The Real Greek - Southampton — Restaurant in Southampton

Now, ordering vegetarian I wanted something beyond just hummus or salad so went for halloumi kebab.

Brings me to the weird menu setup. £9.95 for a meat/greek/vegan main then side choice depending on which you go for. It's split into 3 menus for no reason really as I found you can swap the sides. (I didn't want bread so asked for fries as the vegan menu only had bread/salad/rice as the side all the others had fries as an option as well...which given fries are vegan was bizarre enough. It was needlessly confusing.

My friend had & meat wrap and side salad. We also got halloumi fries and 2 ginger beers.

Halloumi fries..4 in a bowl. Drowned in oil & honey for £7.40 Beers 2 cans worth 65p each in tesco nearly £4.00 EACH just in the can, not even a glass.

So the mains arrive.

My fries were a stone cold tiny portion. The stale halloumi Kebab consisted of 2 tiny pepper slices and some over 'cooked' halloumi bits on a skewer. All cold too.

Now, considering the above about the sides, I found it actually came with loads of flat bread as a side on the plate anyway... and salad & Yoghurt.

So forcing a set menu with the same options as a side is ridiculous.

If I'd gone for the bread or salad.. I'd have paid ten quid for something you got free already as it's not mentioned.

There was so much bread, cold oily and dumped over a leaking pot of lumpy yoghurt. Nice. I also I didn't expect LOADS of raw tomato dumped on my plate with an onion slice and 2 olives. I can't do raw tomato so my friend ended up with his salad and that to eat. Afterwards all I could taste was tomato on my cold greasy plate despite wiping it.

His wrap was not much better. Cold, tiny and made up of a slither of "meat" and about 3 fries.

Best bit? The bill comes. 2 prices. The first thing the server says, we add 10% service on shall I remove it. 4.00 service fee for..?? Bringing 2 drinks & 2 plates of food to a table on a 35.00 odd bill. Its not America let customers decide a tip.

Don't add a fee, then make us feel bad. I said leave it on despite not being happy even paying the bill itself by this point because it was so cringy. But if asked again im sorry to say I'd have it removed for such a poor...

I am deeply disappointed by my recent visit to 'The Real Greek' in Southampton, and I feel compelled to share my unfortunate experience. From start to finish, the dining experience was far from satisfactory and left me questioning the restaurant's quality standards.

Upon arrival, I was initially hopeful, but those hopes quickly dwindled as I delved into the menu. The food I ordered was described as having a hint of spice, which I generally enjoy. However, what I received can only be described as a culinary assault of overwhelming heat and paprika. The excess spice masked any other flavors that might have existed in the dishes, rendering them virtually inedible.

To make matters worse, the quality of the meat was appalling. Tough and lacking in taste, it was clear that corners had been cut in sourcing the ingredients. It's truly disheartening to encounter such low-quality ingredients in a restaurant that purports to offer an authentic dining experience.

Despite this overall dismal experience, I must give credit where it's due. There was one shining moment during my visit: a waiter who demonstrated exceptional attentiveness and professionalism. Their efforts were a stark contrast to the disappointingly lackluster quality of the food.

In summary, my visit to 'The Real Greek' in Southampton was a considerable letdown. The mishandling of flavors, the inferior meat quality, and the reliance on an outstanding waiter to salvage the experience are indicative of deeper issues within the establishment. I regretfully cannot recommend this restaurant based on my experience, and I sincerely hope that improvements are made to ensure a more satisfying dining experience for...

After waiting for our lunch for 50 minutes after ordering, and heavily contemplating walking out, the food that arrived was probably the worst "greek" food I ever had and among the worst food I ever had at a restaurant generally.

The damage:

Wrong dish - Wanted the sausage skewer but got chicken.

Chicken was overcooked, tough, dry and burned to a crisp - not lightly charred on a grill, no, actually burned to charcoal on the outside

Rice was basically raw

Tzatziki was just low fat yoghurt and cucumber with no other seasoning, no garlic, no herbs

Microwaved, soggy, pita bread

The only thing about eatable was the "Greek salad" but it's really hard to mess up roughly chopping some onion cucumber and tomato (and the one slice of Sainsbury's "salad cheese" trying to impresonate feta)

Cold new potatoes

Weird was also the fact that staff/servers don't have any form of uniforms or other way to distinguish them from patrons. So at the beginning I was surprised a casually dressed girl came up to us and asked "You alright?" in that common street-style, when we tried to sit down at a table.

We also felt ignored by staff

All this lead to a very disappointing start to our...