, in and amongst trying to charge us for things we did not order / did not arrive.

Whilst we were there, we saw another couple leave. They told a waiter that they had been waiting an hour and a half for food, so they were leaving. The waiter simply shrugged. We saw another group of girls also complain about the wait. They were told that there was a problem with their system, which is not what we were told. We were told that the wait was due to it being the opening night of the season. We completely understand this as we have both worked in hospitality before. However, for the price you pay, you expect better service. The prices aren’t cheaper on opening night, so the service also shouldn’t be so much worse. They have been in business for years and should have systems in place to deal with service on opening night.

We are not surprised to see that many people have left bad reviews on Google and Tripadvisor after last night.

We stayed in Santorini for a week. This was by far the most expensive meal we had, and by...

Ammoudi warf sotsnat the very tip ofnl Oia in Santorini. If you take a Catamaran out of Oia, you may have driven down the super steep roads from the main strip. Or, for the willing and able (read crazy), younwaynhave walked down the 400 steps from the top.

If you had it you Ammoudi, you will no doubt have seen Ammoudi fish tavern. The largest of the restaurants, that is also closest to the car side of Ammoudi. And if you have made it that far, hopefully you got a table (reserved 1 month in advance in around sunset).

We were greeted by 2 hanging Octopus, which the restaurant uses in the Sun-dried Grilled Ocotpus, which we definitely ordered. As with many of the seafood focused restaurants in Oia, and Greece more generally, they had vegetarian options and Chicken/Beef. But that is NOT why I'm here. I want all the seafood.

As we were traveling with another couple, who was willing to order a bunch of stuff and share, we went for it. FULL SEND! While this restaurant is considered pricey, and seeing the price per Kilo for whole fish/lobster/etc may be jarring for some, the quality and view make it worth it (for us).

We started with a bottle of local Rose which was dry, floral and the perfect complement to the beautiful appetizers we had chosen. As they are in season, we started with the crispy, cheese-stuffed squash blossoms topped with parmesan. Melt cheese, perfectly battered for a crispy shell, topped with parmesan and served with a punchy dipping sauce.

Next began the seafood onslaught. This would have been a perfect time to switch to a local high mineral/high acid white wines (Assyrtiko), but we were loving the Rose still. We went with the Sun-dried, grilled Octopus (how could we not) that so kindly greeted us upon arrival, served simply with Olive oil and oregano. Along with that, the sea bass tartare (fish changes daily), which had a delicate texture with diced apple and an Aperol dressing. Fresh, beautifully presented and extremely delicious.

As we had been eating and drinking all day (ready week), we decided to finish the meal with a flourish. We ordered a beautiful green salad with fig, crushed hazelnuts and a slightly sweet dressing, that was topped with cheese (I love how they adore cheese in Greece! We also ordered Ink Risotto with Squid. Just black silky risotto with perfectly cook squid was rich and wonderful.

Last but not least with got the "Variety of Seafood". Think coastal seafood tower on a large black dish. More Octopus, More squid, grilled shrimp, a whole grilled fish, served with green beans, broccoli rabe and a potato. All cooked simply, seasoned beautifully, and consumed happily.

While we did not have room for dessert, the ones we saw looked delicious. The service staff called a cab/driver who took us back up to Oia's main road for 25 Euros (this rate may change during the busy season. We were too full, and too lazy to walk back up the 400 stairs the we decended to get there, avoid the donkeys (and the mess they left behind), so we ended the night at Ammoudi's fish tavern.

Highly recommended. Sunset was beautiful, but I kept my eyes on the seafood, and my beaitiful travel companion (for the most part). Reserve in advance, witha small deposit that is credited on you bill. This place is popular, so don't think you will be able to walk in and be seated without...

TLDR: Sunset view makes it a 3. If it didn't have that it would be a 2 given food prices and bland unexciting preparation.

I first heard of Ammoudi literally 5-10 years ago from a travel channel program. I then started following this restaurant on Instagram 3+ years ago. Anyways I knew my honeymoon was going to be in Greece, so I tried to book a table back in January (2023). I was told I had to wait till the online system opened. The online system opened in maybe March/April and at that time they had reservations for: Front Row, Second Row, or "the terrace". The reservations had a variety of price points and I think the front row was something like $120-$150 upfront. Crazy if you ask me. Especially considering they don't accept cancelations post 5 days.

A few weeks past, got married and I started to finalize our honeymoon itinerary. When I checked back the front row was SOLD OUT for all days I would be in Oia. I was disappointed but I booked second row for $20 pp.

Fast forward to our arrival the hosts greeted us at 17:22. We were 15 min late for our reservations because the donkey path took forever.

We were sat upstairs in a second row, right near stairs. I said I didn't book upstairs, I booked second row downstairs. She said we don't book second row by upstairs or down.

I went to check the website they have completely changed their whole reservation system from a few weeks/month ago. Needless to say there were plenty of first row seat open up on top or bottom. There were also plenty of downstairs second row seats open.

Overall, I am very dissatisfied with their reservation system and it's geared (just like the lobster pasta) for people looking for social media clout.

FOOD: They had Sea Urchin pasta on their menu for YEARS, which is what I have been dying to get. Of course it's no longer on the menu!We tried to order an Italian Pinot Grigio, not in stock. We went to order the spicy cheese spread and were told we also have to order the bread. How cheap is that? The restaurant tries to squeeze every cent out of you. From your seat position to your order. Lobster pasta is $138 Euros....it doesn't even state the lobster weight...what happens if you get a small one? It's all about the picture. Octopus and Greek salad were okay but nothing special. Sea bass was fresh obviously but root vegetable mash and spinach is pretty basic. The cuttlefish ink pasta with shellfish was pretty good and unique with ginger but it didn't need as much butter. Clams in pasta were pretty small (maybe that's a Mediterranean thing) and I think you got about 4 muscles.

Our waiter was good. He knew we were upset and not happy. Honestly, I felt bad for him. If it was a restaurant in town we would have jumped over to another place.

Whole experience just started off feeling slimy. Now take Kastros, which we went to the night before. No booking fee. We got front row. No upfront fee for booking front row. Longer cancelation policy and overall better shellfish pasta (squid, muscles, octopus, shrimp) and a whole...