I'm an avid fan of Lebanese cuisine, but I'd never tried Greek, so when the committee of the Society of Young Publishers decided to have the Christmas Dinner there I was intrigued.

Being the party animals that we are, we chose the coldest, grimmest Monday evening we could, and it was diet Coke all round as six of the eight of us were driving.  I'm pleased to say that I wasn't, and the house white, from Cyprus, was delicious!  The restaurant was fairly busy for so early in the week, but the service was attentive and friendly, and the waiter did not get annoyed when we seemed to take forever to decide what to order from the menu, on which everything sounds fantastic.  Several agonising minutes later, and a bit of rubbernecking to see what everyone else was eating prompted us to give up trying to choose and to request the mixed mezze, thus allowing the staff to make the choice for us (although we did request no mushrooms, as, bizarrely, we all loathe them.) 

Both vegetarians and meat-eaters are catered for extremely well, and a mixed selection of starters arrived promptly - delicious hummus, aubergine dip and taramasalata, pickled beetroot (its fluorescent pink colour had no effect on the taste!), stuffed vine leaves, meatballs and olives, all accompanied by pitta bread and crisp green salad.  Our appetites whetted, we were delighted to be brought calamari, deep-fried baby octopus, grilled langoustines (which tasted divine but, as ever, were a great deal of effort to eat) and deep-fried whitebait.  Soft drinks and water jugs were topped up without having to ask, despite the presence of another large group and several families demanding the time of the waiters.

The main courses arrived shortly after the fish had been cleared away.  For the vegetarians, creamy moussaka and okra in tomato sauce, and for the meat-eaters, marinated grilled chicken, beef in red wine and lamb baked in its own juices, accompanied by Greek pasta (which tastes faintly of Heinz tinned spaghetti, in a good way) and more bread.

After all of that delectable food, only some of the group felt able to tackle a pudding - the banana pancakes were declared to be 'amazing' and similar praise was given to the semolina custard flavoured with honey and rose water. 

The bill came to just over £150 for eight of us, although as most people were drinking soft drinks, that only includes one bottle of house wine.  It is excellent value for money, considering how much we had to eat and the great service.  I have only one complaint, and that is the fact that we were forced to breathe in second-hand cigarette smoke from neighbouring tables while we were eating - even if that is authentic Greek, it's not very pleasant!

Becky Simms

Visiting on a quiet Monday to take advantage of the current £6.95 lunchtime deal (one course and a free glass of wine or retsina), we were most pleasantly surprised by what was on offer. Amongst the traditional main dish options of Villagers' Salad ("Greek salad" to the uninitiated), lamb, squid and beef, there was the choice of "Mezédhes méze" (for a minimum of 2 persons): a broad cross-section of small dishes (meat or vegetarian according to specification), to be lingered over in a civilized and typically Greek (and also Lebanese, as it happens) fashion. (It's a shame we don't get the same langourous lunch hours in this country…)

With only two other diners in the restaurant, service was prompt and attentive, and our drinks arrived seconds after we requested them. My dining companion selected a tasty pineapple juice, and I plumped for the retsina, the wine flavoured with pine oil (historically, to preserve white wine during transportation) which is produced only in Greece. Retsina seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of product, and many Greeks themselves regard it with a certain scorn (it is fantastically cheap in its home country); I was not really surprised, then, to be presented with a slightly disappointing unchilled glass of the most popular brand, Kourtakis. It was nonetheless a perfectly acceptable accompaniment to the various mezédhes.

A small bowl of extremely briny mixed olives and dangerous and crunchy pickled peppers (the like of which, I am ashamed to say, I had only ever seen on pavements in the vicinity of kebab vans late at night) accompanied our drinks. Seconds after placing our order, which seemed fairly malleable according to requirements (we ordered vegetarian but included fish elements), a basket of pitta arrived, closely followed by small pots of tsatziki, houmous and taramasalata, a small green salad and a plate of calamari. For the first time EVER I enjoyed the lurid pink fishy taramasalata; the houmous was moorishly tahini-laden, the tsatziki cooling and an excellent balance to the spicy later dishes, and the squid rings and tentacles were - also a first for me - very tasty, and slightly crunchy (not just rubbery). Then came the surprise. Presented with the first few dishes, we were prepared to be worried, for though good, there were simply not enough dishes to make the lunch deal a really good offer. But as we considered asking sorely for another basket of pitta with which to finish devouring the dips, a collection of further dishes began to arrive. A plate of Greek pasta (looks like melon pips); a tiny ratatouille-like dish featuring truly enormous beans and smelling a bit like church incense (but tasting nicer!); a large dish of creamy vegetarian moussaka; and another basket of bread.

As we sat considering the expanded size of our stomachs, the thought of desserts overcame us and we ordered Hydra (banana pancakes with ice cream and chocolatey sauce) and Galatoboúreko (rose-water flavour semolina custard in filo pastry with honey syrup). Both were delicious, and we left with a sweet taste in our mouths and not too much lighter in the pocket (£13 per head). If you've not tried Greek food before, now's your chance; if you have, take your friends, and take advantage of the lunch offer while you still can!

Su J & Ian T

People argue hotly (please believe me) about Greek food. It's fatty, mincy and the puddings all taste the same - don't they? Or is it, as some claim, second only to French cuisine, blending the best of both west and east. I tend towards the latter view, considering that while about three-quarters of tavernas in Greece serve nothing much more interesting than roast chicken and souvlaki, the remaining quarter (and all Greek homes) make Greek cuisine realize its glorious potential. I am happy to say that the Greek taverna in Summertown is among that quarter.

It really is extremely Greek. And with Cypriot influence too - having just returned from a holiday in Cyprus myself, I was stunned at how after a few glasses of Thisbe, I could kid myself that this dark little restaurant in Summertown was the real thing. What you must do, when you go, is order a meze. This is a lazily-paced, ongoing banquet of all that the kitchen is most proud of, and while the price may appear steep, you will eat for literally hours. Let me recall our selection: starting with fried aubergine salad, tzatziki, butter beans in tomato and herb dressing, Greek village salad and vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs giving that really indefinable, authentic taste (in a different league from delicatessen dolmadhes), and grilled halloumi (characterful Cypriot cheese), we then progressed to the seafood phase - octopus, red mullet and anatomically correct king prawns were all brought along, offset by the blander flavour of fried squid. One then has a longish pause (for most Greeks a cigarette break) and were it not for the several pristine items of cutlery lying at one's wrists, the uninitiated would think it was all over. Then the food arrives which is meant to fill you up. Smoky kebabs intermingled with crunchy vegetables, Greek meatballs (nasty word, nice thing) and other grilled meats which escape me give way to the famous Cypriot stews: afelia, consisting of pork in red wine and coriander, and stifadho, which is beef in an unusual cinnamon gravy.

A word on the wine - Thisbe (�10.85) is bland, hockish but fairly pleasant and safe. Avoid at all costs Aphrodite (�9.95) - it is like watery Soave mixed with own-label vodka. If you have never tried retsina, then do so here, but make the conditions right - try it after a mouthful of the most oily thing on the table, and you will realize why it tastes the way it does.

The flagship meze, which I have described, costs �22.95. Try something different - enjoy the best of Hellenic cuisine.

Bryn James

Reviewed
4.98

A cozy little eaterie tucked into the row of shops along the Banbury Road, Summertown. This Greek restaurant, unlike so many others, manages to be authentic without being "AUTHENTIC" - You will see no plate-smashing, no flashy dancing and few blatant stereotypes here, just pleasant food, cooked in traditional ways. Greek food is full of basic, flavoursome foods cooked in distinctive ways, and by sticking to these simple tasty dishes, you will not go far wrong. The lamb is succulent, as is the vegetable side-dishes, and care is taken to provide plenty of vegetarian main courses as well. Although not cheap, you won't break the bank either, and the Greek Taverna is quality in pleasant surroundings which is, I think, what they're aiming for. While cosy, however, it is a little small, and you may find yourself pushed for elbow-room.

S.P.

"Authentic" restaurants are scary things. All too often, people call their restaurants "authentic" by mistake, when what they mean is "horribly cliched, stereotypical and over-priced". Happily, the Greek Taverna is a genuinely authentic Greek restaurant - not full of leering waiters smashing plates, but the kind you might reasonably expect to actually find in Greece. This means attractive, but not over the top, decor, funky music and lots of nice Greek food. And I mean lots.
There are two ways to eat at the Greek Taverna. You can just choose dishes from the menu as usual - starters are around the £3 mark, and main courses cost about £8 a go. Much more fun, however, is to go for the "meze" option, where you each pay a fixed price, and can then try all or any of the variety of dishes plonked on your table. These selections start at £13.95 per person for three courses and go up to £21.95 for the Chef's special. We went for the £17.95 option, "Tavernas mezedhes" - described as "An epicurean feast from the first dip to the final sweet of your choice". Ahem. My partner is vegetarian, but we decided against going for the vegetarian meze option in order to satisfy my lust for animal flesh. We were promised there would be plenty for her to eat, especially given her sea-food opt-out, whereby she convinces herself that fish are not living creatures, but special sea plants that grow on underwater shrubs.

The starters were traditional Greek fare - warm pitta bread with taramosalata, houmous and tzatziki, stuffed vine leaves, wine-flavoured sausages and a spicy chick-pea concoction. All very nice, but in retrospect I wish I hadn't eaten quite so much early on - in truth, you can have pitta bread and houmous everyday, and my early gluttony meant I had to forego some tastier stuff later on. The starters were followed by the fish course - passable salmon, excellent deep-fried squid and two langoustines, which are basically mini-lobsters. Under my skilful manipulation, these were able to dance around and wave their pinchers at my partner, rapidly dispelling the seafood-on-shrubs myth, and leaving her poking at her salad while I tucked into the squid. Hurrah!

Next up were the plethora of dishes making up the main course. Vegetarian moussaka, souvlaki (meat marinaded in lemon juice - yum yum yum), beef and onions, lamb and herbs and thoroughly bizarre pasta, which quite frankly looked like gerbil droppings, but tasted much nicer. Unfortunately, by this point, thanks in no small measure to my hijacking of the fish course, I was already feeling rather full. By the end of the course I was absolutely stuffed, without the energy to even try a tempting big thick sausage lying forlornly on the side. I suppose I should have taken it home, but at this point I was unsure if I'd ever eat again. We were committed to the desserts however, and somehow I forced down a "santorini", a pear and ice-cream concoction which turned out to be pretty much a Knickerbocker Glory. Nothing wrong with that.

The Greek Taverna is ace fun. Eighteen quid for 4 courses really isn't bad going, ands when you work out just how much food you get for that you're pretty impressed (if a little nauseous). I'd especially recommend it to any religious types who practice longish fasts - go here first, and amaze your friends with your stoicism - while they're dreaming of Big Macs, you'll still be digesting your souvlaki. Good stuff.

D.B.