Review: Zorba's greek restaurant Liverpool

A phenomenon - the Axminster carpet at Zorba's

Zorba's Greek Restaurant
Leece Street
Liverpool

Click Star Ratings: Food **** Service **** Decor ***

On its Capital of Culture platform Liverpool's proclaimed itself "The World in One City".

It was a great slogan but one that was perhaps not entirely CATPITALised on in 2008.

Sure there were cultural offerings that reflected the diverse multi-ethnic nature of Merseyside, but I don't think we do enough to promote the huge range of dining options that are available here. As one take-away owner has commented with though the name of his shop Liverpool is "The World on One Plate".

Yet the "Visit Liverpool" web site is woefully lacking in its promotion of the vast number of eateries that are on offer. When it comes to Greek restaurants, for example, there is just one listed on the site in Liverpool and that is one that is a tad on the expensive side.

But the Liverpool City Region is now a major tourist destination, and I think the tourist chiefs at the Mersey Partnership are missing a trick when it comes to promoting the huge range of good food - at reasonable prices - that our city has to offer.

And for me there is one restaurant that stands out above the rest when it comes to wholesome and tasty Greek food at reasonable prices and that is Zorba's.

All the food is freshly prepared on the premises and I have never been let down by the quality and friendly service. The taramosalata (whipped cod's roe and oil dip) and humus are excellent as is the tahini sauce. Take my tip and ask for the "thick bread" rather than the pita bread - it soaks up the dips a lot better!

The afelia is the best I have ever tasted and the kebabs and mousaka are top class. The spanakotiropita (Spinach and feta cheese filled pastry parcels) are truly excellent and if you order them as a main course you'd better be hungry!

My favourite dish is probably the sheftalia - little parcel of meat, onions and spices wrapped in "caul fat" (part of the lamb's stomach). Few can compare with Zorba's recipe.

Years ago, the now defunct "Kebab House" in Hardman Street, used to have a cautionary note to diners on its menu, alongside the sheftalia, which declared "Do not let its sausage-like appearance deceive you".

This conjured-up images of the sheftalia conspiring with the kebabs to deceive customers right left and centre and brought a smile to my face, but what it meant to say was that these little delicacies are NOT sausages.

On our visits to Zorba's we tend to order the home made chips as a side dish, rather than the rice and vegetables, but that is just a personal preference.

Okay, the location may not be the most impressive since there are a couple of spots nearby where gangs of street drinkers tend to congregate and the site next door is derelict.

But if you are looking for genuine Greek food and a friendly atmosphere in Liverpool, with the promise of no plate smashing or deafening bouzouki music, then Zorba's can't be beaten.

Owner Michael Haralambos is proud to proclaim how he opened Zorbas more than 30 years ago and has built it up to be able to accommodate up to 100 diners.

Michael and his family are still in charg. He knows many of his customers by name and is careful to offer a good range of English option for those who are not big fans of Greek food.

As the name suggests, the restaurant is themed on the 1964 movie Zorba The Greek. Pictures of actor Anthony Quinn adorn the walls and these serve to confirm and enhance the quirky retro feel of the whole place.

Dining at Zorba's is a delightful trip back in time to the 70s when Greek restaurants were an exciting challenge to the bland offerings of the then desperately bad English restaurants.

I recall how, back then the Berni Inns felt so threatned by these exotic alternatives to steak and chips that they even introduced taramosalata as a starter on their menus.

I remember ordering two portions of taramosalata - in the eyes of the waitress, clearly a very strange dish - at the Berni Inn in Exchange Street East.

She was a large down-to-earth lady and to our amusement she repeated our order back to us, in a booming voice.

"So that's two TARAS!" she said, seemingly incredulous at our adventurous taste for cod's roe, let alone my effortless pronunciation of this new weird new addition to the menu.

Nearly thirty years on the Berni Inns are a fading memory while Zorba's and the Haralambous clan remain at the forefront of good, honest Greek food that's great value for money.

* Look out for the carpet at Zorba's. It's a phenomenon and a tribute to British workmanship in its own right. I swear it must be the most hard-wearing carpet in the UK. It's an Axminster in a design that had laid in our hall at home in 1976. I figure Michael Haralambous must have bought it at about the same time at about £7.99 a square yard... and it's still going! (See the picture).

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