Kastro Restaurant Oia — Restaurant in Municipality of Thira

The manager of this restaurant (or maybe he is the owner's son?) should be fired on the spot. I am a 47 years old father and London banking professional who had the misfortune to walk into this place they call restaurant, this is what happened to me...

We rented an apartment at VIP Suites right below the restaurant and in the morning on the way there our porter tells me that Kastro is the nearest good place for breakfast.

Later on, in the afternoon, my wife was at a SPA and I was dealing with my son who was crying for half an hour as he couldn't fall asleep, but when he did I ran upstairs to quickly get a coffee at Kastro with the intention of rushing back home ASAP because the baby was alone.

This is the conversation I had with that the manager:

ME: Hi, can I please have a coffee? HIM: YOU WANT TO HAVE A COFFEE HERE??

ME: Yes, is it possible? HIM: AND WHAT COFFEE DO YOU WANT? TO HAVE IT HERE OR TAKEAWAY??

ME: (thinking that I am probably disturbing him because his voice tone is like I am asking for something incredibly difficult, so I make it very easy for them) " take away maybe?"

HIM: BUT IF YOU WANT A TAKE AWAY WHY DON'T YOU GO TO THE TWO BARS ON TOP OF THE VILLAGE?? (pointing at two places on top of Oia village)

ME: OK, in that case can I have it sitting down?

HIM: (pointing to a table like and looking like I am an incredible pain in the ass for daring to ask for a coffee and therefore keeping a seat occupied and rolling his eyes) SIT OVER THERE!

Dumbfounded and shocked by his behaviour, when the waiter comes to ask how he can help me (this guy is actually very nice) I tell him: "An Espresso macchiato.... actually... on a second thought .... (looking at the so-called manager) why don't you all go F Y?

As I walked away I could here the so-called manager trying to run towards me and being stopped by his workmates...

mental... This guy has absolutely no knowledge of customer service and needs to change line of work. Surely he is not cut for hospitality. He could have explained that they don't do take aways, but he didn't bother being nice. He is just a loser who works for a place too popular for his low level of professionalism

Stay away...

This restaurant has potential to be great - sadly ruined by aggressive staff and mediocre food

Location - I would give the location 5 stars all day. Objectively, the views are stunning and the view of the sunset and caldera are unmatched.

Food - the food was mediocre. It tasted fine, there was nothing memorable about the food and certainly did not feel the €32 per pasta dish was justified. The price here is paid for the view and location.

Staff - the staff were aggressive , standoffish and tried to intimidate our party. We were blocked from using the toilet as it was perceived that we were trying to watch the sunset (at a sunset bar). No where else in Santorini will prevent you from taking photographs of the sunset, but Kastro will.

When coming to pay the bill, the waiter explained that he could not split the bill between our part of 11 and we would have to pay all cash or all card. As a part my of 11 who were in groups of couples, naturally some of us had cash and others had card, but where advised that as we had not informed him this was the format we were paying in from the start, it now would not be possible. The waiter did no explain the payment format to us at all, and it begs the question how they would have accepted payment should we have been unable to pay in all cash or all card.

Unfortunately this ruined our evening, after questioning this process we were met with an argumentative and dismissive tone, with no efforts made to make a work around for the paying customer. We even asked for the bill to be re-printed to split this down, but again was told this was not possible.

On our way out the waiter squared up to us, he believed that we were talking about him. He was correct, given the experience there was a lot that went unanswered so naturally our party had questions, however this response really summed up the nature of the restaurant and...

This place is sooooooo overrated, after all the reviews online I couldn’t understand why this was recommended and needed a “booking” which was definetly not needed as this place was so run down and mediocre. Here are my honest points: the food was good I did enjoy the spinach salad and the calamari, the sea bream was cooked well but the grilled vegetables were boiled no seasoning or any flavour, basic portions and presentation. the view was the only pro however I would rather stand and take photos than pay to eat here.

The cons: this place is so run down, the decor, the chairs the building is not maintained for the price we paid you would expect premium decor and service, the paint was scratched off the walls, seats were not looked after, cushions were dirty if I didn’t reserve and they had my credit card on file I would’ve left immediately. the service was shocking to say the least , I asked for potatoes with my main, he said I had to choose from vegetables or potato’s, I said I would pay extra for the potatoes as a side and the waiter said no he can’t do that, I was genuinely shocked at this if you have the potatoes you could add them and I pay the extra. No basic waiting skills, no cutlery, tissues or wipes were provided, had to continually ask for it. After seafood wipes should be provided to refresh this wasn’t given we had to ask for it and that was just slammed onto the table. the place was definitely not worth the hype for nearly €150, I left feeling unsatisfied by the environment and service. there was no atmosphere, no music, chairs were being cleaned, waiter sweeping infront of us. It was not a luxury experience.

I would rather go to Oia castle to watch the sunset and view than eat here for the extortionate price and the meady service...