Lemonia

Reviews

• Lively buzzing atmosphere, Quick cheerful service

  I have been a Primrose Hill resident all my life and have been to Lemonia many times. The staff are amazing. They are all Greek Cypriots and so so so cheerful. Always smiling, making jokes etc..This makes a huge difference to one's experience in a restaurant and I value it highly.The atmosphere is always buzzing and lively in the evenings: The waiters are always rushing about, and the lively interaction between diners and waiters is superb.I recommend you order the "Meze" (£17-18pp) which is a selection of Greek dishes. Dozens and dozens of plates are brought down onto your table all at once, usually within 15 minutes of ordering, and the courses just keep going (about 7 or 8) The food is very good, I'm surprised by gastro1's review...perhaps he got muddled up with another restaurant? To be honest, I suspect he hasn't actually been here, going by how vague he is and his lack of specific detail. So, to top off, the food is great! But above all, the unique feel-good atmosphere and service of Lemonia is exceptional!Make sure you book in advance since they get fully booked every weekend.

  Agilbert747
  Review Date: 06/08/2009 Report review
• Lemonia

  This Greek-Cypriot Primrose Hill staple has been here since I was born, so nearly three decades... The enormous restaurant is always packed full of people, from the leopard skin clad, botoxed ladies who lunch to families who enjoy the child-friendly atmosphere. I haven't been in there since I was small and was half expecting to have my cheeks pinched by the owner accompanied by a "my hasn't she grown!" But I guess I look a bit different now. Last night the meze starters were really tasty, from the smooth hummous to the tangy tarama salata, but the mains were overpriced for rather small portions. They did serve the largest scallops I've ever seen though, with fat orange coral still attached. Why anyone ever detaches that bit, I don't know. What on earth do they do with it?

  Foodrambler
  Review Date: 11/11/2008 Report review
• Do The Meze

  The meze menu is not only incredible in taste and value but also quantity! I have been to a lot of Greek restaurants previously, but this is by far the best in London! For £17 pp you get 3 courses of meze, by the end I was just so full, but could not bare to leave anything, as all was just so good! The ingredients were obviously a very good quality. The atmosphere in this restaurant was electric, and all seemed to be enjoying their experience as much as the food! Situated at the bottom of primrose hill, an after dinner stroll is just what is needed to make the experience perfect.

  Tapdancingcat
  Review Date: 10/09/2008 Report review
• Good food, not so good service

  Having gone in for an early dinner, we found the restaurant pretty empty. The decor is quaint, with trailing plants and rustic walls, but to be honest, while the moussaka I ordered was great, the service seemed to be lacking. My friend and I were subjected to a long wait between ordering and being served, and other parties were served far before us, after having arrived after us. I had always been assured that the staff here treat you as if you are their only customer, but this is definitely not true. However, the quality (and quantity) of the food went a long way to make up for this, and I would also highly recommend the lamb stew, if you decide to go.

  Claireymr
  Review Date: 01/08/2008 Report review
• Gastro Criminals

  This establishment is a disgrace the food is absoluteley awful .Lemonia along with 99% of Greek and Cypriot restaurants in London are the same.Why can the Turks and Lebanese reproduce decent quality in London whilst the Greeks/Cypriots shame their nations cuisine !Does not deserve the star but its the minimum one can give to publish the review.

  Gastro1
  Review Date: 07/02/2008 Report review
• Beware of Greeks bearing...food

  I'm going to make no friends here, I'm sure. But isn't Greek food a bit naff? I mean, come on. It's just stodge. OOoo,a few olives on the side to make it look all sophisticated and stuff. But really, it's just endless riffs on a shepherd's pie.Lemonia's a decent restaurant with lovely staff, who work hard to make sure everyone's happy. But they miss the trick most Greek restaurants I've been to usually pull: bring out an infinite number of plates to disguise the fact that none of them are much better than a clump of steamy earth. Here, I had two very small courses: filo-parcelled yellow stodge followed by aubergine stuffed with brown stodge. Mrs Matt had courgette neatly chopped, sauteed, then pulped into a brown stodge, followed by moussaka (orange stodge).So, for me, traditional Greek, if that's what we got, is like traditional English. Hearty, warming, but ultimately forgettable. Prove me wrong Greeks. Prove me wrong. Show me a Greek place worth visiting. Change my opinion.Mrs Matt wishes to state that she *really* enjoyed her food and loved the service and that Mr Matt is a curmudgeonly grumpion who wouldn't know good food if it forced its way down his gullet, causing him to gag and collapse so the last thing he saw before the good food choked him was a biplane leaving a contrail of sky writing that said 'that was good food that was'.

  Londonistmatt
  Review Date: 11/10/2007 Report review