In our new neck of the woods there are several eateries along Priory Road that we've promised ourselves to try out in the very near future. Troodos is one of them. We have walked by it on several occasions and have been intrigued by their menu and specials board.
On Saturday we decided to give it a go. We were there very early, about 6 PM, and nearly had the place to ourselves save a lone diner. The owners and staff were seated at the back, acknowledged our presence and carried on with their conversation. In the background Greek news on the radio was playing.
Our friendly, laid-back waiter came by with menus. I didn't get past the first page where several set menus were described. We decided to go with the Fish Meze at £14.30a person, and a bottle of crisp dry Retsina.
Shortly after that the cold Meze started coming. First a big sectioned platter of taramasalata, two types of potato salad, houmous, marinated beans, and a cucumber salad. Then separate bowls of smoked salmon salad, octopus salad, prawn cocktail and crab stick cocktail. All accompanied with piping hot pitta. Something told me to hold back on the cold stuff but i couldn't restrain myself. It was mostly good, our favourites being the octopus and marinated potato salad. I mostly avoided the taramasalata which was a lurid E-number pink and i can't really abide by crab stick.
Next up was the fried selection which was our favourite of the whole meal. Sardines and squid rings were lightly battered and fried and served with wedges of lemon. Totally my kind of food -- they weren't chewy or stodgy at all.
By this time we were definitely in that glazed eye stage where we know we've had too much to eat but keep going. The final offering of a massive plate of grilled fish and a bowl of Greek Salad came out. We were reassured by our waiter that we could stay as long as we needed to finish. I was able to muster a few bites but really was overstuffed. The grilled fish that night was salmon and red snapper. They were a bit overdone which was disappointing and were served with deep fried scampi which is not something i'd usually go for. No complaints on the greek salad which had a simple dressing and gorgeous creamy feta.
We both hit our limit and decided to take the mostly uneaten grilled fish home along with the leftover fried fish. By the end of the meal the place had started filling up, the Greek news was switched over to Rebetika and it definitely felt more like restaurant, less like a dining room in someone's home.
I can imagine on a really hot day that this place would be an oasis. The Mediterranean blue walls can almost evoke the sea or sky and have a calming, cooling effect. We will definitely be back in July or August to try Troodos again, with bigger appetites.
Troodos/179 Priory Road, London N8 8NB/02083429188
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