4. Greek: Alexander the Great

I've passed the little enclave of Greek and Turkish Cypriot restaurants between Camden Town and Mornington Crescent many times while on the 29 bus.  In fact we used to go to Andy's 40 years ago and it's still there (although moved across the road).  There didn't seem anything special about them, but Ian discovered that one of them, Alexander the Great, is rated number 10 -- out of 21,000 restaurants in London -- on tripadvisor.  While that site's ratings are at best quirky, this still seems amazing, given it's based on over 3,600 reviews that put it in that position. 

So it seemed the obvious choice for our next ethnic outing.  It's quite a small restaurant and the interior shows it has been here for a long time without much in the way of change -- in fact, it's been open more than 20 years.  It almost does have the feel of a Aegean taverna, with a leafy lattice above and rough hewn rock walls and imitation classical statues. We were ushered to a table by the extremely friendlt host who was surprised by the lack of custom today, but bemoaning the coming 'silly season', by which we think he means the office Christmas parties. 

The menu is classic Greek and we went for it with gusto.  I had a platter of mixed cold starters (pictured) which was enormous. Ian went for the spanahopitta,  with light and flaky pastry and a tasy filling.  My main course was stiffado, beef slow cooked in wine, onions and herbs. which was incredibly tender (and also huge!).  Ian's moussaka was also a large portion, served with a side salad, and perfectly cooked.  All the food is skilfully prepared on the premises and as good as it gets: traditional Greek food without any pretensions to be otherwise.  It obviously has a very loyal following, judging by those reviews.

No room for desserts (which are also the classics).  With starters at £5-8 and main courses £15-20, this is great value especially if you want a real blow out.