Astera’s Greek Taverna

This place was great!!!
I highly recommend this restaurant. Perfectly cooked food, well proportioned, great atmosphere.
Lyle Williams @Galaxy Motors in Nanaimo.

Best greek in town, hands down! And great service as well. I have never been disappointed when dining there, but make a reservation as it gets busy.

Felt like a guest eating at a friend’s well hosted house! The place is charming with an enclosed patio and good sized dining area. I ordered 1 of their appetizer samplers and everything on it (calamari, dolmaldes, spanokopita, cheese) was good though I could have done without the blocks of feta cheese plated with it as an appetizer item. Portions are big — I ordered the roast lamb dinner to share and the chef kindly separated the meal onto 2 plates without asking which looked almost like a full dinner portion still! Service was friendly and prompt and even better when I mentioned that I was hoping to catch the next ferry. I would definitely go back. I can still recall the wonderful meal.

Ordered the rack lamb, beef tenderloin souvlaki and the lunch special. The lamb was over cooked, the potatoes were dry and rice was a bit bland. Not a big fan and would not go back.

We were visiting Nanaimo from out of town and thought we would try this place based on the positive reviews. It did not disappoint. The best Greek food I have ever had! Add on great service and we had a wonderful experience. The in house made desserts were to die for!

Great food, great service, great hospitality! The owner is often around and you can tell he takes great pride in what he does. We usually are given complimentary shots or desserts just because that’s the kind of guy he is. Oh, and we don’t know him personally. That’s how he treats strangers! I hear the late nights can get even better…

So so so so good. When in Nanaimo you must come here. Portions are big, service amazing. It is as close to Greece as you’ll get on the island.
Don’t miss the kefthethes… Aromatic meatballs, and spanakopita.
We will probably be back tomorrow!

Great food and service, nice Greek surroundings and feel. Had the lamb shank special and it was. Gotta eat here when you can.

Visited Wed June 3 for dinner, table for 2. We didn’t have a reservation, we were promptly seated overlooking the driveway which had lots of fancy cars parked there. What a beautiful view with large windows!
We had the baked oysters which were delicious! Calamari plate was huge, we couldn’t finish it and took about ¹⁄₃ home. The pork souvlaki was also excellent. The server was not as around as much, but she had several large groups. Total was $ 42 including tip. One of the few places for fine dining in Nanaimo and I was very impressed. Free parking on the street nearby with 2 hour limits.

This might be the best Greek I’ve ever had. I had the lamb chops, and they were delicious. My group had a bit of everything and I don’t think there was an unhappy tummy in the group.
The place is very inconspicuous, built in an old house. Don’t let this pass you by if you’re in the area.

Had my wedding reception here, the older waitress was really rude. I would not reccomend this place to anyone looking for friendly service.

This place did not disappoint. The Lunch Special was so very good and fresh. Generous portion for one. Calamari and spanakopita were my favorite.

Great restaurant, fantastic traditional Greek food and warm, friendly but exquisite customer service. Definitely a place for dinning and winning when in Nanaimo.

This was our first date night out in a while and we wanted to try something different and new. We decided on Greek/​Mediterranean food and went to Astera’s. The restaurant is located at a house in the old town part of Nanaimo and it was very enchanting. We were seated promptly by the fireplace and were given water right away. There was no drink list but they had a full bar so we ordered gin and tonics. The service was great and the food was delicious and timely. They also have a nice wine selection as well which all comes by the glass or half litre. The owner/​server had even brought us some free chocolate mousse and blackberry shots at the end of our meal. We will definitely be back again.

I will say the food was excellent!
The only reason I gave it 4 stars was for the service. We had to ask twice for our bottle of wine. We were a two top and while we were seated quickly, we kind of felt like after thoughts.
Still, the food was fantastic, no complaints there. And we even asked for no starches on our plates.
We will be back!

I wanted to take a friend to lunch and asked my daughter to suggest a place. I was so impressed with Asteras! The restaurant is in a remodeled older house that is excellently decorated in a Greek décor.
I have never eaten such well prepared Greek food before! We all had the Lunch Special which consisted of a plate filled with a variety of tasty samples! I have never had calamari that was so delicately battered and melted in my mouth before! All the foods were expertly prepared, delicately seasoned and not oily in the slightest!
The prices are very reasonable. I highly recommend this place. There is a small parking lot, and lots of2 hour free street parking in the area.

YUM! That is all I can say
Food:
We started out with Melitzanosalada which is pita with creamy eggplant dip, HIGHLY RECOMMEND, you cannot go wrong with the pita here. They are absolutely delicious! Then I had the No 2 Platter, which was probably a 4 star. The fish were overcooked, and tastes weren’t mind blowing. What was mind blowing though were the grilled calamari, so definitely get that if you love seafood. They were juicy, tender, and extremely tasty. My dad got the roast lamb which was very, very tasty as well.
For deserts, I had Baclava, but I thought it was wayyyyyy too sweet. I mean, I am someone who has a sweet tooth, but even this was too much for me. Almost feels like I was eating straight up syrup and honey. I would advise something else for dessert
Service:
TOP NOTCH. Very friendly, warm, casual, and seems like a family owned restaurant. The waitress and waiter were all very polite, gave us advice on what to choose. Seriously, I feel like I was at a $ 200 high class restaurant. I would give this place 10 stars if I could just due to the service alone. They even took out the baclava out of the bill without any of us complaining. They probably knew we didn’t like it haha.
Overall, the service was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, with good food, ambience.

Smells delicious as you walk up, the décor is beautiful and the food is amazing.
We started with an appetizer platter.
We brought our very picky 17yr old who was wowed by her Chicken Souvlaki; my Husband ordered the Greek Ribs and was amazed by the flavour. Our son & I each ordered a prawn dish, I preferred my Garlic Prawn over his Tiger Prawns but it was definitely a toss up.
The service was friendly and fast. The waitress was very knowledgable about the wine menu and we all loved the «fresh cutlery».
We will most definitely be visiting again!

A colleague and I visit Nanaimo once per year for business and we always make sure we visit Astera’s. friendly service and great food! I always get the roasted lamb and it is always tender and delicious. The owner visits every table and makes sure everything is perfect. A definite must if you are here!

We will be back! The food quality was wonderful and the service was over the top friendly and helpful. My wife has a dietary issue and they accomodated it perfectly! She usually resigns herself that she will get very little accomdation with a special order — but not here.
The grilled oysters are amazing, and we used all of the home baked hot pita bread to soak up the sauce.
I had mousakka, which I would 3 – 4 star, and my wife had the grilled calamari, which she would 5 star. I think next time I will have a grilled meat selection.
It is a beautiful and lively spot, and again, the service was so friendly, helpful and well timed. It made our trip to Nanaimo that much more pleasant.