Ino
Soho, London
Deep in the Soho hinterland, where the restaurant competition is hotter than anywhere else in the country, this self-styled 'gastrobar' is a contemporary Greek venue from the team behind an Athens spot with the sobering name of Funky Gourmet. With burnished wood and naked brick providing decorative contrast, plus a mix of tables and bar-stool seating, the place looks as voguish as can be – an inspired setting for food that interprets classic Greek dishes sensitively, with the charcoal grill to the fore. If you think you know tzatziki, think again. Here it achieves an unexpected textural silkiness, its cucumber slices sitting on top, with toasty, salty, herb-flecked pitta to enclose it. The taramasalata is piped through a star-shaped nozzle, with a confit egg yolk, pomegranate seeds, chives and bottarga to garnish, while a wedge of spanakopita is served delicately on its side, like a custard slice. It is one of the achievements of the kitchen that it can produce memorable impact from what may sound like prosaic ideas: spicy chicken with tomato salsa and smoked yoghurt offers perfectly tender thigh meat deftly grilled to a light char, the yoghurt offering a useful nip of lactic acidity. Sides ring true too: chargrilled broccoli and softly curdy Galomizithra cheese act as perfect foils to each other. If there is a heel of Achilles to negotiate, it is that Greek cooking in the UK still hasn't fully migrated from the local taverna to the vanguard battalions, along with the food of the western Med – although this is a good place to begin a revision. Greek wines, on the other hand, are increasingly mixing it with Europe's leading-edge vineyards; come here for aromatic whites, stirring, spicy reds, and golden Samos Muscat. Given that most of the food works beautifully for sharing, it seems odd that seating still seems geared to couples and singles.
