Food&Drink News&Reviews
Greece is the word The early days of a new restaurant is often the best time to find its national cuisine of origin most loyally adhered to, as Jay Thundercliffe discovers
+ A bold, honest venture, with good-value food
- A lingering something’s- been-decorated smell
‘A uthentic’ is a word used with much flippancy by restaurants, and often those shouting it loudest have the least claim. The Greco-Scots family behind Yiamas Greek Taverna do mention the ‘A’ word, but quietly, in the confidently understated manner that characterises much of this impressive first venture. And for once it’s tangible in almost all they do.
Similarly, ‘family-run’ means parents and children visibly grafting, with dad having fitted out the place in a fairly utilitarian yet smart and comfortable manner, free of any tourist taverna tat. On ground level is an open kitchen with charcoal grill, while a rather impressive stone wall dominates the cosier upstairs. Much has been DIY, but the chefs are from Greece – and therein lies one simple strand to authenticity. The menu, a refreshingly unembellished offering, includes meze starters of hummus, heady with garlic, and a tangy tzatziki. They’re served with pita lifted by a buttery wash and herby, salty topping. Spanakopitakia are enjoyable filo stogies sealing in a mix of feta, spinach and dill.
Mains include big bakes such as moussaka, and kleftico (lamb) and stifado (rabbit) stews. Various souvlakia of skewered grilled meat come with pita,
26 THE LIST 23 Aug–20 Sep 2012
salad and good home-made chips.
A good litmus test of the place is a proper Greek salad. Not the lettuce- heavy, vaguely Mediterranean version, but the ‘village salad’ or ‘villager’ with chunky tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, olives, pickled peppers and capers, topped with a slab of feta and doused in olive oil and wine vinegar.
All desserts are home-made, clearly apparent from the oven-warm baklava – a winning concoction of filo and nut layers with oozing honey. The entirely Greek wine list offers a chance to sample an often overlooked but ancient producer. Yiamas also do excellent gyros – Greece’s vastly superior take on the donner kebab – available to go. And, as they do in Greece, they also throw in a few chips – authentic maybe, but Glasgow to the core.
YIAMAS GREEK TAVERNA
16–20 Bath Street, City Centre,
Glasgow, G2 1HB, 0141 353 1386 Food served: Mon–Sun noon–10pm
Ave. price two-course meal: £6.95 (set lunch) / £15 (dinner)
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
BLASDA – FROM THE
GAELIC ‘blas’ meaning taste – is a celebration of sharing and enjoying local food. Spreading out from its Fife origins, there are events all over Scotland on or around Saturday 15 September, with the largest in the Briggait in Glasgow featuring a three-course local food dinner and a ceilidh for 150 – for a mere £5.
BON VIVANT IS spreading the good life out from its Thistle Street base with two new openings: a second bar down in Stockbridge, taking over the Avoca premises on Dean Street, and a slick new café on Waterloo Place called Pep & Fodder.
ONE OF THE POSTER venues for Edinburgh’s eating out scene in the past decade, Oloroso,
has announced its imminent closure. Owner Tony Singh says that ‘it makes sense to take a step back from the industry during these difficult times and re-group’.
DEUCHARS RECOMMENDS
COLINTON BEER FESTIVAL 24–27 August Old Colinton Village is a hidden gem of Edinburgh. The Spylaw Tavern and the Colinton Inn host the village’s annual beer festival across the long weekend. It is a haven for the local community, walkers enjoying the Dell, cyclists from the Water of Leith or you can even just hop on the No 10 bus. Relax with a fine selction of 36 ales and freshly prepared food. Either way, enjoy a great pint of Deuchars in stunning surroundings.