Manos taverna

by **kilaras1** » 23 Jul 2008, 17:35

Hello everybody! I visit Symi for the first time few days ago and I've been in the "Manos Taverna".It was terrible.The service and the way that they treat you there makes you feel like they need your money... The owner screams all the time. Really bad experience.I don't want to be sited ON the road were the bikes and cars pass so close from me!
I asked some fishermen's and the answer was that -The fish comes from other islands or Turkey.At least 2-4 days old of course.Plus that most of it it's from the fish farms...- The guy doesn't even buy local fish... It's fish I can buy in London!
The prices are REALLY expensive and the food is not so great. Pick any other restaurant for the same quality but really LOWER prices. Any suggestion? Thank you guys!

by **Richard** » 23 Jul 2008, 21:07

Unfortunately I agree with you and am unlikely to go there again. There are very many good restaurants and you will have a wide choice. I like the Mythos (down) Fish Taverna on the other side of the Harbour but you will have the cars and bikes again unless you sit inside. I find that sitting in the road there doesn't bother me too much and quite like waiting for one of them to drive into the water. Adds to the appetite. Many of the restaurants in Yialos are alongside one of the roads, even those around the Town Square and this does mean that they attract custom from passers-by. They are businesses after all.

Try the Trata (Trawler) Taverna at the bottom of the KaliStrata. It is in a little square off the main road so has no motorised traffic although there are plenty of people wandering around. Alternatively you could try one of the very good restaurants up in the Chorio where there are fewer roads and less traffic.

I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed the rest of your holiday and will visit Symi again.

by **Mille** » 23 Jul 2008, 21:21

I've never had the pleasure of dining at Manos, but at the next door taverna Aris. (who recognise me from year to year!)
However, I found Manos to be a errrmmm loud person, but all in all it just added to the atmosphere!

Despite your experience with Manos I hope you enjoyed Symi and will come back again.

by **benedetti** » 24 Jul 2008, 17:24

Manos is the only place I have heard folks consistantly moaning about therefore it is one of the few places we have never visited.

by **gilly14** » 24 Jul 2008, 23:32

Each visit to Symi, although not for a couple of years, we let the lads have a male bonding session and us girls go to Manos. We have a good night. We enjoy some of the little luxuries and he does spoils us.i can't complain I have worked in the catering industry for over 25 years initially as a chef but later as a manager. The food is simply cooked and full of flavour( simply cooked food is the hardist to do well as there is no masking sauces or spices all the good chefs will tell you that)Manos couldn't afford to bring fish in from all over I have seen him buy it of the local fishermen bur when they can't go out or it is not the season but customer demand expects it. As for farmed fish seabass is not is not in the same quantity in Symi as around our own coast.But the farmed Bass we get on Symi is a lot better and fresher then that at home, but don't forget pver 90% of salmon purchased in the uk is farmed. Yes I do agree it is over priced but I have a good night, good food, good wine and service to some it may take time as it is cooked freshly( i have been in the kitchen)not ping ding that takes real time. but more important the whole experience and good company

by **Anthony** » 25 Jul 2008, 01:53

I've never eaten at Manos (I guess I must have heard the criticisms of him as long ago as my first visit), and until my visit to Symi in March this year I hadn't eaten at Aris either. (I tended to regard them as tarred with the same brush, though until Adriana reminded me I'd forgotten that they are in fact under the same ownership which no doubt explains a lot).

When I arrived on around 23rd March (still out of season) Aris was one of the few restaurants open so I gave him a try: I was actually very pleased on a couple of occasions both with the quality of the food and the prices. [img]http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/party/party0021.gif[/img] (There was, however, a notice up advertising "winter prices"). But the third time I went there he persuaded me to try his fish and, winter prices or no, it was certainly not cheap (I seem to remember a bill for the lunch of 43 euros [img]http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/confused/confused0015.gif[/img].

I expect to be back on Symi out of season and will be happy to eat at Aris (but avoid the fish!). In season I already have far too many favourite restaurants so I fear he doesn't have a chance! [img]http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/confused/confused0020.gif[/img]

by **Ozzie Geoff** » 25 Jul 2008, 09:22

Anybody naive enough to believe the blurb deserves to become victim of the three card trick.

Anybody ever hear of frozen fish? Fresh lobster...you must be joking. :twisted:

by **maziemoo** » 25 Jul 2008, 17:32

You having a bad day or something Geoff, you seem to be having a dig at everyone

!

It's the 'attitude' not the prices that put me off, but then life is full of subversive characters isn't it :?:

.

by **Ozzie Geoff** » 28 Jul 2008, 03:23

Get orf me back, Maze!! ;)

I'm sure when you raised your finger for the bill and it arrived you would fall off your chair. :(
Actually, thats not a bad trick, pull some sort of "sickie", blame it on the fish.... :o
I remember one evening when a group of German yachties received their bill, all hell broke loose. :? There was screaming and shouting from both sides. The cops arrived and the matter sorted...I have a feeling the guests won their point. :D
I feel he caters mainly for the transient, more moneyed pleasure craft folk....gut 'em and chuck 'em away. Next please.... :twisted:

by **Kon** » 28 Jul 2008, 04:36

In all fairness though i do think he advertises his prices outside his establishment as do many other restaraunts ,so you should know your budget before you eat.

by **Ozzie Geoff** » 28 Jul 2008, 07:28

Kon, The general display for Seafood is usually "Market Price".
Thats restaurant speak for "Come in Spinner".

by **Adriana** » 28 Jul 2008, 07:43

All the restaurants advertise their prices outside and also on the menus so there is no excuse for anyone to be unaware of the price of their meal.

And, for the record, Manos has a lot of repeat customers including yachts that come in specifically to eat at his fish restaurant when they are in the area.

The restaurant business on Symi is particularly tough as it is highly competitive and largely dependent on repeat trade, particularly from visitors who are staying on the island. The businesses that succeed in attracting repeat custom are the ones that flourish, so Manos must be doing something right!

by **Kon** » 28 Jul 2008, 07:51

Also the seafood menu in any restaraunt in Greece or around the world is the priciest item on the menu ,thats just the way it is .

This little beauty i bought in Santorini and had it cooked at the restaraunt

[img]http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5790/greece2006603qf9.jpg[/img]

And this is whats left of it
[img]http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/9510/greece2006606ye6.jpg[/img]
:geek:

by **kilaras1** » 28 Jul 2008, 10:09

According to the fishermen's in Symi his fish comes from Leros,Kalymnos and Kos (you can see his people every morning getting white boxes full of fish from the Dodekanisos boat with the electric car)... Fish that travels can't be fresh.And it is to be mentioned that the fishermen's can't bring it really early in the boat = it has to be at least 1 day old!
The fishes from farms are full of bad things for our health! Thanx

by **Anthony** » 28 Jul 2008, 23:23

[quote="Adriana"]

All the restaurants advertise their prices outside and also on the menus so there is no excuse for anyone to be unaware of the price of their meal.[/quote]
Yes, but the difficulty with fish is that in most cases the price is quoted not per serving but per kilo (which makes it look horrific [img]http://planetsmilies.net/afraid-smiley-9553.gif[/img], but that's another story). The specific fish that you are going to eat is then weighed before cooking, and you are charged according to that weight. It's easy to think "55 euro per kilo - that's over 2lb and half to threequarters of a pound is a reasonable serving, say 14-20 euro", but it never works out that way. [img]http://planetsmilies.net/afraid-smiley-9078.gif[/img] [img]http://planetsmilies.net/afraid-smiley-9078.gif[/img]

by **maziemoo** » 28 Jul 2008, 23:24

You made light work of that Kon, wouldn't have minded sampling some myself

!

by **Richard** » 28 Jul 2008, 23:52

Couldn't manage the tomatoes. Kon? Now eat the other side. Don't waste it.

by **Kon** » 29 Jul 2008, 01:53

That is the other side Richard

as for the tomatoes ,they were there just for deco,2.1kg Snapper in Greek (Fargri) Paid a bit for it but did not care. The taste ,the view where we were and my company ,priceless

On the note of fresh fish Kilaras1 the restraunt guys also have other means of getting fresh fish ,Spear gun fishermen are abundant on the islands and i know as my cousin from Rhodes makes a living from it ,he also fishes around Symi and the restaurant guys buy off him in the mornings in Symi ,and he does not go for small fry.

by **kilaras1** » 29 Jul 2008, 19:02

I see... This is illegal anyway but I'm sure I can trust the opinion of th professional fishermen's with nets or any other legal way of fishing. Plus to be honest I don't want to seat in the MIDDLE of the road (is this correct according to anybody? ) with blasting music playing and ending on paying a fortune (I could eat the same fish in any other Taverna) !

by **Sam Hosking** » 07 Aug 2008, 11:45

I know i haven't been on here for a while but I just had to respond to this topic!! Why is it that people who visit the island for a week or so a year or only once feel that they know best and can dictate to others or slander the locals without whom there would be no holiday destination and friendly Greek welcome that they supposedly love.

Manos may be brasher and a little more in your face than many of the other taverna operators, but as someone who has known him for many years as well as many other taverna owners on the island, he is really no different except maybe he works with more heart and soul in his businesses that some others. I know how he started, as a waiter and how he and mina worked bloody hard building up their businesses often in the face of adverse comments by people jealous of his success or envious of his drive.
The fish Manos buys is no different than any other taverna on Symi, are you really that naive to believe that everything is caught locally. Symi is a market economy as much as anywhere else and in order to compete fish is bought as and where available. All Sole (Glossa) on the island is frozen. 90% of the calamari in the early season ie before end Aug/Sept is frozen. Fish has seasons as much as any other produce.

Symi has changed so much over the last 20 years but if people would only try to see beyond the fact that some businesses don't quite fit their ideal of quaint Greek island and see the real Symi they will see that all the real qualities remain, it's the tourists expectations that have driven the changes.

OK Rant over, to all those who have enjoyed Symi (Warts and all)as it should be, I wish you the best and hope like me you continue to hold it dear. :geek:

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