Bouzouki By Night

In such a notoriously fickle industry, it is very rare to hear of a restaurant celebrating its 20th anniversary. So when we found out that Bouzouki By Night was doing just that, we decided to try it for ourselves.

Arriving at Bouzouki By Night, we admit to being a little apprehensive. We had seen their website – an unsettling combination of pink and an inexplicable dancing duck – and had visions of screaming hen parties and waiters coercing diners to join in a conga line.

However, we were pleasantly surprised when we entered the restaurant. In many ways the restaurant feels like a family-run business perhaps because the manager, Photis Nasaris, took a job as a pot washer at the restaurant after fleeing a war in his native Cyprus and has stayed there since. It is a cosy underground space, full of rich colours and the scent of authentic Greek food.

Though it was a weeknight the restaurant was already half-full with a wide range of diners, from families and older couples to tables of friends in their twenties (though, thankfully, not a hen party in sight). We were shown to a comfortably intimate table and within minutes were brought a glass of chilled, aromatic retsina and a surprisingly delicious Greek lager.

We opted for the Meze (Greek banquet) at £19.90 a head, and it was at this point that our apprehensions disappeared. First we were brought a huge platter of different dips – tzatziki, humus sharply flavoured by garlic, taramosalata, a rich red pepper and feta cheese tapanade and a creamy garlic dip, complemented by a basket of warm pitta bread.

Five minutes later, another massive plate arrived piled high with delicacies – spanakopites (light filo parcels of spinach and feta cheese), grilled haloumi, dolamedes (vine leaves stuffed with delicately flavoured rice), falafel, loukanika (spicy red wine sausages) and various other delicious bits and pieces.

These two courses were enough to fill you up on their own, but after a while the main course was brought out too. Luckily this style of dining positively encourages grazing and there was no rush to finish anything. The main course was again a combination of various different dishes including mousaka, stifado (a beef and onion casserole), chicken a l’Greque and Greek meatballs, served with rice. The flavours were rich and fragrant and though we were full, everything tasted so good that we carried on eating anyway.

Each table only has one booking per night, and diners are encouraged to linger over coffee or more wine until a band takes to a small stage at the front of the restaurant and the evening’s entertainment begins. Traditional Greek music fills the restaurant and tables are encouraged to get up and dance – and, relaxed by the wine and the laid-back atmosphere, many do. Bouzouki By Night slowly becomes home to a joyful celebration of good food, good music and an escape from the grey city above.