Retsina — Restaurant in London

I stopped by at the Retsina, a long-standing Greek restaurant in Hampstead, for an early dinner and was the first customer of the evening. As soon as I sat down, they brought over a small plate of olives and carrot sticks, which was a nice touch.

I’d been looking forward to trying their famous grilled octopus, but unfortunately, it wasn’t available that day. 😭 Since I’d skipped lunch, I went all in and ordered a few dishes—taramosalata, grilled sardines, grilled prawns, and a main of grilled sea bass. The taramosalata was honestly the best I’ve ever had—smooth, creamy, and packed with flavour. 😍 The seafood was fresh, well-seasoned, and grilled to perfection. Even though I was completely stuffed by the time I got to the main, the meal felt satisfying rather than heavy.

The restaurant has been around for over 40 years, and apparently Gordon Ramsay has called their food “authentic and delicious.” 👍

The atmosphere was quiet when I arrived but had a cosy and welcoming feel, and soon it got busy after.

The service was friendly throughout.

I’ll definitely be back—hopefully next time I’ll get to try that...

What a waste of money! 57£ for 2 people who left the restaurant hungry! We choose meze £21/person . Cold starter was over a week old and tasteless, hot meze was a small piece of cheese with 1cm of sausage on top . We though the "fish course" will be better and wrong we were !!!! Each of us got 2 calamari rings, a tiny, tiny almost invisible sardine and 1 prawn!!! Then the "meat feast",feast remember , right?! 2 chicken tights with feathers (a joy!!!),4cubes of meat may have been pork or/and lamb and 1 onion Also 2 tasteless meet balls with tomato sauce and a Greek salad(this was the only ok food , and the sliced carrot we got at the beginning) The bill came :2£ were added on bill God knows what for , a small beer is £4.95, coke £3, then you are charge 10% service charge !!!! What the hell for ?? Waiter was nice though, hope he get the tips. So I think Ramsey was on drugs to say this is a good restaurant , food is bad unless you like chicken with feathers;tap water is good but is tap water . make sure you bring some spices and a sandwich when you go there...

The best Greek restaurant I have been to outside of Greece!

I have visited so many times over the years and tried various dishes. I cannot fault this restaurant the slightest. The service is always excellent especially when it comes to the owners Zeta and Hary!

The food is always obviously fresh and very tasty. The portions are generous and very filling. The only issue is all the dishes are so nice you don't know what to chose!

If you are a seafood fan I highly recommend the baby calamari, grilled octopus and chargrilled prawns. These are a personal favourite. I am always amazed at how soft the calamari and octopus which are consistently cooked to perfection.

A meaty personal favourite are the lamb cutlets always cooked precisely and are tender and juicy. If you are someone who would like to try many new flavours I would suggest trying the Meze options which is good value for money and also gives you a wide selection of the flavours.

Highly, highly recommend if you...