Lemonia

I had the most unfortunate experience in the restaurant last night. I went there to cheer up my mum who's had a particularly difficult time lately. Within ten minutes of being sat down, she had her bag stolen from under her seat and was most distressed. Not only were the staff completely unhelpful and carried on serving, doing nothing to try to comfort her, but they also refused to return my £20 deposit, even though we hadn't yet ordered food due to the theft of her bag. The most unhelpful, uncaring and cold staff I have come into contact with. I'm sure if their mother had recently lost her husband and broken their arm, they'd want to know that somebody would show a tiny bit of compassion towards them when their belongings had been stolen. I've never written a review before but feel utterly disappointed in this establishment.

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One of the problems with a blog like ours is how to truly taste one country’s cuisine via a two-course meal (or three if we’re particularly hungry). Lemonia had a solution to this problem—its mixed meze option, which showcases a huge portion of its Greek Cypriot menu. For £18.50 a head, they gave us pretty much all of the cold mezes on the menu, a large proportion of the hot meze, and—they really should have warned us to leave room for this—a selection of the main dishes.

Even after the first round of cold mezes we were comfortably full. There were dips of pretty much every Greek variety, from tzatziki to taramosalata, as well as salads and some cold shrimp. Of all the dips, I kept returning to a tasty tuna concoction, and, of course, the hummus. We made the mistake of trying to finish everything in front of us, forgetting that we had two further rounds to eat.

The hot mezes which followed were even better than the cold. Fried calamari was just right, neither too rubbery nor too crispy; grilled halloumi was also on just the right side of the rubbery/soft balance. There were spinach and feta pies, sausages, and yet another round of shrimp, this time fried and the better of the two shrimp dishes.

After an hour or so of eating we finally got onto the main course, with assorted chicken and lamb souvlaki, small lamb chops and a salad. Sadly the lamb was slightly overcooked, and our tongues so drowned in the Cypriot red wine and the tastes from the previous courses that it was hard to tell the different flavours apart in the souvlaki. Maybe I should have just stopped eating after the spinach pie.

As world cuisine geeks, we did wonder if we’d tried anything distinctively Cypriot. Maria—who hails from Greece and heartily approves of the place—confirmed that Greek Cypriot cooking is indeed quite similar to Greek. Halloumi is the national cheese of Cyprus though, and served with lountza (smoked pork lion, another local speciality), was perhaps the most Cypriot dish on the menu.

In hindsight, one of the best parts of this meal was the overall feel of the evening. We were never rushed, and through the general décor of the restaurant, it did feel like an evening in the Mediterranean. On emerging from the place at 11pm, I had three final thoughts: “We’re back in reality again”, “We really should have had this meal for lunch”, and “I am so, so full”.

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"Lemonia has got to be my favourite restaurant in London. It has the whole package, excellent service, great food at reasonable prices and a buzzing atmosphere. It certainly is a place to celebrity spot as it is based in the trendy area of Primrose Hill. Their home made hummus is delicious as is everything else on their menu. Remember to book in advanced as it is always busy!"

"A lovely Greek restaurant which has been around and pulling in the punters long before the arrival of Sadie, Jude and co. And deservedly so, Lemonia is one of the best restaurants in NW1, with a real Mediterranean feel, the interior is authentically Greek feeling with vines and a beautiful conservatory and you can sit on the terrace in the summer months. Fans of Greek food are in for a treat too as the menu has all of your favourite dishes and all are served perfectly. The lamb kebabs are a treat and for pudding don't miss the honey and yoghurt. "