Downing Street Greek — Restaurant in Waverley

Genuinely saddened to leave this review. Saw there was a new Greek restaurant nearby which my friends and I were excited to try. The three of us had booked a table and arrived for 6:30. We ordered our food and drinks fairly promptly at 6:35. At this point there was one other table of people in the restaurant. Our starters took 20 minutes which felt a little on the long side, but we ate them in anticipation for our mains. When our plates were cleared away we ordered some more drinks. Sadly these never came. At 7:55, 1 hour and 20 minutes after placing our order we enquired how much longer we would have to wait and asked where our drinks were. It was clear the order had been forgotten as in this time the restaurant had filled and many other tables had received their starters and mains. About 5 minutes later two plates of food arrived, one of which we did not order. This was sent back to the kitchen and after another 5-10 minutes the correct meals were brought out. We came out to have dinner together, not to watch our friend eat her dinner and then have her watch us eat ours 10 minutes later! Mid way through our dinner the table next to us said they couldn’t wait any longer and would pay for what they had had and leave (starters and drinks). Very quickly appeared the owner who proceeded to have a loud argument with them in the middle of a busy restaurant! I have never seen anything like it! When our bill came, to our disbelief service charge had been added and we had been charged for an additional drink (the one I had to ask for twice). We asked for this to be amended and to have some level of discount for the fact we waited over an hour for our food and when it came it was wrong. Yet again the owner was arguing with us and no sincere apology was given. Although the experience was not good, if a sincere apology was given it may have made me leave happier. Instead we left with a patronising lecture on how in a restaurant you should expect to wait 2.5-3 hours and that this is not McDonalds. Please note: most disgruntled people are immediately much happier from a sincere apology and...

I approached this meal with caution, so often restaurants offering this style of eating try to offer an up-market version of the food and the whole experience is a disaster, with none of the elements of real, local Greek food. I’ve been holidaying in Greece for over 40 years so I know what to expect. The restaurant had only changed to Greek food a couple of weeks ago, so I was even more nervous.

This was totally different to what I had feared; I opted for a wrap and my fellow diners chose kebabs. The food arrived quickly and was obviously cooked to order. The taste was divine! Tender and tasty lamb kebab and the bifteki was one of the best I have ever tasted with melted feta oozing out. Chips flavoured with oregano and tzatziki that “momma” would be proud of. Eddie is a great chef and really knows what Greek food should taste like. Dessert brought the option of kadaifi - unusual in UK - it was served with syrup, ice cream, strawberry and a wafer. Fabulous! A generous portion, and a far better presentation than I’ve had before, even in Greece! Overall, one of the best Greek meals I’ve ever had in UK and better than many I’ve had in Greece. Unfortunately there’s hardly anything on the menu that isn’t tempting me, so return visits are definitely on the cards. Thank you Eddie, next time we must...

When me and my group turned up yesterday. We were greeted by two members of staff who were confused and annoyed we had turned up for our booking. We were shown to our table which was dirty and had not been wiped down nor had all the cutlery been placed on the table.

When looking through the menu I noticed that items that would be vegetarian where not marked as suchi i.e chips, garlic ciabatta, mushroom stroganoff etc. Other items had been labelled as such but was almost as if they had been left off and half done. When I enquired about the mushroom stroganoff and asked if it was veggie. The waiter answered as if it was obviously veggie, when I said that it was not shown on the menu and enquired about their ingredients because of this I was treated as if I was being daft. The food itself was very good, we had a variation of food and it all came on time and was hot. The stroganoff both meat and mushroom could have been a larger portion but it was delicious. The whole time we were there the restaurant was empty, and the service could have been slightly quicker due to this, but the environment was almost as if we had come at a bad time. Which is a shame as when we went in to book the table it was a great atmosphere. I hope this was a one off dining experience but I am not sure I would come back...