Fay Maschler reviews Opso

Greek cooking must evolve, innovate and dare, says Fay Maschler, but Opso in Marylebone has missed this opportunity
Fay Maschler9 June 2015

"In Greek mythology, Jason’s wife was particularly gregarious, hence her nickname Social Medea". This rather better than average Twitter joke contributed by self-styled “bookish person” David Hebblethwaite caught my eye. I had recently been to the new Greek restaurant Opso in Marylebone that describes its offering as Social Food. It’s a blissfully meaningless concept but, in case you haven’t guessed, one attempt at an interpretation is plates to share.

On a site that was previously a link in the dim-sum chain Ping Pong — selfish eating? — Andreas Labridis and Dimitris Karampatakis have engaged as menu consultants the creators of Funky Gourmet, a two-star Michelin restaurant in the Keramikos area of Athens. It is an establishment unknown to me but on the website it is explained: “We believe in a cuisine that is both funky and gourmet.”

Some of the dishes on the website do look madcap and ingenious, and of course Greek cooking must evolve, innovate and dare, but the menu at Opso seems to fall between stools — many of which are lined up at the entrance bar and around a central communal table.

Head chef Stefanos Avdis previously ran the kitchen at Princi in Wardour Street. Positive proof of this bit of PR info is the calibre of the breads and pastries but could it also explain the fascination with jams that accompany too many savoury items? Even the charcuterie platter comes with raspberry jam. Servings are restrained, to put it politely — sometimes, as in the case of the tiny glass preserving jar of chicken liver mousse served with apricot jam, ridiculously so.

Just as that takes the social out of eating it also traduces the essence of Greek hospitality.

Lover of Greece that I am, and a frequent visitor to our house in the Taygetos Mountains of the Peloponnese, I am not so infatuated as to want in London the cooking of the basic taverna. But there grilled meat is a vibrant and fragrant element — at Opso there is no enlivening scent of the chargrill; fish stored on ice in stainless steel drawers, weighed, priced and cooked to order is a tradition worth importing; many of the hard cheeses are better than smoked Metsovone for frying and don’t require rhubarb jam alongside; and if the sunshine-made-flesh of Greek tomatoes can’t be found and capitalised upon, then a company such as Natoora (or, indeed, La Fromagerie around the corner) can supply something similar.

The portion size makes the batrakh (same thing) served at Arabica in Borough Market for £10 a bargain. Smooth creamy fava, maybe from Santorini where the yellow split peas are thought to be the best, holds its own with the novel accompaniment.

The weather — arguably the most Greek aspect of the experience — steers us away from beef cheek fricassee in egg and lemon sauce and slow-cooked lamb shank with orzo, tomato marmalade and lemongrass towards lighter dishes such as grouper tartare, mysteriously described as “inspired by the traditional Greek salad” (which never contains fish), and Greek coleslaw, where vinegar and the liberal use of dill dominates and trips up taste buds.

The deliciousness of syrup-soaked walnut cake with clotted cream and sour cherry “spoon sweet” almost compensates for the disappointment of cold, stodgy, flavourless spinach pie — that fall-back position on Greek streets and ferries.

At dinner on another warm day the noise engendered by the unrelenting hard surfaces of marble tables, mosaic floor tiles and decoratively tiled walls compromises enjoyment almost as much as Snails ’n’ Chips, “a Greek take on a British classic”. They should look to the French and at least incorporate garlic to muffle the garden pest overtones. Better is a diminutive serving of cod tempura with skordalia and roasted beetroots. Service is, for the most part, genial — but quite a lot of the staff seem baffled as to why they are there.

A wine list kicking off at £22 a bottle with few Greek wines — an area in which there has most definitely been delectable progress — and only one choice of white, red and rosé served by the glass is a missed opportunity.

And why no Greek beers? Oops, there was a chance to fill a gap in the London market and Opso — sited opposite one of the branches of The Real Greek — hasn’t done it.

10 Paddington Street, W1 (020 7935 0551, opso.co.uk). Lunch Mon-Fri noon-4pm. Dinner Fri-Sat 6pm-10.30pm. Brunch Sat and Sun 9am-4pm. A meal for two with wine, about £100 including 12.5 per cent service.

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