On our lunchtime visit, battered cod or scampi seemed to be the most popular options, though a few of the Greek dishes were getting a look-in. It was a hot day and the outside tables seemed more appealing than the rather dark restaurant at the back. My aged grandmother loved watching the hustle and bustle of people going past, though between the traffic noise and the cries of the greengrocer two doors down, it's certainly not a tranquil spot. (No criticism of the greengrocer, by the way - if I was selling seven peaches or two punnets of English strawberries for just £1 I'd shout about it too.)
The aged grandmother had king prawns, grilled over charcoal - not the biggest I've seen, and perhaps not amazing value at three for £7.50, but she loved them. I had hummus with pitta bread. I don't know what it is about hummus, because I know I can make it myself in about 30 seconds for about 30p, and yet in Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants I sometimes feel irresistibly drawn to ordering it. I think it's something about the flavour balance between bland and interesting, and the tactile appeal of dipping warm pitta bread into it. This particular one was indistinguishable from most other restaurant hummus, which was fine with me.
Now if I was 100 years old, with cataracts and manual dexterity that is not what it was, I would order something easier to eat than a whole skate wing, but my gran is a determined lady, and she made surprisingly short work of it. It was grilled and dressed in olive oil and lemon juice, and looked beautiful. The aged grandmother, who is a big fan of skate, pronounced it excellent. All the fish dishes come with chips or salad, and she got a generous bowlful of salad.
Souvlaki, as the restaurant name suggests, are a house speciality. They're essentially Greek kebabs, but their defining feature is that they are always cooked over charcoal, which gives a lovely smoky flavour. You can get them in pork, chicken, lamb, fish or home-made sausage, but I had a vegetable version, served with rice and salad. I only realised later that the menu had promised pitta bread as well, but I probably wasn't short of carbs. The dish was decent rather than remarkable. I thought the souvlaki themselves could have been a bit bigger, but the veg were nicely cooked.
The short dessert menu again balances Greek and English: apple pie, chocolate fudge cake, baklava, galaktoboureko, and ice-cream. The aged matriarch had the ice-cream (fairly standard stuff) while I had the galaktoboureko, a dish that was new to me. I now know it to be filo pastry filled with custard and soaked in syrup - the Greek equivalent of a custard tart, if you like, though flavoured with a hint of orange blossom water rather than the nutmeg you would find on an English custard tart. It was a fat, slightly flattened roll, though I think you can sometimes get large ones cut into triangular pieces, like baklava.
There are also home-made Greek specialities including meatballs, mince-stuffed vine leaves and slow-cooked lamb and pork. If you want a feast, you can order a mezze meal, either fish-based or not, which delivers lots of delicacies over several courses.
We didn't sample any of the wines, but the wine list specialises in Greek and Cypriot wines, including retsina. I've never been remotely tempted to try retsina, since reading Road Dahl's autobiography at a young age, and his description of retsina thus: "The Greeks have a trick of disguising poor quality wine by adding pine resin to it, the idea being that the taste of the resin is not quite so appalling as the taste of the wine." He was describing his experiences in the second world war, so this may be a terrible slur on modern retsina, but nonetheless I am not about to find out (and anyway, why would you want a pine-flavoured drink? It sounds like disinfectant.)
I did try the mint tea, made with fresh leaves, and next time I will try the Cypriot tea, which is flavoured with cinnamon and cloves, something else I've not had before.
Most main dishes are around the £12 to £14 mark - cod or haddock and chips is £12.50, vegetable souvlakia £10, the most expensive item Dover sole at £22. A special lunchtime deal means you can get cod and chips, meatballs, stuffed vine leaves or souvlaki for £8.95, including a drink, which is pretty good value.
George's boasts that all its fish is sourced from sustainable stocks via Billingsgate market, which is excellent if this is true. I was perplexed by the skate though - the Marine Stewardship Council says that the common skate is "critically endangered". More information about the sourcing of fish would be welcomed.
George's Fish and Souvlaki Bar
164 George Lane
South Woodford
E18 1AY
020 8989 3970
georgesfishbar.co.uk
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