Restaurant: Suvlaki
Vibe: Cozy Taverna with minimalist menu, Athens street food vibe & ambient interior
Cost: £4-7 meze, £7-9 skewers, £15 chef's special suvlaki wraps
Location: 21 Bateman St, London W1D 3AL
Closest Tubes: Tottenham Court Road (3 mins walk) / Leicester Square (5 mins walk)
Website: https://www.suvlaki.co.uk/
Your dining experience comes with it your very own Greek Dictionary on the exterior walls...
Conveniently and coincidentally (?) located just around the corner from Greek Street in London's Soho, you'll find Suvlaki - a cute Greek restaurant, which prides itself on an "obsession with responsibly sourced, good food". You're greeted with a uniquely Hellenic restaurant frontage - that uniqueness being not too dissimilar from opening the pages of a Greek dictionary. There are chairs out front for those that want a grab and go wrap, which isn't a bad idea given the popularity of this place.
The Vibe
A place named after Suvlaki (or Souvlaki), which is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer might actually serve this place an injustice to the average onlooker. The definition instantly throws up visions of piles of shredded meat, thrown into some bread, with chilli sauce, salad and a dollop of garlic mayo on the side - popular cuisine for the past-2am styrofoam tray connoisseurs, much like myself, after a few too many "go on then, just one more drink(s)".
Alas, this place is nothing like that - with a vast selection of small, meze dishes, you could happily work your way through the starter/side menu without needing to touch the main courses. It's almost like a halfway house between traditional Greek meze and Spanish tapas, with dishes designed for sharing and enjoying slowly, over much conversation and gesticulation.
"Our co-Founders from Athens, share an obsession with good food. Food that is fresh, healthy, and responsibly sourced. Oh, and insanely tasty! We also think Greek ‘suvlaki’ – which means ’little skewer’ or simply ’stick’ and is synonymous with street food in Greece, is the tastiest and healthiest way to eat on the go." Suvlaki.co.uk, Our Story
"In Suvlaki We Trust" - life motto.
As you walk-in, and are promptly ushered to close the door - which is understandable, given the small square-footage and ease of letting the chill in - you're met with a row of tightly set 2-4 person tables running down the right-hand wall, with the food prepping area and chefs to your left. On the wall beyond the chefs is spray painted something in Greek, which one of our group informs us means "Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll" (or something to that degree). You can just make it out in the image. The place has a bit of an underground, Athens street vibe to it, with the dark painted walls and low lighting giving you the sense of speakeasy and restaurant rolled into one.
As I may have mentioned already, the tables are set very closely together and it's a bit of a squeeze. The act of getting yourself seated provides the perfect opportunity to be stereotypically British, uttering "sorry" a multitude of times for just being present, and trying to get to where you need to go, which is to sit on the bench on the far side of your table, without dunking your backside into the tzatziki of the couple enjoying their dinner adjacently.
Pro tip: Don't take a big bag with you, it'll be wedged tightly under your table and inhibit your already limited maneuverability.
The service is attentive, with the two knowledgeable, friendly and efficient font-of-house staff members always looking to see if you require attention. With the seating setup, it does fall upon those sitting with their backs to the wall to meet their gaze but to be honest, you're never more than 10 metres from them and they seem to know when to arrive at the right time.
The Spinning"Suvlaki Sisters" of Soho...and me.
The Food
As a group of four - fresh from a nearby spin class and inclusive of our very own, authentic Greek pal, Petty - we explored as much of the menu as we could, ordering everything at once and enjoying it [read: devouring] as it arrived. The menu is relatively simple but this means that you can order from the majority of it if there are a few of you dining.
The food was prepared by two chefs at quite the pace, which, given the relatively narrow kitchen and tight grill, displayed admirable output skills. As you would expect, the tzatziki (£4.70) and pita bread (£3) were delivered first, swiftly followed by (in my opinion) the best dish of the night - the Baked Feta (£7). Next up were a handful of other meze dishes, including - of course - a bowl of chips (£5.70), before our skewers arrived - one each of the Spicy Prawn (£8.70), the Mastelo (£7.80), and the Chicken (£7.80). Handily, each skewer has four mini portions on it, which was perfect for our party.
£4.40 for a small diet coke seems excessive (gotta make that money somewhere, amirite?) so stick with the water unless you're on the wine/beer, which is only slightly more expensive than the soft drinks.
Prawn Skewer; Baked Feta; Mastelo Skewer; Pita Bread, Courgette Fritters (what was left of them!); Chocolate Biscuit Cake & Greek Coffee.
The signature Suvlaki wrap is available for £15, which also looked delicious (turning heads in synchronicity as it was delivered to the table adjacent to ours). However, I think the strategy to go with smaller plates leaves you with more stomach space to fill and gives you a chance to experience a wider selection of the delicious menu. If I was here on my own, which I wouldn't rule out, that's when I might opt for the wrap...and maybe the baked feta, and a few more chippies. But anyway, less about my solitary gorging...
A tasty chicken skewer being primed for eating.
For dessert, we shared a Chocolate Biscuit Cake (see final picture in gallery slides further up), which was extremely rich and plentiful for four people, already full of savory things, to share. I made the not-too-sensible choice to order a Greek coffee, which was even thicker than I was expecting, with the bottom half of the cup solid with a thick, coffee-ish syrup (not my finest description but hey ho). Thus, I can confirm that I was wide awake until the early hours, cursing my "but I want the Greek coffee" dessert choice.
Booking
Incredibly, we managed to secure a 7:45pm Wednesday reservation for a table of 4 on the morning of. This worked perfectly with our 6pm class at nearby DigMe Fitness (I know this is a restaurant review but if you like your Suvlaki subsequent to a spin session, take a look at this review of my favourite studio in Central London).
There were a couple of walk-ins after 8:30pm, who also were successful in their quest for a table. My conclusion here is that being in close proximity to the theatres, many will come here for pre-show dinner, meaning that there's a bit of a gap of availability between 7:30-9, so it's not outside the realms of possibility to successfully chance your luck on a walk-in if you don't have a reservation.
Value
As we were trying to be somewhat "adult", with a focus on the food rather than the booze [meaning: alcohol], the meal for four of us was an absolute steal at under £100, including service ["absolute steal" = a bargain]. So, for less than £25 each, we had 3 skewers, 7 meze/sides, 2 soft drinks, 2 coffees, a dessert, and a pot of Mountain Tea.
Due to the nature of the Greek way of doing dinner - i.e. small plates, and lots of sharing - we were not rushed at all and spent a good 90 minutes in the restaurant, which makes that value even better in my book.
Hometime
After your meal, you can get lost in the Soho streets, with many drinking or dancing options. Alas as colleagues in our late-thirties, and what with it being a "school night" [colloquial British term for weeknight], we took advantage of the excellent transport options available and headed our separate ways from Leicester Square (Piccadilly & Northern Lines) and Tottenham Court Road (Elizabeth & Central Lines).
Final Thoughts
This place came highly recommended by our friend who said that she "loves going here with my London Greek friends", so we kind of knew we were onto a winner before setting foot in the door. I will definitely be back - there are a few more things on the menu I'd like to try.
The food is good, the staff are good, the prices are good, the location is good - it's a bit tight for elbow space (but you expect this in Prime London Real Estate territory) and to be honest, it adds to the Med vibe, even if the inflated temperature is coming from warm bodies rather than the sun... Oh, and remember - have a beer rather than a soft drink if you want to maximise that cost per sip ;-) .
Enjoy! / απολαμβάνω!
Finishing off with some subliminal messaging for your brains...
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