The Athenian is housed in a historic bank building in Barrack Street Sydney. It is well situated and has a pleasant ambiance. The interior is softly-lit and has linen tablecloths.
Our experience of the Athenian began badly. The waiter upset my partner by being very inflexible with the menu. No, he could not have chips and salad, just one or the other. It wasn’t so much the refusal, it was the way it was delivered.
When it came to my turn for ordering, I wanted the fish, but without the vegetables,chips or salad on offer–I wanted it with a village Greek salad. In any Greek restaurant I’ve ever been to (a great many) none have insisted I pay full price for the meal (with salad removed) and then full price for the Greek salad on top of that. I had to here. All along I expected the waiter to return and say, “We’ll adjust the bill so the salad costs you half”. Nope.
To make it worse, the Horiatiki salad came without feta. Huh? I suggested to the waiter that this was not how it should be and he disappeared and came back with feta on a separate plate.
The spanakopita was as it should be, but two of the four pieces were cold in the middle.
I have to give them credit for the fish. It was snapper, two fillets, fresh and perfectly cooked.
What sets it apart from the other Greek restaurants in Sydney is that the wait/bar staff appear to be mostly Indian and Chinese. The only Greek person I saw was the elderly man who greeted us at the door on arrival and he didn’t look like a happy chap. I wonder if the chef is Greek. Perhaps not. Maybe that’s why the Horiatiki salad arrived sans feta.
The Athenian just didn’t feel like a Greek restaurant. It lacked the friendly, generous spirit that is the trait of most that we visit. We won’t return. What a shame.
Food 7/10 (fish deserved 9)
Ambiance 9/10
Service 6/10
Wine List 7/10
Cleanliness 8/10
Value 6/10
TOTAL 7.2 /10
The Opposite of Inertia 