Ikaria Park — Restaurant in Amsterdam

What a cozy and beautiful little spot! Romantically situated in a tiny city park, this small scale restaurant does a lot of things right. The staff is friendly and attentive, the cocktails are great and original, the setting is very cute. After a holiday in Greece we were longing for the amazing Greek food and hoped to find some here. Ikaria Park did not disappoint, but it also didn't blow us away. What we really liked: the sourdough bread with butter, and the super fluffy pita with smoked aubergine dip. The tzatziki was less flavourful as some of the ones we had in Greece and both the fish dish and the baked chickpeas were very zesty (too much lemon to our taste). I really did like the saganaki and the bougatsa was fantastic (although the custard was freezing cold as if just taken from the freezer - not sure if it is supposed to be that way as I've never had this dessert before). We were absolutely stuffed after sharing two dips, a starter and two mains plus dessert. As a recommendation to the staff I would suggest to serve the main dishes after the starters and not simultaneously. We were still enjoying the bread with dips when the other dishes were already brought out, so it felt a little bit rushed. Would have preferred a little slower pace. Will return for the wonderful atmosphere and to try some of the other dishes...

We were there with a group of 4 on a very busy Thursday. The service was pretty slow, and some waiters were super nice and friendly and others a bit strange. For example, a waiter told us “we will also inform you about the specials for tonight when you’re ready to order”. Then a waitress comes, and is ready to take the order…I ask her about the specials and there’s an awkward silence like she’s no clue what I’m talking about?! Then I go on to order an octopus and she says “oh sorry this dish was switched for today”….So overall, I would say this was definitely below average service experience. Then the prices: definitely on a higher end for mains but the mains are not too big. Portions of fries, pita, salad, olives were great though. And finally the food: the chef is doing a great job, the ribs were amazing and so soft! The chicken was juicy, and the fish had a nice char, amazing ratatouille and Greek salad. Because of the delicious food and nice park atmosphere we still enjoyed our evening. Editing: while ordering, my husband said “can we have a pita”, thinking we’re ordering 1-2 pita breads. Well, after looking at the bill turns out they put it as pita x4 which was 12€ …our friends didn’t even want it. I find it...

When your Greek coworker tells you this place is legit, you listen to them.

Ikaria Park is a Greek restaurant right in the middle of a small park in Oud West. I usually bring my dog here and from the outside, it always looks like a vibe.

Food:

TZATZIKI (V) - classic with garlic oil and dill - went great with the pita bread

DOLMAS ON THE BBQ - zesty kefir, dill oil and French radish - cute presentation and great flavors

GREEK SALAD (V) (VE optional) - with cherry tomatoes and carob rusk - a little pricey for what it is but everything was super fresh

Side fries with feta - a must for fry lovers

OYSTER MUSHROOMS - grilled with cumin, balsamic, soy and IKARIA honey - perfectly cooked shrooms

GRILLED SEABASS "FRIKASE" - with "horta" seasonal wild greens, courgette and olives and avegolemono - perfectly cooked fish with a zesty sauce

HALVAS- preserved rose, pistachio and almond crumble with raspberry sorbet - interesting texture, didn’t love it but didn’t hate it. Raspberry sorbet was refreshing

Service was impeccable and servers were super knowledgeable on the wine. Also (small)...