Telephone: 020 7253 7234
Address: 140-142 St John Street, London EC1
Meal for two, with drinks and service, £50
It was very curious. If I closed my eyes and sniffed the air I could imagine myself to be in an island harbour in the Aegean. Immediately I was taken back to that hot summer on the island of Syros, the two Danish air stewardesses and the bottle of... oh, but you don't want to know about that. The point is, I was actually standing on one of the most proudly urban streets in London's Clerkenwell and the nearest harbour was at Chelsea.
So the first thing to say about the Real Greek Souvlaki and Bar is that it smells right: all charcoal smoke, seared meat and dried herbs. I am deeply suspicious of the pursuit of authenticity, partly because authentic is not always the same as good, and partly because too many false claims are too easily made.
The Souvlaki Bar is a spin-off from a more sophisticated restaurant in Hoxton called the Real Greek, which hollers authenticity in its very name, but which serves food the likes of which you will be hard pushed to find in Athens (it's too good).
What is more interesting about the Souvlaki Bar is less what it says about the state of Greek food in Britain today (how much is there to say?) than the state of eating out in London. It tells us that we now want to eat our Greek food in an environment that makes us think we are in New York. The Souvlaki Bar is a very City space with, on one side, raised counters for quick drinks and nibbles. There are small tables for quick eating, a central open kitchen area and bar and much use of hard metals and sharp lighting. It's loud, funky and young and the service is a little hassled. It's where 25-year-olds go to get drunk.
The food is as good as it needs to be and probably about as good as this food will ever get. The taramasalata is soft and creamy and not at all Day-Glo pink. The dolmades are small, sweet and nutty. The octopus, stewed in red wine, is about as tender as octopus can manage. The breads are fresh. All of these cost between £3 and £4. The souvlaki - spiced sausages or grilled brochettes of pork, chicken or lamb - remind me of those I used to eat in Greece, but the pricing does not. For a souvlaki with a single brochette the charge is £4.75, which seems fair. A second brochette raises the price to £9.25, an awful lot for not very much. One curiosity: they come wrapped in greaseproof napkins branded 'Harvey Nichols'. They are, in short, better dressed than I am.
It's that kind of place.
