George Fele is a chef who previously served as the Head Chef at Hytra Restaurant, which holds one Michelin star. He also has a connection to Qiqedacosta.
3
Good food and amazing view, but the experience lacks Michelin-level refinement
Hytra is overall a good restaurant with a beautiful location, but the service and attention to detail do not currently live up to its Michelin status or price tag.
Arrival was disorganised. The entrance was marked 'Fuga', and after being told to wait outside, we were forgotten and eventually had to let ourselves in.
We ordered the large tasting menu with the wine pairing. The food itself was delicious, and there were a few standout dishes. The panoramic view of the city is also amazing.
While the staff was polite, the service flow struggled. There was a lot of waiting time between courses, and our main waiter was quite difficult to understand in English. At one point, a main course was served without its paired wine, and we had to wait until we were halfway through the dish before catching a waiter's attention. Later on, I asked for a toothpick, which ended up taking 20 minutes and required me to ask three different waiters four times.
The setting lacked wow-factor, refinement and attention to detail. We noticed mismatched chairs, tangled cords on the floor, and plastic paper towel dispensers in the restrooms.
In conclusion, the kitchen delivers very good food, but the logistics, the setting, and the attention to detail need a lot of tightening to provide a smooth, Michelin-level experience.
We had the tasting menu paired with an outstanding bottle of white from northern Greece recommended by our very helpful sommelier. The dishes had such creativity in presentation and flavor. It was a story told in food from land to sea. A truly memorable experience!
Had the 10 course tasting menu with a bottle of wine and the who experience was phenomenal. Each course was perfectly created and the pace of each course coming out was spot on. I can recommend this enough!!
The service was 10/10 and made us feel welcomed from the outset.
Visited recently with high expectations given the Michelin recognition.
One of the early courses was described as “their take on a Greek salad.” While the dish itself was not bad, it had absolutely no connection to a Greek salad. There were no familiar elements, flavors, or even a conceptual link. Calling it that felt more confusing than creative.
More concerning was a clear execution issue. The dish was supposed to include shrimp and fish, yet only my plate had the fish. Both my wife’s and my mother’s plates were missing it entirely. I have attached photos showing both versions, one correctly plated and the others missing the fish. I had to point this out myself and specifically ask for it to be corrected. My wife eventually received a new plate with the fish, but nothing was done for my mother’s plate. There was no acknowledgment or gesture to address the inconsistency, which is disappointing at this level.
Service pacing was also inconsistent. After the bread was served, we waited around 30 minutes for the next course with no communication, which made us wonder if service was being held until we finished the bread. I eventually asked the waiter, and he simply replied that the next course would come soon. While the course did arrive, the lack of communication added to the overall disconnect in the experience.
Another moment that stood out was during a later course, when the server mentioned it included “seeds of black garlic.” I asked him to clarify what he meant, since black garlic is not a distinct variety but the result of a controlled Maillard reaction applied to garlic. He explained that, according to him, the garlic including its flowers and seeds had undergone a fermentation process to become black garlic. I clarified that black garlic is produced through a Maillard reaction rather than fermentation. However, instead of checking or reconsidering, he maintained his explanation. The interaction felt unnecessarily argumentative and somewhat unprofessional, especially in a restaurant of this level.
Overall, the food was good, but the experience did not match the standard expected from a Michelin starred restaurant. Attention to detail, consistency, pacing, and how issues are handled matter just as much as the food, and that is where this experience fell short.
The service was THE BEST, great Michelin Star cuisine.
There's NOT a view to the Acropolis though, which was a disappointment. Difficult to find parking and the entrance. Nevertheless, Nice experience.
