Fay Maschler reviews Meraki: Lost in translation

Arjun and Peter Waney's new Greek restaurant is missing its mojo, says Fay Maschler
Greek out: Meraki is a new taverna style restaurant in Great Titchfield Street
Daniel Hambury
Fay Maschler20 November 2017

“That menu. Wasn’t it like opening your email and reading a load of spam?” writes the chum in his bread-and-butter message after having lunch with me at recently launched Meraki. These spacious premises, previously the Turkish restaurant Efes, have somewhat tactlessly been given a Greek theme by Arjun and Peter Waney, the Indian brothers responsible for Zuma, Roka, La Petite Maison, The Arts Club, Il Baretto, Oblix at The Shard and Coya.

Meraki, which loosely translates as “putting your heart and soul into your work and creativity”, is Greek food as viewed through the prism of businessmen in catering who have an eye to international roll-outs. The assumption on the part of the nubile greeters dressed as nymphs (satyrs are in the open kitchen) and the solicitous floor staff, many of whom, not being Greek, seem flummoxed by the menu, is that the pricey little dishes — two people are advised to choose five or six to share in the first course — will be some sort of revelation. Leading the kitchen is Dimitrios Siamanis who, in London, has worked at those well-known Greek restaurants Zafferano, The Square and The Dorchester Grill.

I realise then was then and now is now, but London has a poignant history of tavernas — many once sited in Fitzrovia — which evolved after the arrival of refugees from British-ruled Cyprus escaping EOKA’s violent campaign for independence. Once established and then rooted in their communities, they became popular with Britons starting to enjoy package holidays in Greece and backpackers seduced by sun, sea, sand, ferries and an idyllic exchange rate with the drachma.

Charlotte Street used to smell of grilling meat rather than the smoke from developers rubbing hands — at Anemos, now long gone, waiters smashed plates, customers smashed on Domestica danced on tables and Shirley Valentines ruefully smoothed out their creased photographs of Tom Conti lookalikes. No one needed explanations of taramasalata, dolmades, fava, hummus or deep-fried squid. The knowledge was literally ingrained. And the experience was fun.

Meraki, in pictures

1/8

Two little stumps of toasted crusty bread are put on the table with a small flagon of excellent olive oil. Bread tends not to be offered as if rationed in restaurants in Greece but, as with the section of raw dishes including ceviche (!), it is obvious the management understands the target audience. I ask what skordalia comes with. In Greece this dip/sauce is usually served alongside fried fish or deep-fried vegetables. Garlic is its humming motor and the staple ingredient can be potatoes, nuts or stale bread. Bread is the base here, we are told, and it is served with... bread, little pieces like toasted pitta. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of skordalia in our lives and of course anathema to wheat-swervers.

'​Fava based on the yellow split peas from Feneos in the northern Peloponnese is egregiously smooth, seemingly not just blended but Thermomixed and as interesting to eat as dental plaster'

Fava based on the yellow split peas from Feneos in the northern Peloponnese is egregiously smooth, seemingly not just blended but Thermomixed and as interesting to eat as dental plaster. We more or less just indent it with our teeth and are not charged. Dolmades, rice-stuffed vine leaves, are skillfully fashioned and served with a rich avogolemono (egg and lemon sauce), which is also a feature of the main course of braised lamb shoulder at £70 accompanied by horta (wild mountain greens). This may be a new explanation for kleftiko, the long-cooked lamb dish named after sheep-rustling bandits known as the klephts. The menu neglects to state how many the shoulder will serve…

Fay Maschler's 50 favourite restaurants in London

1/50

Wrapping vine leaves around cod gives a less good result, as despite the uplifting presence of a few peeled broad beans and a halved infant artichoke, the fish comes across as dressed in a wet school mackintosh. Something grievously missing from this demure, self-conscious rendition of Greek cooking is the fire and ice that should be palpable in its soul: ice to keep fish perky before weighing and pricing accordingly and fire to blister its skin and that of grilled meat self-basted with flavourful fat. Here chargrilled lamb cutlets — three for £19 — are French trimmed so assiduously that not a scrap of fat remains.

Monkfish souvlaki with tomato marinade, sumac and pickled red onions is a small skewer for £18. Lettuce salad with croutons and a buttermilk dressing is clumsily composed and its price of £9 a new source of amazement.

The mark-up on wines doesn’t ameliorate the bill but there is plenty of proof of the huge strides made in Greek wine-making. And cocktails are allegedly inspired by the philosophical practice of alchemy… What they could do is change the hideous music described by the waiter as “global”. Some Greek tunes might help inject a mojo that’s missing.

80-82 Great Titchfield Street, W1 (020 7305 7686, meraki-restaurants.com). Daily, noon-3pm and 6pm-11pm. A meal for two with wine, about £160 including 12.5 per cent service.

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