Zylia, London Greek Cypriot restaurant review

Greek and Cypriot food seems to be having a bit of a moment. 

Well, that’s at least according to the trend reports I’ve read in work and judging by the number of Greek and Cypriot restaurants that we’ve been to in London lately. During two previous trips we had meals at Oma and Agora and on our most recent visit we tried out Zylia. 

Located on the edge of the newly opened Arcade Food Hall in Covent Garden, Zylia bills itself as a “Greek Cypriot taverna” and is one of the city’s hottest new openings in the last few months. 

It’s owned by Athenian-born chef Nick Molyviatis, the co-owner of Singburi and former head chef of Kiln, Agora and Oma, alongside Cypriot restaurateur Barry Karacostas. 

Zylia’s dining room is pure sunshine vibes with its knick-knack adorned picture rail, woven lampshades, wafts of smoke from the charcoal grill and myriad beers cooling on ice. 

Their menu comprises of a mix of mezze, salads and grilled meat and fish. At the bottom end of the grilled meat scale, chicken souvlaki weighs in at £13.50 whilst a sharing beef chop with Corfu sofrito sauce will set you back £68. 

A gargantuan bottle of ice cold Keo lager immediately put me in a holiday mood. At £7 for a 630ml bottle, it was belting value for central London too. Mrs G kept things classy with a glass of crisp Three Bowls Assyrtiko (£9.50). 

There was a little bit of a wait for starters as the till system had gone down. So, we were brought complimentary olives (£5) – an excellent mix of preserved lemon charged green olives and grown-up savoury black olives.

Next followed a couple of dips, the standout of which was creamy and salty taramosalata (£7) topped with the crunch of carob rusks. 

A chunky charred aubergine and pepper dip (£7.50) was a bit subtle on the smoke but it was packed with fresh green herbs.

They were accompanied with a generous basket of very good mixed breads (£6) - pita, flatbread and a sesame loaf, all with a compelling kiss of char.

A Greek salad (£14.50), which included sweet tomatoes and crunchy cucumber and a nuggets of salty and tangy feta cheese, let the quality of the produce do the talking,

Sheftalia (£14), caul fat wrapped pork sausages, were plump and juicy things. The coarsely minced squat sausages sang with green herbs and spices. 

Finally, (£15) beautifully tender sweetbread saganaki were sat in an emulsified citrus spiked sauce. Unfortunately, it was a race against time to eat them before the sauce made their crisp crumb soggy.

We were impressed by the summery cooking at Zylia and the rise in popularity of Greek and Cypriot food is a trend that I can most definitely get on board with. 

The Details:

Address - Zylia, 6 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9HZ
Web - https://zyliataverna.com/
Telephone - 020 3837 5719

Akara, Borough Market, London West African and Brazilian restaurant review

I've not eaten much West African or Brazilian cooking before, so I can’t exactly tell you the difference between a Nigerian akara osu and a Brazilian acaraje.

So, my assessment of the reimagined akara on offer at the eponymous restaurant in Borough Market is going to be about as nuanced as a seagull assessing the relative merits of French fries compared to triple cooked chips.

All I can say is that these deep-fried black bean fritters are bloody tasty and so too is the rest of Akara’s West African and Brazilian cooking. Thankfully, their menu also includes a helpful glossary to provide a primer of dish components like kokoro yaji and noir yassa.

Owned by restaurateur Aji Akokomi, Akara holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand whilst its sibling restaurant Akoko holds a Michelin star. Located in a cavernous, converted railway arch with huge bifold doors, Akara is a cool and airy space to spend a summer’s evening.

We were catching up with a group of friends and so ordered a load of dishes to share. We focused on Akara’s snacks and small plates, but eye-catching larger plate include grilled pork feijoada (£24) and cod fillet moqueqa (£24). Whilst I was lost in conversation, Akara’s spice and texture packed cooking couldn’t help but draw my attention back with each mouthful.

On the booze front, we kicked off with a pair of excellent cocktails - a fruity and boozy Akojo (£13) made with Planteray coconut and pineapple rums and a citrus packed Caiprinha (£13). We followed it up with a bottle of super fruity Jumi-Juma Moldovan Chardonnay-Riesling (£45) and schooners of Lost and Grounded Keller Pils (£6).

Bowls of crisps were both great – green plantain lengths (£5) with an aubergine sauce and spiced cassava chips (£6) with kelewele spice topped cashew sauce.

My favourite of the picky bits, however, were a quartet of soft and airy sinasir rice pancakes (£5) which were accompanied by nutty black bean hummus with a deceptive chilli kick.

Akara, the restaurant’s headline dish, were most definitely worth naming the restaurant after. Golden, crisp and fluffy crumbed, the savoury black-eyed bean fritters were stuffed with a variety of fillings, including sweet barbecue prawn (£12) and shreds of slow cooked beef short rib (£12). They were excellent dipped in a savoury Senegalese hot sauce.

It’s saying something when the rice is the standout dish of a meal. But Akara’s efike rice (£8) was so good that it could also appropriately be named epic rice. Served in a striking cauldron with an equally impressive wooden spoon, the fluffy fried grains were turbocharged with the decadent umami-intensity of coconut, shellfish and chicken broth.

Smoky chicken alata skewers (£20 for two) with a sticky, sweet and fiery scotch bonnet glaze were superb. And so too was garnish of crisp seeds and crushed chicken skin.

Nuggets of yielding, slow-cooked lamb dibi (£14) were accompanied by a tangy mustard onion sauce.

Tender barbecued aubergine (£14), meanwhile, was crowned with crispy kale and paired with a slightly sweet carrot sauce and a vibrant Senegalese green herb and chilli rof paste.

Blushing pink and char-kissed flat iron steak (£14) was good but arguably the weakest link in the meal as I did find a few bits a little too chewy. Accompanied by kulikuli yaji, a spicy Nigerian peanut powder, it certainly wasn’t short of flavour.

For dessert, a squidgy warm plantain cake (£9) was accompanied by milk ice cream and smoked butter sauce. Combining toasty caramel and sweet fruit notes, it was an excellent sticky toffee pudding and banana bread hybrid.

With its reasonably priced spiced-laden cooking, cool setting and friendly service, Akara is exactly my kind of restaurant. It’s another big win for Borough Market’s excellent restaurant scene and it’s certainly given me the taste to try more West African and Brazilian cooking.

The Details:

Address - Akara, Arch 208, 18 Stoney Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9AD

Web - https://www.akaralondon.co.uk/

Telephone - 0203 8615190