I’ve been wanting to visit The Real Greek for quite some time.

Having lived a number of years on the Greek Island of Kefalonia, I am a lover of anything that is authentic and takes me back to my days eating Greek food in the sun.. unfortunately this is not too easy to find.

I have recently purchased Eat Greek For A Week, written by the Consultant Chef of this chain, which as well as being full of nutritional facts, also contains some must try Greek recipes, I therefore couldn’t miss out on visiting this restaurant whilst in London for the weekend.

On arriving at the Covent Garden Restaurant, I found it to be smaller than I would expect, however I was pleased to see it was not all about pretence. You find the best food comes from places that worry more about the food, then trying to look too upmarket. Having said that, the interior was bright and welcoming and better than that…  It looked authentic 🙂

The menu was full of food to set the taste buds alight, although partly middle eastern, it did have a huge amount of authentic greek dishes, not too different then I would usually order at a local Taverna.

First to catch my eye however was my favourite Greek Dip – Tyrokafteri (Spicy Cheese Dip).

This is something that I make at home myself at times, a mixture of Greek Feta, Ricotta, Olive Oil and Chilli, I also like to add some paprika too.

I was pleased that this version had great flavour (Not quite, but almost as good as that found at La Dolkolla in Argostoli, Kefalonia). I could easily have just sat there eating this all day.

We also opted for some grilled Halloumi, we would have preferred Saganaki, however this was one delight missing from the menu, the Halloumi went down very well though.

For main it had to be the Gyros Wrap, and I opted for chicken… Chicken, Red Onion and Tzatziki all wrapped up in a tasty wrap. This would normally come with Tomato, but as bad as it is I always ask for χωρίς Ντομάτα (Without Tomato), again this was flavoursome and took me back to Greece, except with not as much fat dripping out as I would usually find.. this wasn’t a bad thing and did not take away from the flavour. In Greece I’m also used to having a few chips added into the wrap as well 😛

Overall the food was authentic, flavoursome and filling. The service was also great and I only wish I had one of these restaurants closer to my new home in Manchester.. Take Note Tonia !!!