The best Greek restaurants in London

It’s glamorous and the volume is turned up (with live music on Sundays) at one of London’s best modern Greek restaurants, with a playful culinary edge courtesy of chef Sanjay Dwivedi. The Meraki team takes wines seriously, with an impressively knowledgeable Greek sommelier. Authentic ingredients abound, for example, at time of writing, in a mesmerising smoky aubergine salad theatrically mixed at the table with Florina sun-drenched peppers from Western Macedonia, ladopita of Rhodes, a special kind of crisp pita bread marinaded in extra virgin olive oil, and a flourish of pomegranates in a heavy stone bowl (echoes of Coya’s guacamole where Dwivedi was previously running the show).

‘Fin to gill’ zero-waste dining is the future, make no bones about it. Kima, meaning ‘wave’, is the latest, arguably the most exciting project of chef duo Nikos Roussos and Andreas Labridis, the driving culinary forces behind Opso and Ino, among the best Greek restaurants in London. Admire the dry-aging cabinets with blocks of Himalayan salt which slowly intensify the flavour of enormous hunks of fish ‘shank’ and ‘collar’ resting inside. This is dazzlingly inventive food in an intimate and beautifully styled dining space.

A hidden gem behind Carnaby Street and a mere slip of a room with counter seating at the bar and dishes prepared on charcoal in front of you. This is London’s best and perhaps only Greek wine bar with inventive food and an intriguing cocktail list with original mixes such as feta-infused ouzo and spirits. Try bite sized, if pricey-ish riffs on classics including a mille-feuille-style spanakopita sandwich with ultra-fresh, tangy spinach and whipped feta. There’s luscious charcoal grilled octopus with ultra-moreish smoked fresh tomato. Dessert too, wittily confounds expectations: a baklava wafer is poised on a scoop of mastic infused ice-cream served with sourish cherry ‘spoon’. There are plentiful interesting Greek wines by the glass too. Very classy.

Lunching at Mazi feels pleasingly like a first meal on holiday, especially when the patio with vine wrapped pergola is open, yet it also has a notably neighbourhood feel with famous names like Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour alongside impeccably dressed young locals. The courgette cakes made with Metsovone and feta cheese, dill and mint are irresistible. Outstanding too are wisps of feta tempura with lemon marmalade and intriguing caper meringue showing just how innovative and refined Greek food can be. Don’t leave without trying the impeccable loukoumades (ethereal Greek doughnuts) served with lavender honey, crushed walnuts and chocolate sorbet.

Curiously, the Carnaby Street area is home to two of London’s best Greek restaurants. Within Kingly Court with covetable counter seating looking out to the buzzy courtyard, there’s The Life Goddess. Explore beyond the standard if good value set mezze selection and try an outstanding aubergine salad and even better still fava bean puree with capers served with a perfectly cooked curl of octopus. The chestnut and bean is an absolute must whatever the season, it has sonorous depth of flavour. There’s also a good Cretan-style salad with tomato-soaked rusks and excellent aged feta.

This much-loved, family-run Greek-Cypriot stalwart has been in operation for over 40 years and is a good reminder of how all Greek restaurants in London used to be. It is hard to fault the charcoal grills and oven-cooked taverna classics, from stifado to moussaka, and the weekday lunch specials offer good value and generous portions. The plant-filled interior has an airy, holiday vibe all year especially as the staff seem gloriously unhurried. It remains good for celebrity spotting.

Greek breakfast at Vori is a joy. The immensely unctuous, melted Cretan graviera cheese and pork sausage with oregano on St John’s sourdough toastie should become a cult dish. The tarama tastes properly, saltily of cod’s roe with a delicious grainy texture and the pita bread studded with sea salt and smeared with olive oil is utterly moreish. Squid comes scattered with Santorini capers, chilli and lime, there are moussaka croquettes with tomato and graviera, and baked feneos gigantes with caramelised onion. Come the evening, there are sophisticated takes on classics such as giovetsi – slow cooked beef shin with Greek orzo pasta.