The Village Greek

Really enjoyed eating at this north london gem. Service was spot on with friendly waiters who were only too happy to help with choices and point on to what was good on the menu. Lovely starters and the calamari was one of the best I've had in London, with King Prawns not far behind. To be honest. I was pretty full after the starters but mains were really tasty too leaving no room for dessert. If I had one critique, it was the chicken souvla was slightly on the dry side. Highly recommend a visit.
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Pete D
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 30, 2012

This is the best Greek food I have had at a restuarant outside of Cyprus. A very warm welcome and great atmosphere inside, I booked a table here going by the reviews on here and I wasn't dissapointed. We travelled all the way from Essex and will do so again. I definitely reccomend the full meze, If you can't finish your meat course, Take it home with you!!!!!
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Jamie Ross
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, September 19, 2011

Christ, what can I say that's not been said already below in the two 10 star reviews, apart from this is one of the few restaurants you come across once in a lifetime that you cannot fault any element of - quality, value, service, atmosphere and of course QUANTITY!

Took the family (missus and child) here to try it last week as it was both local and well rated. The restaurant itself is located in a dingy  side street in Barnet where there's a few other restaurants/takeaways and a convenience store, in all honesty a bit dodgy looking. Nevertheless we persevered and found the village Greek restaurant which really did stand out like a sore thumb on that street. Simple, clean, wooden panelled interior, unpretentious deco and very homely feel with ambient lighting - enough so to work as a romantic dining experience too. 

Upon entering (although I booked a table for 8pm the place was quite empty on a Saturday night, that sent alarm bells for me)  we were swiftly seated and given a walm welcome. I already had the Meze meal for 2 in mind but asked the manager anyway if it would be worth ordering anything extra for the child and he quickly said "no no no it will be enough" with a big grin on his face :). I (very pigheadedly in retrospect) ignored his advice and ordered some extra side of home made chips which I asked to be served along with the main meal. 

So the banquet commenced with 4 dips and some potato salad and olives. The taramasalat, my fave, was oddly White in colour instead of pink but tasted very nice - just the right amount of salty sour I like :)  tzantziki, tahini and hommous were good also and this was all served with a huge bowl of warmed pitta (also delicious). The chips came afterwards and it was the biggest bowl of side dish chunky chips I've seen in my life! Imagine a fruit bowl full of fries and you won't be far off. Obviously little boy was happy with his mountain of fried potato goodness. (I also helped him out of course but we didn't even get near finishing it with the rest of the meze arriving!)

To be honest by this point I was actually quite full and would have paid the full £18pp price just for the starter but then came ham and halloumi cheese, 2 giant grilled mushrooms, some mini salami sausages, pastroumi, courgette omelette. That was Allll fantastically seasoned and tasted great but Ladies and Gents, this was still the starters. 

So, after Undoing my belt, then came the main fish course - fried calamari (light and crispy, no greasiness), garlic prawns in a risotto like dish (this was my absolute favourite of the mains, very very tasty, the other half said it was nice but perhaps a bit salty), bbqed red mullet (grilled to perfection - the meat was juicy and slid off the bone easily meaning well cooked, seasoning was a simple mix of olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper). 

Top button of my jeans pops off and the next main arrives - mixed platter of chicken, pork and beef cutlets on a bed of grilled vegetables (peppers, onions) and again a fruit bowl full of greek salad with a generous bar of feta cheese on top. 

If I'm honest I didn't even touch the salad as I think I fell asleep at the table from overindulgence-poisoning, but the missus rates it well with fresh mixed salad leaves and light lemon juice/pepper seasoning. I did try the meat (although literally 1 piece of each meat to try for flavour - again fantastic) but could not physically stomach another bite. 

The waitress, spotting our table that was littered with half finished plates of Greek goodness and top buttons of trousers littered all over the floor, kindly asked if we wanted to takeaway the rest to which I shouted YES PLEASE perhaps a little too enthusiastically. 

So out came, and I joke you not, 5 big containers of takeaway Greek food or 1 supermarket carrier bags worth of food. 

Waitress jested if we wanted dessert to which there was a collective exclamation of 'no thanks' as we refastened out belts. 

Now onto the bill. For such a large assortment of high quality authentic Greek cuisine I was astonished that the bill came to below £60 including a bottle of wine and drinks. There was no service charge attached so I more than happily gave the smiley waitress 15% of the bill. 

Overall a highly recommended outing for a wide variety of audiences - family, couples and gluttons (like myself). I may however opt to try one of the reasonably priced main courses next time. Or maybe just starve myself for a week before I come back. 
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delmontebanana - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, September 17, 2011

We booked to go here after finding it on this website and seeing the reviews. We live in Yorkshire so wanted to make a good choice!

We were running late for our booking and when we called to push the booking back it was no problem at all, told us not to rush to get there, we would be seated when we turned up. We were still the first people in there, arriving at approx 6.45pm. The staff were very warm and friendly. The restaurant was nicely decorated, clean and refreshing.

We ordered the full meze. It was outstanding!!! The first course of dips were delicious and plentiful. We tried not to fill up on them and it still looked like we hadn't touched them. The hot starters were lovely, a bit of everything but more than just a mouthful. The sea bream for the fish course was the best fish I think I have ever eaten. My boyfriend isnt a fish fan and even he said how nice it was and went back for more! The meat course was equally as nice.

We struggled to eat everything and when the lovely waitress noticed this she told us not to worry, we could take it home with us, which we did. By the time we left approx 8.30, the restaurant was filling quickly.

The staff were lovely (didn't pester you at all but were attentive), the food was delicious and the price was very good too. With 4 alcoholic and 1 non alcoholic drinks the total bill was pennies over £50. We were very impressed and will definatly be going back next time we are in London.
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sam
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 17, 2011

Despite not having a reservation for a Saturday night, the 3 of us were welcomed and seated with open arms. (although i would recommend booking to avoid disappointment as it did get very busy).

The food was just as welcoming as the staff. We enjoyed every dish we consumed.

Any dips that you order comes with a big basket of just toasted pitta bread, and the dips are very moriesh.

I also ordered the Kalamari as i am a big fan of squid and order it at any restaurant that serves it, however i have to admit that this has to be one of the best fried squid i've had.

We also enjoyed the Kleftiko immensely, which was served with a generous side of potatoes. The lamb in the Kleftiko was like butter melt in your mouth, amazing and very tasty indeed.

Despite living 40mins drive away, we will definitely make this our 'local' greek without a second thought.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, March 16, 2011