Oresti's taverna — Restaurant in Amsterdam

I really wanted to like this restaurant - around the corner from our hotel, Mediterranean food, good reviews.

It was 4 of us and it started well - a friendly lady met us and found us a table.

It took us some time to decide on the wines and after some discussions and advice from the waitress, we settled on a bottle of "Primitivo", which was supposed to be "the frutiest of them all".

The order was taken and we started chatting. After a while a waitress came to us with a bottle of wine. Curiously, the corc was out and the wine was poured into the glasses without letting us taste it 🤔

After the first sip my wife declared that this wine was undrinkable - extremely sour and not worth €5 let alone €38 on the menu.

We called the manager and explained the situation. After a bit of debating she agreed to try it and agreed that the wine was sour.

We've been given to try the other two wines on the menu, but neither of them was good. We settled in beers and Jin with tonic.

It took a while for the food to arrive. Salads, squid rings and cheeses were good 👍🏼 Sausages were burned to charcoal - one of the easiest foods to cook totally destroyed 😡

We decided not to take chances with desserts and asked for the bill. There was a 10% discount to the bill, which was nice of the manager, but our overall experience was not great.

My personal take on it was that the team was stretched and they needed additional help to stay fully on top of things. Hope this...

Nice atmospheric tapas/mezzes with a focus on greek small plates. Flamenco music in the background. Dark woody interior.

Food was a little uneven. The stars of our order were the gigantes spanaki which were garlicky white beans with spinach. The portion was on the small side for four to share so we got a second order. Another fantastic dish were the fried aubergine. Very tasty without being greasy despite being deep fried.

Most dishes were just standard. Meatballs, bread with ajioli, patata bravas, grilled octopus. Only the skordalia was really yuck and in the category of things I would not order again. Gambas ajillo were made from frozen prawns but still tasty.

Dessert of greek orange cake was good but the accompaniment of earthy cinnamon ice cream was an imbalanced choice. Ginger ice cream or even vanilla drizzled with a rosemary syrup would have been my preference, though that’s not traditionally greek.

Service could be very slow. The gluten free bread arrived 20 minutes after the other breads. They had to ask us if we had gotten the patata bravas (no) and it finally got to the table after we finished everything else. We waited 10 minutes for dessert menus and another 10 minutes for dessert despite cakes being made in advance.

A bottle of house red was EUR 30. A light dinner for four with an additional 12% tip as there was no service charge on the bill...

Orestis Taverna: A Costly Mix of Cultures with Little Reward

Orestis Taverna, a dining spot that blends Greek, Italian, and Spanish tapas, sadly serves a cocktail of disappointment and confusion. Guests initially struggle to flag down a server, then endure excessive waits for the menu and food, creating a sense of being overlooked.

The restaurant suggests ordering 3 to 4 tapas per person, but be warned, they're not cheap. Expect to pay a premium, with dishes like the octopus costing nearly 14 euros. Despite the high prices, the quality is underwhelming. Wrong orders were brought to our table twice, signaling poor communication. Most dishes, like the undercooked meat and tasteless calamari, were a letdown. Even basics like the bathroom's upkeep were ignored, evidenced by a lack of paper towels.

On a positive note, amidst the letdowns, the servers managed to maintain their kindness and smiles, which was a small but significant consolation.

However, having lived in Amsterdam for over six years, I assure you there are superior dining experiences to be found. Orestis' high ratings are likely buoyed by tourists unfamiliar with the city's diverse culinary scene. Those in search of an authentic, satisfying tapas feast will find Orestis Taverna's offerings don't match their hefty price tags. Better value and quality await elsewhere in this...