Taverna Meraki — Restaurant in Warwick

I visited Taverna Meraki last week and had a wonderful lunch there. Before I talk about the food, I want to mention the absolutely superb service provided by all the wait staff there. Very friendly and attentive but not overbearing. The decor and atmosphere in the restaurant also really hit the spot. There were only a couple of occupied tables as it was just a random weekday lunchtime but the restaurant still had a really pleasant ambience. Now for the food. I ordered off the a la carte menu and got spanikopita to start, pork souvlaki with rice for my main, and baklava for dessert. Before my starter arrived, I was brought some complementary bread with a whipped beetroot dip. The bread was sadly stale and slightly unpleasant but the dip was delicious. The spanikopita was absolutely the star of the show. Beautiful crispy, flaky pastry, the filling was divine, topped with the perfect amount of feta and dill, and it was a decent sized portion. It was so delicious that I ended up ordering another portion to go so that I could eat it at home for breakfast the next day! A 10/10. The pork souvlaki was also very good, the meat was tender and perfectly charred, the only let down was the rice which was unfortunately overcooked and textureless. 8/10. The baklava (which I ordered without ice cream) was sadly quite disappointing. It's one of my favourite greek desserts but this piece seemed to have been warmed in the microwave so the pastry had lost all of its integrity and was no longer crispy and flaky, but a mushy mess. The spices and flavours were still excellent but the lack of definition in the layers and the unpleasant soggy texture really let this dish down...

I had high expectations for this place. Visited for the first time with my wife for dinner. So will try and leave a balanced review:

The restoration of the old Cafe Rouge building has been done really nicely. The decor and the styling are very tasteful. Not quite a Greek Taverna, but time, money and thought has been spent getting the interior right. The space is quite compact, so the tables at the back are fairly close together. But that's a minor gripe.

The service was excellent we were shown to our table promptly. The waitress and staff were friendly and pleasant.

Unfortunately the food was not good at all. The butter beans were cold and gloopy, tasting of plastic. The squid was over cooked and dry. We were served four meatballs in a watery tomato sauce and bread with everything, but all of it was dry. The greeks salad was a tiny pot of watery veg, with a lump of cheese. Even the Greek beer on tap was flat and tasteless.

I really hope that these are JUST teething problems and once they get into their groove the food will improve. But it's a bit worrying that they got these basics so wide of the mark.

They have a really good food story and the owners obviously have a good plan. They just need to think about how this...

I'll start with the positive.

1. the personel is lovely, polite and helpful.
2. The atmosphere is good.
3. Greek salad is good but not perfect as it's missing a few elements from the traditional Greek salad. FIY Greek salad doesn't contain green and red peppers.

Negative:

1. Souvlaki was a bit burned and dry without salt. Lemon was missing from the plates. Potatoes were quite oily and soft although they had a good taste. Tzatziki tiny portion like it costs too much to add a bit more yogurt with garlic! Unnaceptable for the price
2. Overprised. 2xSouvlaki ,1 Greek Salad and 2 small glasses of red £73 which is too much for the quality as described before. We are talking about Greek Street food souvlaki..
3. Tap water or pita bread as extra is not offered in the price? Every Turkish restaurant (similar menu with the Greek) I have visited in the UK offer 2-3 complimentary sides and the food is superior. I'm writing this review as a Greek customer living in the UK but also objective regarding the quality. A bit dissapointed.

Bottom line I'm not planning to visit you again. This review is lenient and you need to improve your food and prices a lot if you want to be advertised as a traditional...