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Home > Restaurants > Kefi

All Reader Reviews of...

Kefi

505 Columbus Ave., New York, NY, 10024
nr. 84th St.
212-873-0200

7.9 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
88% Would you go back?
76% Would you take a date?
37% Would you take kids?
47% Would you go on business?
70% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 7.8
Service: 7.6
Décor: 7.8
Value: 8.4
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  • Showing reviews 1 through 10 of 17

I have nothing bad to say.

Mioz from 10025 | Posted on 9/29/09

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? Yes
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 9
Value: 10

At all. Everything was terrific. The service, the wait, the value, the food (oh the food...)... everything was just fabulous!

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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Amazing (and Cheap) Greek Food

Knickerbocker from 10128 | Posted on 7/26/09

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? Yes
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 8
Value: 10

The food here is amazing, one of the best deals on the Upper West Side. At more high-end Greek places like Milos and Avra, the fish is the centerpiece. At Kefi, the fish is good too, but their pasta is what really stands out. The flat pasta with pulled, braised rabbit, cooked with dried fruit and pearl onion, is astounding. Their sweetbread, cooked with spinach, garlic, and caper berries, is the most unusual and best sweet bread I've had in New York.

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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Worth a visit

tarrita from 11415 | Posted on 6/5/09

Overall Rating: 8 (Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? No
Food: 8
Service: 7
Décor: 6
Value: 7

I'm glad we stopped in... and had a reservation because it was very busy. Cons: - Tables are incredibly small and close, so it's a little cramped and loud. - Service. Our waitress screwed up our order, forgot to fix the check before giving it to us, and was hardly to be seen when we wanted to order more drinks. Pros: - The food. We had the lamb shank and lamb chop special, which were both delicious and hearty. And although the portions seemed small at first, we both left feeling very full. - The reasonable prices. Our bill came to about $30 per person for entree, tax, tip and drinks.

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5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Great food, value

brenlowe from 10025 | Posted on 6/1/09

Overall Rating: 8 (Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? Yes
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 8
Service: 8
Décor: 7
Value: 10

Nice neighborhood place was packed on a recent Saturday, OpenTable helped a ton. Friendly staff served fine-sized portions of delicious food at overwhelmingly affordable prizes. Highly recommended.

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4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful...

bs44106 from 10029 | Posted on 5/24/09

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 9
Service: 8
Décor: 9
Value: 10

We thought the food was great! Excellent souvlaki, the "dips" were really good, especially the hummus. The waiter didn't let us linger, but overall had a good time and felt like the bill was much lower than we expected.

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2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is not Greek food -- not even fake Greek

simokelli from 10026 | Posted on 3/24/09

Overall Rating: 6 (Mixed Reviews)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? No
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? No
Food: 5
Service: 7
Décor: 10
Value: 7

This is not Greek food but the chef's take on creative cooking using traditional Greek/Mediterranean ingredients in a non-traditional way. The chef has some very obvious cooking idiosyncrasies that mar the aesthetics, such as the excessive use of tomatoes and tomato sauce in most of the dishes. Why so many dishes with red sauce? He forgets that Greeks do not have too many kokkinista dishes. The same is the case with the olives, capers and pickled peppers. Why do they have to be present in every dish? In addition, the pita was not toasted, and therefore too soft to dip into the dips. And the salad although tasty, in no way resembled Greek salad; he needs to change the name. Finally, the menu lacks names of dishes, putting only descriptions of the preparation. Putting the names of the dishes on the menu would enable one to order what one wants to have. While the decor is attractive and Zen-like, the music is what Greeks call "dog house", popular but harsh on the ears.

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4 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Have already been twice in one week!

curlyraq from 10024 | Posted on 3/6/09

Overall Rating: 8 (Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 9
Service: 9
Décor: 9
Value: 10

I went with my mom for the first time on Saturday night since she was in town visiting and it was right around the corner from my apartment, and I had heard great things about the restaurant and owner Psilakis from Food Network. And let me tell you, we were VERY impressed! The service was speedy, almost too much so, but the food was delicious, every dish that we ordered. I loved it so much that I actually went back with a friend last night because she had been wanting to go there for some time and I was willing because of the great experience I already had. Again, I was very impressed! My favorite dishes so far are the white bean soup (this weeks special) and the chickpea, eggplant souvlaki sandwich. YUM. I tried the roasted lemon chicken last night which was fabulous. Their wine list is also great and their staff is more than friendly to serve you. I even think I am going back again next week with another friend who wants to try it out...I have only great things to say! A great addition to the Upper West Side!

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7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Amazing

kashmira from 10036 | Posted on 3/2/09

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? (NA)
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 10
Value: 10

Great authentic Greek food with great service and great ambience. Great lighting too! The value is incredible.

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5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

OK Food in a Nice Setting

mky84 from 47408 | Posted on 2/16/09

Overall Rating: 7 (Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 6
Service: 10
Décor: 9
Value: 9

Our Greek server had a lot of good recommendations, and had a great personality. The sheep's milk dumplings were a flavorful and textural masterpiece. The branzino had a freshly grilled smoky flavor and a soft texture. The galaktoboureko dessert was a nice end to the meal. Everything else about the meal was pretty average. The calamari were fine, the shrimp orzo was decent, the rice pudding dessert was average, and I expected more flavor from the braised rabbit pasta. There was nothing bad about the meal, and I really can't complain about too much considering these dishes are at amazing prices.

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4 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Blissful Valentine's dinner ends in custard-filled fillo pastry delight

x76czar from 10032 | Posted on 2/15/09

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? Yes
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 9
Service: 8
Décor: 7
Value: 10

Sure, the dinner was spectacular. But the dessert at Kefi's was outrageous. My wife and I ate there on Valentine's Day 2009. We started with the warm feta and bread -- ideal for sharing with your sweetheart. For an entree, she chose the special: crispy, buttery, baby lamb chops and creamy rice. We quickly dispatched the four between the two of us, leaving only greasy bones inflected with the tiniest bit of meat. Even the gristle was tasty. I had sheep's milk dumplings, mixed with a zesty caper and pine nut sauce. And dessert: Warm custard between toasted fillo dough, glazed with syrup and topped with candied orange. It didn't last but five minutes on the plate.

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5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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