Cafe Corfu

After we had had a hot tip about the place, Number7 and I went to Cafe Corfu in Camden on Sunday evening. The tip had suggested that it offered seriously good Greek food in a somewhat idiosyncratic atmosphere and I have to say that it didn't disappoint on either count. Starting with the rather less important question of the ambiance, let me say that we were quite charmed by the Disco Classix (or similar) CD which accompanied the first half of our meal, the George Michael which followed, and then some even more authentically Greek tunes. Apparently they have belly dancers on Fri and Sats and I can imagine it's a really fun place to come with a group. Still, I was glad that we were there on a quiet night because it was the seriousness of the food which had whetted our appetite, and it is damned good. We began by sharing some halloumi and a slice of creamy spinach filo pie (I'm sure the Greeks have a better way of putting that): the halloumi was extremely thick and delicious, and, as the photos show, very well griddled, while the pie was one of the single yummiest things I've eaten all year. Mmmmm, spinach, and mmmmm, as Number7 observed, really well-made filo pastry. It was quite hard to compete with that, and the excellent 'pitta', which was lovely griddled flatbread, but the mains were also very good. N7 had a lamb dish which she noted was a very well plated (a rare meat photo for this blog) and my stuffed peppers also looked v nice. They weren't an exceptional dish, but they were very tasty indeed and about the nicest stuffed peppers I've ever had in a restaurant. For pudding N7 had baklava and I went for honey puffballs, or somesuch, and both were vg. Unfortunately they came with chocolate ice cream rather than the advertised yoghurt and honey, but we shall know to be insistent next time. Next time we will also have a clearer idea of the place and its menu and a resto that ranks A- in my book may rise still higher. It's not cheap, but then why should really excellent food be cheap? God, that spinach was good. Looking at the photo again, I realise that it also came with delicious yoghurt and this was another really good thing about the place, because the accompaniments with all the dishes were well thought-out and really added to the eating experience. N7 suggested going back there to eat mezze style and I believe this to be a very good idea. Oh, and the photos also remind me that the peppers came with some yummy feta.