Rastoni — Restaurant in Municipality of Thira

Fine dining atmosphere and pricing but without the fine dining service or food.

We started with the taramasalata, which was nice but TINY and served with a few pieces of almost-stale pita bread for 6 euro. This was the double portion for 2, so you can only imagine the single serving.

Wine bottles were significantly overpriced in comparison to other restaurants on the island, so we settled for a glass each, which was a very average assyrtiko.

For mains we had the fish and the shrimp risotto. The risotto itself was delicious - great flavour and consistency. However the 3 pieces of shrimp on top appeared to be frozen and imported and not fresh and local. It was also a relatively small portion, and for over 30 euro we expected more.

The sea bass fillet was nice, but paired with an average tabouli as a side. My wife cannot eat onion but they couldn’t accomodate this in the tabouli because everything was pre made. Considering you can get a WHOLE sea bass from other restaurants for less than the cost of this dish, we found this a bit disappointing.

The staff also appeared to be frustrated and at times inexperienced.

The view is really what you are paying for here, which undoubtedly is phenomenal. But unfortunately the food and service do not meet the same standard, and the lack of value sours the dining experience (many items on the menu are nearly double the cost of traditional restaurants down the road without the same view). Overall I would not recommend, unless the view is the most important thing to you. Unfortunately I think many of the restaurants in this part of Fira with the views...

Let’s start with the positives: the upstairs terrace offers a stunning view. If you enter from the top level, it’s truly breathtaking.

Now the food: it was disappointing. Both main dishes we ordered were poorly executed. My tuna salad was overwhelmed by an overly sour and salty dressing that made the entire dish unpleasant. The greens lacked variety, and the heavy-handed dressing left everything soggy. My friend’s dish was equally underwhelming, though for different reasons.

The service was passable but felt disorganized. The busboys can be seen running around frantically while one of the waiters sometimes is chatting with other customers too enthusiastically that feels too attention grabbing. Compared to the excellent service standards in Athens and elsewhere on the islands, especially at this price point, this felt decidedly subpar.

Overall, it was a lackluster dining experience. The view, while impressive, is nowhere near unique on the island. The food was poorly made, and the service surprisingly inattentive. For a restaurant perched high on a windy cliff charging premium prices, you’d expect cloth napkins: both for the upscale experience and the practical need to keep them from flying away. Instead, the flimsy paper napkins were constantly blowing off the table and onto the ground, and not once did anyone offer a replacement.

My recommendation is that maybe consider this restaurant if you really can’t find a descent table anywhere else on a last...

Unfortunately, the food here was very mediocre. I had read all the glowing reviews and expected an exquisite dining experience with my boyfriend, but we were both disappointed.

The starter was quite good, which raised our hopes—but both of our main courses fell flat.

I ordered the tagliata steak, which should be a long, tender cut served mostly rare. Instead, I received what was probably the worst steak I’ve had in recent memory—tough, overly fatty, and poorly cooked. (see photo)

My boyfriend had a salad that was drenched in dressing and lacked any freshness or balance. Just... underwhelming.

Service was chaotic. The waitstaff and busboys were rushing around frantically, and it was difficult to get anyone’s attention. We had to ask multiple times for the check. At one point, the poor waiter was left alone upstairs while the rest of the staff had disappeared downstairs, so I finally went down myself to pay.

I noticed that some tables were offered a complimentary digestif, but we were not—perhaps because we didn’t order wine? It felt inconsistent and awkward.

I’ve been told that in Santorini you need to reserve well in advance if you want a table with a sunset view—and that part is true. If you’re looking for a cliffside photo op, this might be worth it for the view alone. But beyond the view, it’s hard to understand how this restaurant has such high ratings or justifies the prices.

I can only assume that what you’re really paying for… is...