Rarely do we anticipate an opening around the Athenian Rivera so much, but when it comes to the masterminds of The Margi hotel and Krabo restaurant in Vouliagmeni, it definitely catches our eye! Theo and Yiagkos Agiostratitis transformed this classic spot into the hottest new entry for summer 2021 in Athens!
Akti restaurant is set right on the beach opposite Vouliagmeni bay with great views and a unique sunset spot. Light refurbishments, reminiscent of the bohemian Cycladic style of Karabatakis brothers of k-studio, have made the place look much more upscale with a breezy style for those fun summer nights.
We visited with some friends right after our summer vacation for a catch-up dinner. And the place was buzzing. Luckily, we went in early around 20:30 so we caught some last glimpses of sundown before digging into our meal.
Starters arrived just as we were getting used to the citrusy flavour of our chilled Greek white wine and all of them were outstanding! Tiger shrimp prawn battered in a very delicate tempura and very juicy; a tasty fish roe salad from Messolonghi and an insane tuna tartare with ponzu, avocado and fried capers! So as you would expect we got off to a great start.
As the night whisked by, the music started getting louder with the DJ mixing Greek with foreign hits one after the other. Although we could still keep a good conversation, it felt a bit like they were pushing it too far to make a night out of it. Regardless, we carried on enjoying our meal and a very professional service.
The portions on our main courses were not huge but not small either. We shared three dishes: Shrimp giouvetsi in bouillabaisse – very tasty and just about the right amount of saltiness from the stew; king crab linguine – pretty spectacular taste and a very delicate texture; and lobster pasta – probably the least interesting of the three but still ranking very high on our list.
At that point we were kind of full but some of us wanted to get a glimpse of the dessert menu, which you know always leads to a one way street. Along we ordered tow of them: brownies with espresso in different textures – simply delicious regardless of whether you’re a brownie fan which I’m not; and the best orange cake with mastiha cream and fresh vanilla ice cream ever! Wow, what an ending!
Hats off to chef Panagiotis Giakalis and his team that have populated our map of South Athens with one more great spot!
