Greek food tastes of sunshine and parched hillsides sloping into clear blue seas. As a series of islands on the edge of the Mediterranean, Greece can "do" seafood extremely well, offering lots of fresh fish and shellfish to the diner who likes that sort of thing - and keep an eye out for the best use of octopus and cuttlefish this side of Japan (look beyond the tired calamari prostituting itself under Starters for the good stuff).
There's an enormous amount on offer for vegetarians in the guise of grilled cheeses, roasted vegetables, bean stews and dips and mouth-watering salads (lots of salads, lots and lots of different kinds of salads...) Mixed in among the signature Greek dishes are hints of southern Italy appearing in some dishes in the use of lemons and herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage on simply grilled or stewed foods, giving a light touch to food intended to be eaten in hot, dry lands. And then there are the deeper notes of Turkish cooking seeping into the menu from the other side of the map, with the many slow-cooked lamb dishes and prevalence of chickpeas, tomatoes, aubergines and spices giving away the exact location of Greece and its cuisine.
With such a mouth-watering array of things to choose from once installed at a Greek restaurant - should one nibble at a range of small mezze style dishes or would a freshly grilled fish and seafood platter be better, or perhaps a feast of souvlaki (lamb, chicken, vegetable or cheese skewers) straight from the grill be best? Read on for for your guide to what to order in a Greek restaurant...
Note: when you spot "cheese" on the menu, it will be Greek cheese, which means strong, rich, smooth white cheese usually made with goat's milk. Steer clear if you're not a fan - indulge yourself if you are! For the flesh-eaters, you'll find pretty much anything you can want: rabbit, beef, chicken and pork are common enough but it is the lamb you want to go for and it is lamb that will appear most often on a menu. The ocean-oriented diner won't be disappointed either: in all decent Greek restaurants there should be good fish and seafood options, keep looking if there is not. And for vegetarians... well, it's rare to have such a good range of things to choose from - hot, cold, small, large, spicy, rich, light, heavy etc - but here it all is. Enjoy.
Salads
Tzatziki / Sadziki - combined yogurt, cucumber and garlic eaten with bread
Melitzana Salata - aubergine salad, like babaganoush from the middle east eaten with bread
Tarama Salata - dip made from carp or cod roe eaten with bread
Capari Salata - caper salad eaten with bread
Tiro Salata - Greek cheese salad, strong tasting and sometimes spicy eaten with bread
Choriatiki Salata - commonly known as Greek Salad, a combination of tomatoes, cucumber, onions, olives, feta cheese, oil and vinegar
Lakanika - cabbage salad
Gigandes plaki - butter beans served either with oil and lemon or with tomato sauce
Vegetable / vegetarian dishes
Keftedes - deep-fried meatballs with varying ingredients, either chickpeas (like falafel), tomatoes or fish
Kolokithikia Vrasta - courgette seasoned with oill, lemon and sometimes vinegar
Patates Tiganites - fried potatoes
Briam - roast vegetables, containing potatoes, onions, courgettes, aubergines, garlic and tomatoes
Spanakopita - spinach in pastry
Rivithia - chickpeas ooked with onions and tomatoes
Fava - dip or stew made from yellow split peas that can be eaten with bread
Horta - warm greens
Dolmades - vineleaves stuffed with rice and herbs
Anginares - artichokes in lemon and egg sauce with potatoes
Tirokafteri - spiced puree of matured cheeses
Tiropitakia - feta and spinach in pastry
Casseri - soft cheese like mozzerella
Saganaki - fried cheese, sometimes served with tomato sauce or lemon
Htipiti - feta cheese marinated with pepper and red onions
Non-vegetarian dishes
Psito - leg of lamb roasted with potatoes
Brizoles - steak
Khirini - pork
Souvlaki - marinaded cubes of lamb or chicken (kota) grilled on skewers
Loukanika - sausage
Kokoretsi - lamb offal wrapped up and roasted on skewers
Kontosouvli - chunks of pork cooked on skewers
Moussaka - layered aubergines, minced beef or lamb and potatoes baked with tomato sauce and topped with cream and cheese
Pastitsio - similar to moussaka but made with pasta instead of aubergine
Fish
Rega - smoked herring in olive oil
Psarosoupa - fish soup with potatoes, lemon and egg
Astako - lobster
Garides - prawns
Soupia - cuttle fish
Midia - mussels
Octopodi - octopus
Kalamarikia - squid
Sardeles- sardines
Drinks
Retsina - wine flavoured with pine resin
Ouzo - clear, strong, aniseed flavoured liquor, fiery and potent. Turns cloudy when mixed with water: tread carefully with this stuff!
Good places to try for Greek cuisine are The Real Greek that can be found in Clerkenwell, Hoxton, Putney and Bankside, also Cafe Corfu in Camden.
