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Alice Eaton visits the established Greek eatery Vrisaki

LONGEVITY is surely a sign of success in the unpredictable world of restauranteering. If so, then Vrisaki in Palmers Green is a hit. Established in the 80s, initially as a kebab house before quickly adding the restaurant next door, this Greek eatery has clearly found a method that works and is sticking to it. Even its waiters are mostly among the original staff.

We visited on a wet and windy Friday night and, despite the adverse weather conditions, Vrisaki was doing a roaring trade. Clientele for the restaurant have to traipse through the lively kebab house - and a long queue of waiting customers - to reach their seats which is a little disconcerting although the sizzling smell of cooking meat does give you a mouth-watering taster of the dinner that awaits you.

The restaurant's layout for that evening was made up mostly of long tables which quickly filled up with large parties of diners, including several groups of young diners who clearly considered eating out as a social event. And this is just what Greek cooking is all about - family and friends gathering together and sharing dishes.

Palmers Green apparently has a large Greek community so Vrisaki is on to a winner to begin with, but it is the fabulously tasty cuisine that really sets it apart.

We began our meal with a selection of starters that we took turns dipping into, including a delicious serving of king prawns that were big and wonderfully juicy, a generous serving of wonderfully salty grilled halloumi, various bean and vegetable offerings and the standard Greek dips (houmous, taramosalata...) that we scooped up with the hot pitta bread provided. The selection was excellent and a perfect start to our meal.

To follow, I chose kleftiko (lamb roasted slowly in a clay pot), one of the house specialities. It came as an enormous portion of meat that just fell off the bone and was the most tender piece of lamb I have had in a long time. This was served with a mound of well seasoned rice and three large boiled potatoes - if you are on a low carb diet, this is not the dish for you. The whole serving was delicious, although a little overwhelming in size. My partner decided on mixed kebabs, that came as tender chunks of chicken and pork on skewers, along with rice, salad and a selection of small and flavoursome sausages. Other main courses on the menu included various fish dishes, lamb cutlets, veal chop, t-bone steak and Greek specialities including moussaka, souvla and dolmades.

We accompanied our meal with one of the many Greek wines on offer, this time a fairly dry red (most Greek wine is dry) from Makedonia that was light and very drinkable.

There were several desserts to choose from but our food had come in such hearty proportions, we had no room for any more. Choices included tiramasu, wild strawberry cheesecake, various icecreams and a number of fresh Greek cakes, all priced at £3.50.

Vrasiki is a long-established eatery that specialises in well-cooked, honest Greek cuisine served in friendly surroundings where you will leave feeling well fed and with a smile on your face.

The bill

Tahini £2.50; Taramosalata £2.75; Halloumi £4; King prawns (3) £7.50; Kleftiko £12; Mixed kebab £12.50; Red wine £11.50

Total £52.75 (excluding service)

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