Whenever I’ve walked past 10 Greek Street in Soho it’s always been packed and as it’s a no reservation restaurant for dinner the wait time can sometimes be a tad epic. Luckily for two friends and I on our Tuesday night visit we were confronted with just a thirty minute wait and told we could have a drink at the bar.
I didn’t even know they had a bar as it’s tucked away at the back right in front of the open kitchen. It was hot and cramped but we loved it! Whilst we waited for our table we decided to order a few nibbles from the bar menu.
Some padron peppers (£5) generously sprinkled with sea salt were utterly moreish. Due to the season, there were a couple that nearly blew my friend’s head off with their fiery kick but that didn’t stop us devouring the lot.
The fried baby squid (£6) were also rather good and covered in a batter that retained its crispness perfectly. We all fought over the last few pieces.
We were then shown to our table in the small dining room. It was an unassuming space with the menu displayed on a blackboard on the wall. Tables were packed closely together with the loud buzz of people’s chatter filling the air; I wouldn’t come here for a private chat lets put it like that!
To start we decided to share two of the smaller plates. The crumbed sweetbreads, cauliflower and Marsala (£7) was a seriously tasty plate of food. The sweetbreads were plump and juicy and the sweet Marsala sauce against the slightly bitter cauliflower florets was spot on.
The pancetta wrapped sardines, watercress, fennel and salsa verde (£7) had an interesting presentation; the mound of watercress covered the sardine with its beautifully blistered skin which was a bit of a shame. The oily fish was however cooked perfectly and the flavour combinations were really superb.
For main, my friends shared the Welsh black short rib, sprouting broccoli, baby carrots, new potatoes and horseradish (£38 for two) which was so big the three of us could have easily shared it. The meat fell off the bone with the merest touch of the fork and had a wonderful flavour. It was all served in one dish meaning the veg were sitting in the beefy juices – heaven! It was really impressive.
Because it sounded so tasty, for the first time in my life I ordered the veggie option; shallot tarte tatin, burrata, chanterelles and girolles (£14). Again, like the sardines, the tarte had been topped with a mound of rocket covering its beautiful self which seemed a shame. Underneath however was a sweet oniony tarte with buttery pastry, gooey slightly tangy burrata and woody mushrooms – I loved every single mouthful!
Feeling podged, we decided to share the chocolate, pear and pecan tart (£7). I think our waiter forgot to put the order in as we waited what felt like forever for this tart but we easily forgave him as it tasted really good. Rich chocolate with slightly tangy pears cutting through it perfectly and a few poached pears on the side for good measure which tasted of cough medicine – in a good way.
We had a really good time at 10 Greek Street, it would have been difficult not to. The food was ultimately delicious, the atmosphere was lively and the staff were really charming and lovely. Next time you walk past and think the waiting time is going to be humungous, just pop your head in and ask – you might be pleasantly surprised.
8/10
