Vrisaki

Among the photos of budget celeb patrons lining Vrisaki's chip-shop interior (Antony Costa, George Graham, Jodie Marsh), there's one that sums the place up perfectly. 'She has survived' proclaims a Daily Mirror article on Gloria Gaynor, accompanied by a note from the singer thanking the restaurant for 'a wonderful dining experience', thus allaying fears that she might have been unable to withstand the gargantuan quantity of food that is the forte here.

The first course of the mixed meze selection features no less than 18 dishes, with the charmingly frank waiters acting almost like personal trainers as they encourage you to eat enough of the dips, salads and seafood medleys to clear space for more dishes. Food quality (generally underwhelming on our previous visit) seems to have improved a notch. Huge asparagus spears were topped with bushy dill sprigs; and a selection of chargrilled sheftaliá (Cypriot sausage enveloped in caul fat), pork souvláki and quail had plenty of charcoaly tang. The seafood disappointed, though. A caper-strewn trout was doused in mouth-puckering quantities of lemon, and the cold meze's seafood medleys were watery and gritty.