The Real Greek (Hoxton)

A friend kindly brought me a drink in the Real Greek bar. On my exit the manager blocked my exit and questioned me on the payment of my drink causing an embarrassing situation! I will certainly not visit another Real Greek bar again.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, September 26, 2011

Went along on Saturday night, 7 in our group, service was good, very friendly tall slim guy, food,,,MMMnnnn a bit of high street version of Greek food, not the tastiest, actually rather bland, basically ordered a selection for all to share, as you would do in Greece, we had a varied selection of the usual fare, bland Hummus, bland Tzatziki (spelling), bland octopus, bland everything really, the best bit were the chips/fried potatoes that were tasty....

To summarize i could only boringly use the word BLAND again.

Head of to Green Lanes past Wood green, a good selection of Greek cafes/restaurants...
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Paolo - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, February 21, 2011

We went to the Hoxton Real Greek for lunch, a visit to a restaurant that we frequented in our first years together - big mistake on our part as the place has changed so badly over the years.

Firstly there was no hot water in the toilets to wash your hands. The table was disgustingly sticky all over. Badly washed glasses, with lip smudges and odd smelling odours! The general decor of the place looked very old and run down. Music from the 90's was being pumped loudly through speakers - no traditional Greek tunes to dance in your eardrums here!

The food was very mediocre, perhaps almost bland and was certainly not an exciting experience for your taste buds. It all arrived at different times and made the whole meal feel disjointed.

We ordered a Greek coleslaw, expecting fennel, cabbage to tantalise us; who would have known that Hellmans mayonnaise was so big in Greece? The 'fennel' and cabbage were being duly drowned in a sea of white slop. No delicate Mediterranean flavours at all

Immensely disappointing, not somewhere we will be going again.
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Charlotte
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, January 13, 2011

This restaurant is terrible. I went with a group of friends a couple of weeks ago for our christmas celebrations and it is possibly one of the worst experiences we have ever had in a restaurant.

The waitress (who advised us she was a bar attendant and had never worked as a waitress before) read the order back to us perfectly..but somehow between her reading it back to us and passing the ticket to the kitchen there was a massive muck up.

The cold mezze starers were soso but at least they did turn up.

With the mains one of my friends hot mezzes arrived 20 minutes before the rest of the food when we had specifically requested everything to come together. When the rest of the food arrived we received extra food and one of my friends slovaki's were missing - she was the lucky one because the rest of us had slovaki's which were tasteless, cold and the meet was very chewy. We advised one of the waitresses that we received extra food and a slovaki was missing and she just walked off so we assumed she was going to sort it.

In the mean time a massive argument broke out between one of the kitchen staff and a waiter in the open kitchen which added to the evening.

15 minutes later my friends slovaki had still not arrived so we asked to speak to the manager. The manager came over so we politely explained the situation but he was very sarcastic and could not have cared less about the quality of the food and service we received. He patronisingly read the order back to us which was all written down perfectly so we still have no idea what went wrong between the order being taken and the kitchen. As a result of the attitude of the manager and the service we received we kicked up a fuss and he agreed to deduct £20 from the bill. My friends slovaki never arrived.

Avoid this restaurant at all costs - the service is appalling, most of the food is awful but having had the pleasure of meeting the manager I can see why the place is a disaster.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 31, 2010

I would urge anyone to avoid the "Real Greek". Myself and my boyfriend visited the very picturesque site on the southbank on a sunday evening. We were standing around an empty restaurant in the outside seating area for a good while before a waitress offered us seats, we asked if we could sit outside but during the long 20 or so minutes we were waiting for our mezze starters it got a bit cold and we asked to be reseated inside, the waitress was brash and tutted almost as if asking to be reseated was a massive burden to her. We were seated indoors, the table had a really sticky feel to it - I have read a few comments on this restaurant and it seems that sticky tables in the Real Greek are not uncommon.

After a long wait our starters arrived, the tzatziki wasn't bad but I've had better out of the supermarket. The hummus was terrible, it did not taste of anything, my partner had to ask for extra lemons to squeeze all over it - like another reviewer below, only for our waitress to walk off in a huff again. The flatbread was so-so and as with the tzatziki have tasted better out of the supermarket for a fraction of the price. We waited a long while for our mains too. We ordered a warm beetroot salad to share, we were given the wrong salad completely and had to wait a long time again for the correct one which had to be sent back anyway because it tasted strongly of washing up liquid. We then tucked into our lamb wraps, the lamb was fatty and extremely tough.

We left still hungry and never to return. Me and my partner love eating out and we visit many restaurants, but I have to say the Real Greek is the WORST restaurant I have been to. The staff are rude and the food, extremely poor. Avoid this place at all costs.
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Chloe
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, December 04, 2010

Great location and an enticing menu, it’s difficult not to get lured in to the cozy atmosphere inside the Real Greek in Hoxton. However once inside things quickly start to fall apart. Our waitress was aloof, patronizing and forgot one of the two things we ordered when we sat down. Olives and hummus seem to me quite simple things to remember, but then I am not a waiter so maybe I cannot grasp the huge mental capacity required for such a task.

When our hummus arrived it was instantly apparent the texture was too grainy and thick. Once on the palate It felt like an eternity waiting for any flavor to kick in, but alas it was devoid of taste and lacked the zesty kick of lemon that accompanies good hummus.

After this poor sample of what the menu had to offer, I decided not to eat anything else and instead let my friends eat. So I ordered a double espresso and though I would push threw and enjoy my time anyway, despite the lack of taste left in my mouth by the hummus. I received a cold single espresso and a grumpy look from our increasingly impatient waitress. At this point we all decided to leave.

All in all I was very disappointed with the whole experience. Only Amnesia could reignite my initial attraction into entering the Real Greek. I now sympathize with my EU counterparts, as I had to overpay for something I shouldn’t have and was confronted with resistance when I asked for what was needed, in this case food with flavor and a small bowl of olives.
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Charles Carter
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Saturday, May 15, 2010

I visited the real greek in hoxton for my friends 60th birthday, the wine was awful and after sampling about 4 different kinds of wine we settled for the most expensive which was no more than your average high st cheap plonk! We ordered lots of food (we thought) but the portions really were so tiny we all left starving and disappointed..... It was a very expensive evening, so my advice is just give it a miss til they get their act together and stop being complacent!!
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- View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, February 16, 2010

We had an amazing time at this restaurant recently. My husband and I have been to the Hoxton restaurant several times, and have also visited their Putney and Marylebone restaurants and they have never failed to deliver on food or service. We therefore decided to celebrate my mother's birthday with our family and friends in Hoxton and it was once again amazing! The waiting staff was extremely attentive and the food is always fresh and very flavoursome. My mother is a vegetarian and the options available for her on their menu are endless. Thank you for helping us to make her day so special!
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Donna Thompson
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 08, 2010

This is an awful restaurant, it really is. I've (stupidly) been twice, and both times were depressingly poor. The last time was in a group of about 25 people; now the meal we had was by no means complicated - about 4 or 5 dishes per person (or simple stuff pitta breads, humous, rice and meat options) yet they seemed incapable of serving us in one go. Some people in the group were waiting for over an hour to get their dreadful little selection of tiny portions. We all looked as tired as the humous did. The food was nothing special, no distinctive flavours, just a kind of fried up blandness to it all. Steer clear, steer well clear.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 18, 2009

I have eaten here several times with friends and colleagues - usually at lunchtime - and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The food is always good, and good value, and the service was also good and the waiters were able to give good advice on the choice of food.

The only downside for me was that it is a big restaurant and you can rattle around a bit if there are not many diners. That may be because we were eating at lunchtime.

All in all I would have no hesitation in recommending it. It is what it is - simple Greek food that is cooked sympathetically!
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John
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, December 01, 2009