One of seven restaurants on a 72-acre private peninsula, Kohylia stands over the sea at Grand Resort Lagonissi, towards the southern end of the Athens Riviera, with the Saronic Gulf in front of it. The resort’s own account of the room is short: Japanese, with a sushi bar. Its counter works with king crab, Wagyu A5 Kagoshima and Hokkaido scallops sent direct from Japan.
A wooden deck over the water, open-air and indoor, is the whole of the room. The timber reaches out far enough that the floor reads as floating, and the sea is directly beneath it. Tables stand in the open air, with a room behind them indoors, so the weather decides where you eat.
The address is the 40th km Athens-Sounio road, Lagonisi. Kohylia is 20 minutes from Athens International Airport, 45 minutes from the centre of Athens and 35 minutes from the Temple of Poseidon at Sounio, so the table is within reach of a guest who landed the same evening. The port of Piraeus is 50 to 60 minutes away. Dinner only, 19:30 to 23:00, Monday to Sunday, seasonal: the resort asks anyone planning an evening around the room to check the season’s dates with the hotel first. The dress code is one word on the resort’s own page: Formal.
The kitchen and the counter
The menu is signed by Chrysanthos Manolopoulos, executive chef, Grand Resort Lagonissi, whose remit covers every restaurant on the peninsula. The core ingredients come direct from Japan, and the spices are chosen from the main markets of Asia.
What the counter holds is largely a list of names: king crab, Wagyu A5 Kagoshima, Black Angus Prime, Hokkaido scallops, hamachi, tuna, salmon, foie gras, ikura, Avruga caviar and fresh truffle. The plates the room is known for are built from them. King crab arrives with noodles, miso and truffle. Hokkaido scallops come with dashi, ikura and truffle, and scallops with truffle are among the dishes most often named. Hamachi sashimi is dressed with yuzu kosho and jalapeño, and black angus tataki with shiro dashi, miso Dijon and truffle oil. Mayan sashimi sits on the same menu.
The signature rolls carry the same materials. There is a king crab tartare roll, a Black Angus Prime roll with Avruga caviar, a salmon tartare roll with salmon roe and yuzu truffle, and a seabass roll with leche de mango and jalapeño. The desserts stay with Japanese flavours, among them a white chocolate namelaka with yuzu and a chocolate trilogy with tonka bean. The wine list puts top bottles from the Greek vineyard next to selected foreign producers.
The counter itself is long established. A Kohylia menu dated 2019 already listed sea urchin at the sashimi and nigiri counter, and a king crab gunkan with avocado and mayonnaise.
The coast it sits on
The resort calls its stretch of shore the Athenian Riviera, running from the Acropolis to Cape Sounio, and it holds a long piece of it: 5.2 kilometres of coastline and 16 private beaches. Seven restaurants and three bars are spread across the peninsula, so a guest staying there has a wide choice on any evening. The other six rooms carry their own names and kitchens: Captain’s House, Ouzeri, Galazia Akti, Aphrodite, Mediterraneo and La Piscina. Kohylia is the Japanese one.
Who is this for
Kohylia suits a traveller who would enjoy a long dinner at the sea’s edge more than one in the city: a guest already on the peninsula, or somebody driving down the coast road for the evening. The resort sets the atmosphere as seaside and romantic, with a cocktail bar and music, and the view is the gulf with the sun going down over it. Two people with an unhurried evening are the natural booking, and it works as well for one person eating alone.
