#13 – Greece – Vrisaki, Bowes Park

This month’s EatFIFA saw us visit Greece. Whilst we were surprised that Greece are ranked 13th in the world, we didn’t complain as it meant that we got to eat some very tasty food indeed. Our chosen restaurant for Greece – a highly recommended place in Bowes Park going by the name of Vrisaki.

 

Vrisaki has an interesting set up. You aren’t immediately able to tell it is a restaurant from the outside. From the outside, it looks very much like a kebab house. However, it has a Narnia-like entrance at the end of a grill, leading you into a large, cramped seating area. We arrived in good time (well most of us), only for the waiter to ask us to stand by the bar for another twenty minutes while they prepared the table.

At around 9pm we were seated at a table for 10. Sadly, one of the EatFIFA forefathers couldn’t make the 13th outing. On the plus side we did have 7 new faces at this month’s meal – and apparently, one of the diners’ brothers was conceived in the restaurant! (While I’m not sure how much truth there is in that, I like the possibility that this happened).

We were asked if we wanted a menu, or to just go for the meze. A quick unanimous vote was to go for the meze. From reading online reviews, the general consensus is that you get a lot of food at Vrisaki. A lot is an understatement. The first round of dishes was an array of salads, olives, beetroot, lentils and beans. All of the dishes were bloody brilliant.

The next course was, of course, the traditional various dips and pita bread typical of Greek cuisine. The humus and taramasalata were exquisite. By this time the table was jammed with small dishes and bottles of lovely Greek beer. After round 2 you could see a couple of faces looking as if they were already stuffed. 5 minutes later and the semi finished dishes were removed from the table, to be replaced with the 1st fish and meat course. Some lovely prawns and mussels were placed in the middle of the table with some fried chicken. These were quickly polished off.

Round 4 really sorted the men from the boys. 3 whole baked fish were placed on the table with yet more fish side dishes. The pace of consumption rapidly slowed as everyone tried to somehow find just a bit more room to put away yet more food. All the food that had been on the table up to then was delicious. The fish course took a little longer than the others to get through. Some of us were thinking – this must be it. Was it?

No it wasn’t.

Round 5, the meat round was then bought over. Quails, lamb kebabs and sausages were placed in front of us. Up until this point everything I had put in my mouth was delicious, and the table agreed. However, the sausages were not for me. Couldn’t quite put my finger on what they were supposed to be and there were a few other grimaces from around the table when they tasted them. This is probably the only negative thing I have to say about Vrisaki.

Now to the cost. 5 courses. 3 beers each. £28. Silly money. The quantity of food must have cost more to buy! The meze is only £19 a head.

 

To the scores:

Food: 77.6

Drink: 64.3

Service: 65.2

Atmosphere: 80.3

Value For Money: 90.9

SCORE: 75.66

So…Vrisaki claims the number 3 spot!

As an overall experience, I would have to agree with the scores of my fellow diners tonight. While Vrisaki doesn’t have the opulence of Russia or the incredible taste of Argentina, as a package and value for money it is very, very good indeed. Highly recommended.

Next month we are visiting the Ivory Coast. A quick google search doesn’t throw up any suggested restaurants, so it will be a twitter job to the Cote d’Ivoire premiership team boys. If and when we fail to garner responses, it could mean EatFIFA’s 2nd home cooked meal. Until next month -

ευχαριστίες

EatFIFA

#12 – Croatia – Riviera, Acton

The first EatFIFA of 2013 took a crowd of twelve to the outer limits of London’s sprawl to find a dedicated Croatian restaurant. An hour on the Piccadilly line (for me, not for Adam, who lives conveniently locally) and we found ourselves at Acton Town, ten minutes’ walk from which is a little restaurant called Riviera. From the outside, it could be mistaken for a greasy spoon, however it is like the Doctor’s Tardis on the inside, and surprisingly spacious and modern.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the charismatic owners Dara and Tomislav, quite possibly the loveliest people in Acton. Never before has EatFIFA been showered with so much attention, although we were admittedly the only customers – and would remain so for the rest of the evening. The night kicked off with a round of drinks, including some distinctly un-Croatian bottles of San Miguel, before Dara came round and took our order for starters. Now, at this point, it must be made clear that Riviera’s menu isn’t entirely Croatian. It is a mix of Mediterranean staples, with four or five traditional Croatian dishes. Dara and Tomislav, however, are proud Croats and that was already enough for us.

To kick off the Croatian feast, a plethora of dishes found their way onto Dara’s scribbled notepad – whitebait, deep fried calamari, meat platter and a “Croatian salad”. This salad, being the only apparently national dish among the first course, looked suspiciously like a Greek salad, but I’m no professional food critic. The general consensus for the starters was positive – the fish dishes were cooked very well, including some well-seasoned whitebait. To accompany the food, Riviera pipes out some Eurovision-worthy Croatian retro-pop into the room – Dara tends to nudge the volume button up a couple of notches for her favourites, too.

Dara’s Grilled Lamb

Steak a la Dalmacija

Whitebait

Mediterranean meat platter.

Snenokle

Rožata

On to the mains – a couple of steaks (a la Dalmacija, no less), pašticada, Dara’s very own grilled lamb recipe and a grilled sea bass were ordered. If I had one qualm then it was with the Croatian idea of a medium-rare steak – it was a little on the tough side. That aside, the sauce and side dish of sautéed potatoes were delicious. There was an air of envy when the fleshy sea bass was delivered to the table. That looked bloody good. A wide range of Croatian wine was on offer, including a (no doubt opinion-dividing) white by the name of “Zlatan”.

So, to finish off, we were treated to some of Tomislav’s snenokle, “eggs in snow” in Serbo-Croatian, a kind of meringue plunged into custard. We also had some rožata - Croatia’s answer to crème brûlée. Both were pleasant, but just lacking the wow-factor that other nations’ desserts had provided previously. All the food was helped down with a complimentary shot of pear liqueur Marasaka Kruskovac, which was delicious.

To the scoreboard…

Food: 45.6

Drink: 71.7

Service: 77.3

Atmosphere: 79.1

Value For Money: 62.3

SCORE: 67.20

Dara and Tomislav hail from a country with a cuisine that’s hard to pin down, but they have created some very nice dishes in their small enclave in W3, enough to sneak them ahead of Portugal in our rankings. Pay them a visit!

Next stop – Greece.

Živjeli!

EatFIFA.

EatFIFA in the Media – FourFourTwo

We chatted to (and posed like goons for) FourFourTwo magazine for a feature in their latest edition (Feb ’13)

#11 – Russia – Mari Vanna, Knightsbridge

The last EatFIFA of 2012 took us to London’s Russian stronghold of Knightsbridge and Mari Vanna, reportedly one of Roman Abramovich’s favourites. There were no oligarchs in sight this evening, but almost certainly some of their WAGs.

Coming in out of the cold to the warmest of welcomes (never has an offer of taking one’s coat been extended with such glee), we were shown downstairs to a cosily-lit dining room. The staff, who can only be described as impossibly beautiful, flitted in and out the tight corridors and stairways of what feels like a rich Russian grandmother’s house. Every square foot of shelf and wall space is taken up with charmingly authentic clutter, from (somebody’s) family photos to various pots and pans. A bit like a Harvester, but with a hell of a lot more effort, history and extravagance involved. And then there’s the toilets…

Sat underneath the biggest lampshades ever seen, we quickly decided on some starters. Pirogi, filled with beef and pork, were a more robust pastry affair than their more commonly-seen Polish counterparts, resembling mini Cornish pasties rather than ravioli. Blinis, served with salmon roe and a selection of condiments, harked back to the dark days of EatNetherlands, albeit with a reassuringly eye-watering £23 price tag. No-one had the borsch, and we will regret it for all eternity.

The smiling waiter returned to take our orders for the main course – Golubtzi (stuffed cabbage leaves), dumplings, calf’s liver (accompanied by a charming urn of mashed potato) and a couple of beef stroganoffs. The modest portions packed a rich, creamy punch that slowed you down to a satisfying pace, and we all felt surprisingly full afterwards. There was just about room for some deliciously sour cherry dumplings, tempered only slightly by the cream poured on top. Complimentary shots of Russian Standard took the edge off the arrival of the hefty bill, but Mari Vanna had charmed us too much to care about that.

Food: 76.7

Drink: 71.2

Service: 84.3

Atmosphere: 81.2

Value For Money: 61.3

SCORE: 74.94

Russia elegantly slides into third place in our rankings, behind the exotic delights of Argentina and Colombia. Mari Vanna is a surprisingly versatile option – we six men, with no oil fortunes to speak of, dined next to some Uzbekistani ladies of leisure. No sign of Abramovich, though…

на здоровье!

EatFIFA.

#10 – Colombia – Santafereño, Brixton

A journey into the exotic unknown for EatFIFA this time. But enough about Brixton.

Google threw up a handful of possibilities, mostly located in the apparent Colombian stronghold of Elephant & Castle. The best reports were from a tiny unit in Brixton Village, Santafereño. No need to book, it said, and we ambled through the bustling maze of smells and sounds on a Friday night with great expectations.

A beaming welcome awaited us, and we squeezed into our seats at our little table. The menu instantly promised two things – value and variety. We wanted to order the entire selection of entradas but, with a few off the menu by that time, we settled for fried cassava, chorizo, empanadas and (quite possibly the greatest piece of bread ever to touch our lips) pandebono – all washed down with some Club Colombia.

As with the South American entries previously, the menu was dominated by grilled meat and all the carbohydrates on God’s earth. Opting (perhaps unadventurously) for two “country platters”, we were assured this would satisfy the three of us. Upon arrival of our mains, some giggling Brixtonite regulars on a nearby table found our reactions to the giant portions rather amusing.

Upon a mound of buttery rice, we got stuck into some thin (but perfectly cooked) steaks, another delightfully textured chorizo, fried plantain (a satisfying alternative to potatoes), beans and – to unanimous acclaim – some exceptional pork belly. With Colombian TV blaring in the corner (minor bouts of rioting seem popular over there) and a the multilingual hubbub of the packed floor, we knew this wasn’t going to trouble the Dutch disappointment at the bottom of our rankings.

Food: 75.3

Drink: 71.7

Service: 76.3

Atmosphere: 77.3

Value For Money: 83.7

SCORE: 76.9

Dessert, the frequent afterthought on our EatFIFA travels, arrived in the form of a jellified selection of tropical fruits. Then came the bill, to inform us that our stomachs had been stuffed to the tune of a mere fifteen quid. The pandebonos had all gone, though, scuppering our greedy takeaway hopes.

Adiós!

EatFIFA.

#9 – Argentina – Santa Maria del Sur, Battersea

The night EatFIFA had dreamed of.

With eight major nations already eaten, eyes are starting to wander further down the FIFA rankings to see what lies in store for EatFIFA in 2013 and beyond. First, though, we had to negotiate the highest-ranked uneaten cuisine – Argentina.

The burgeoning reputation of Santa Maria del Sur, tucked away on Queenstown Road, meant that a decision was reached quickly on this month’s venue. Several debutants signed up for what promised to be a tasty edition, with one guest earning his EatFIFA cap for his fifth outing. A late booking allowed some leisurely drinking beforehand (and some entertainingly arduous journeys home for some), and we arrived through SMdS’s doors in high spirits.

Welcomed very warmly indeed, we then took in the sultry atmosphere – this is as much of a date venue as it is one for seven starving friends. We took our waiter up on his recommendation of several large bottles of Quilmes to share, with a well-made pisco sour thrown in for good measure.

To the menu. Eyes were drawn to the all-bases-covered appeal of the mixed grills – often the anti-climactic afterthought in the Punjabi grillhouses and ocakbasi of east London. In this case, the parilladas on the menu gave us the opportunity to try two cuts of meat and a selection of their entradas. The  majority of our party opted inevitably for a share of the Deluxe, and we suggest you do too. Boasting a 14oz sirloin and 10oz fillet, along with pork sausages, black pudding and provolone cheese, they were delivered on huge hotplates to which we gleefully helped ourselves. The juicy, salty chorizo was an early bite-sized victim, before the impressive chunks of fine beef were divided and plated up.

The rind of god. Santa Maria del Sur was proving to be the Maradona to Hawksmoor’s Shilton, for this must be the best steak in London. The medium-rare sirloin was attacked first, saving the fillet for a grandstand finish. All the steak clichés applied here – the knife gliding through the juiciest chunks of meat EatFIFA had yet witnessed. The chimichurri sauce was ladled generously over these bovine breezeblocks, and we barely stopped for breath. The provolone cheese was an inspired accompaniment, sturdily standing up to the hotplate but not daring to threaten overpowering the meat. Garlic chips completed the set, with perhaps only the basic mixed vegetables blotting our selection copybook.

The final forkful of fillet was consumed with a rueful sigh, but we knew we’d eaten just enough. No-one fidgeted in their seat, uncomfortably full, and we happily declared ourselves ready for dessert. Out came a textbook slice of creamy cheesecake (I wasn’t paying any attention to anyone else’s dessert by this point) and I was already reaching for my EatFIFA scorecard to dish out the plaudits. The scores rolled in, and Argentina’s immaculate showing seemed destined for top spot:

Food: 88.2

Drink: 72.3

Service: 74.4

Atmosphere: 79.6

Value For Money: 71

SCORE: 77.10

The bill was hefty (not surprisingly so) but this was a glorious treat on a rainy end to a working week. Argentina have stormed to the top of the EatFIFA rankings, over six points clear of Italy, and have laid down the gauntlet to the remaining 195 nations.

As things stand, Colombia lie in wait for us in November – all suggestions welcome, and please get in touch if you’d like to join or, dare we say, host us!

Chao!

EatFIFA.

#8 – Italy – Polpo, Smithfields

 

EatFIFA’s 8th outing saw Sebb’s faithful followers visiting Italy (not really, just ended up dining at an Italian restaurant). Italy currently lie 6th in the Fifa world rankings, despite making their way to the European cup final. Italy are well represented in London, thanks to Italy being world renowned for being great producers of food. For EatFIFA’s latest outing, the decision was made to permit attendees to suggest restaurants to visit. Italy’s representation for EatFIFA thus fell onto the shoulders of Polpo in Smithfields.

Our visit kicked off in Polpo’s very own downstairs bar, where such delights as Gin Fizz, Dark & Stormy and Moscow Mule are served in an intimate setting. The lights are turned so low, that you can just make out the glow of the light bulb filament. Despite barely being able to see anybody, the cocktails were fantastic. The Gin Fizz dare i say, was more refreshing than the classic Gin & Tonic.

After a few drinks we made our way back to the ground floor to be seated at our table. The waitresses at Polpo are without the doubt the best EatFIFA has encountered to date. The refreshing honesty of our first waitress telling us that we will get wet if it rains as there is a leak in the ceiling, made it perfectly ok. The atmosphere in Polpo is excellent. They don’t try to cram too many people in, making the chitter chatter from other tables pleasant, rather than too loud/invasive. Music was also very good. Polpo got off to a very good start (if you disregard the bit about getting wet if it rains, despite being inside).

Before the food was ordered, something more important had to be done. EatFIFA had its first cap to present to its first two members to attend 5 events.

Time to eat. With a crowd of 6 this month, a collective decision was made to order as many dishes as possible and to share everything, as and when brought to the table. We started with a lovely selection of olives and some grilled focaccia. This was accompanied by a Buffalo plate. A delightful plate of Italian cured meats and some fresh mozzarella to top it off. This was quickly followed up by Calf’s liver with sweet onions and some potato & parmesan crocchetta and Summer pea & speck crostino.

If I had to cite one flaw with Polpo, then it would be this; the portion sizes are not particularly big. Don’t get me wrong, the food was very good indeed – they could just give you a little more of it.

We followed up the selection of starters with linguine vongole, cuttlefish & ink risotto and the Octopus & potato salad – all of which were excellently prepared. One EatFIFA attendee opined that the Octopus was cooked to perfection due to its ‘lovely smooth texture. Overcook it and it turns in to a bit of rubber.’ All in all the food was magnificent, but the best was yet to come.

Normally the majority of the EatFIFA crowd skip dessert. Not this time. We had the awesome line up of:

                       Baked Peach, amaretti cream

           Tiramisu pot                  Strawberry & pistachio gelato cake

                                   Affogato al caffe

                                  Chocolate Salami

The line up of desserts had everyone’s saliva glands working overtime. The Tiramisu = wow wee. The strawberry & pistachio gelato cake, despite its hardness, contained such an incredible flavour. Don’t even get me started on the baked peach with amaretti cream…….. The chocolate salami, despite sounding a bit rank, turned out to be a very good rocky road in the shape of a salami.

So…. The scores. How did Polpo do? Has it done enough to finally knock Spain from the top spot after 7 months?

 Food 76.8

Drink 64.6

Service 76.6

Atmosphere 72.8

Value For Money 64

SCORE: 70.96

 

Polpo has propelled itself to the top of the EatFIFA chart, once and for all knocking Spain from their pedestal. The food and drink lived up to the wonderful food Italy is renowned for. When you infuse that food with a great soundtrack that was pumping out of Polpo’s speakers, then inevitably it was a no brainer. £45 a head which includes pre drinks, starter, main, desert, a cocktail to accompany the dinner and 2 bottles of wine. All in all great value for money – lets just work on our portion sizes, yeah Polpo?

Congratulations to Italy and Polpo.

Cheers!

EatFIFA.

(*September’s FIFA rankings pending)