Where: Lemonia, Primrose Hill
With who: The Ginger Prince, Mrs Ginger Prince and others
How much: A toppy £25 per person for a glass of wine, shared starters and a main. Most mains are keenly priced at between £13 and £17
Come here if: you want to live like the beautiful people, or you're stalking Jude Law
With who: The Ginger Prince, Mrs Ginger Prince and others
How much: A toppy £25 per person for a glass of wine, shared starters and a main. Most mains are keenly priced at between £13 and £17
Come here if: you want to live like the beautiful people, or you're stalking Jude Law
Every tribe in London has their place. The well to do theatre crowd colonise The Ivy, Sheekeys and Joe Allens and the hedge fundies have Scotts or Goodman. The smug monied media mass of Primrose Hill have Odettes and posh Greek charcoal grill Lemonia.
It's been a local fixture for years, almost certainly in existence before the arrival of the creative agency types and the minor celebs attracted by the villagey vibe and bucolic rusticity of the little street off the top of Regent's Park. Sandwiched between delis and dress shops Limonia has a reputation above and beyond a thick menu of competent Greek cuisine. Arriving late, sodden with rain and lager, we managed to slide into one of the booths in the atrium at the rear, a table overhung with flourishing greenery from the low hanging roof planters.
Mixed meze and pitta forgettably dealt with early hunger pangs. I went for a slow roast aubergine dish topped with a smooth paste of minced lamb and cheese, served on a bed of creamy spinach. Not accomplished cooking by any means but hearty fare in variance with the thin and fashionable regulars. A couple of companions, more regular habitués than I, went for lamb chops from the grill. Slim shards of perfectly crisped fat along the bone were a delight to gnaw, but the meat wasn't quite pink enough for us.. the charcoal grill giveth but it also taketh away. The accompanying chips and rice were largely and deservedly unnoticed.
Right place at the right time? It's certainly got a place in local hearts and with the crowds it gets, the management won't be bothered that I'm not a super fan. I'd be happy to eat here again, but only if someone forces me to spend time in the many nearby bars first.
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