Jim's Greek Tavern

Saturday night was about getting to the Greek. In this case, Jim's place where we brought our beer and wine and settled in the raucous atmosphere ready to gorge on Mediterranean delights.

Our friendly group of 5, were transported back to Summer package holidays in busy tavernas.

As we took our seats, we were asked if we wanted dips and saganaki and we nodded our assent and just asked our waiter to bring out food. First came the bread basket with warm, soft, white, pillowy bread ready to dip in into the plate of baba ganoush, tzatziki that had a flavoursome garlic hit and the salty taramasalata. There was also fried courgette pieces, calamari salad, green beans and carrots on the plate as well as a second dish of chargrilled octopus in a tangy vinaigrette.

As we made our way through the first offerings, three skillets also arrived. There was one filled to the brim with scallops another with fried calamari and the third was the very necessary gooey saganaki. Oh fried cheese! The scallops were sweet and plump and the calamari crispy with the lightest of crusts. What a wonderful start. Rustic, homely Greek food at it's best really.

Our waiter asked us what meat and fish we wanted and he listed off a lot of things! I thought he said cod with potatoes. Jon thought he said cock and potatoes. The others saw him put his fingers on his head to imitate horns but still didn't really know what he meant. Not helped when he told us he also had chicken-lamb. He also listed a whole load of fish and when we said we'd go for the King George whiting, he suggested the baby Snapper which he never mentioned in the first place! Oh the fun of communication. Anyway we left it in his hands. It seemed the easiest thing to do.

What arrived was some grilled pork in salt and pepper served on the bone, the goat on potatoes, some shaved lamb and the baby Snapper. The goat was soft and tender and the potatoes braised in the juices. The Snapper was just so simple and unadorned but the flesh was so sweet and yummy - probably my favourite. The pork was tasty but a little dry for me and the lamb shreds with onions was another delicious dish.

We had a bowl of Greek salad to help cut through the richness of the meat and we slowly made our way through all these dishes of deliciousness.

And our friendly waiter came by to offer us dessert which arrived as a plate of mixed sweet treats. There was custard pudding thing, baklava, Turkish delight and some halva. 

It looked like we'd struggle but we weren't rushed and gradually over time a respectable dent was made. Team effort though.

We had a really fun night at Jim's. It's not sophisticated food but it tastes honest and satisfying. It can be a little off putting not knowing how much everything costs until the bill comes and I have heard that Jim can have a reputation of over feeding and therefore hiking up the bill. Our bill came to $50 per head which included a decent tip and it was BYO with no corkage so we felt that it was good value for a night of giggles, gorging and a real taste of Greece.

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