Retsina Restaurant London Review

Probably the best kleftiko I've tried in a long time. Very tender, bones came of completely clean. We also tried the hot and cold set of starters and they were all very tasty and in good portions. For 4 people, we got the starters for 3 and didn't finish some of them. To improve, the temperature of the wine; it was a bit too warm, although good in flavour. Staff were also extremely nice and friendly

I know you can't please everyone, but Retsina doesn't deserve some of the poor reviews here. They have the best Kleftiko by far... and their meze and other dishes we have experienced were all lovely. I occasionally go with just hubby when we want to have a nice evening meal, and we've been several times with business acquaintances, family and friends, all of whom were very grateful for the introduction. Hubby is a very picky eater (no seafood, no fish, no lamb, nothing spicy...) and he's always found a selection of dishes to choose from. I may not be Cypriot or Greek - but that wouldn't necessarily make me an authority anyway. (Plenty of English wine connoisseurs...!) Bon appetit, , and !

Another Great evening at Retsina.
Chicken Souvla was so tasty and service is always friendly.
Will be back soon.

I love their food and the family feeling in the restaurant

It felt like dining at home with the amazing calm and welcoming atmosphere. Food was outstanding and the meat tender and juicy. Ordered the meat meze and honestly it was great value. The only downside was we felt a bit jealous of the regulars who got the kisses and hugs from the friendly lady :) need to become regulars.

Great place food amazing. Home cooked Greek food and amazing staff very friendly. Like being at home

Go to Green lanes, and try Antepliler or Kervan. These are the 2 great restaurants that I have often frequented.

Exceptionally delicious! Stifado was so soft that you can literally cut it with a spoon, lamb kebab tender as well.

I have been to many Cypriot restaurants, in the UK and Cyprus, but this place has the beat souvla. Whatever you do, get the souvla!

Not enough space in the table. We were a party of 10 and we're squashed in there.
Not comfortable at all

Very tasty, pleasant service, recommended, good price / quality ratio

Unbelievable !! . A warm place with perfect food and excellent service

Expensive for kebabs ..
Service absent or minimum.
It was a Friday evening however
I do not share the Gordon Ramsey craze.

Food and service outstanding. Would highly recommend it.

Ok, this place had great food. I m Greek and I got my taste buds properly satisfied

Lamb shoulder is great, as is pastitsio. In general you ll be happy with whatever you get here.

The owner is very nice as well.

Highly recommended.

We found this little gem over 5 years ago and it's one of those places you feel very fortunate to have stumbled across.
Thanks Zeta, Harry and staff for many scrumptious evenings/nights xxx
See you very soon!

Lovely food and very welcoming staff. Really enjoyed my meal and the experience. I will definitely go back.

Last day in London and the best food of the whole trip. Good service and The lamb kebab I had tasted great. You must try it!

The souvla is simply delicious. Have been coming here for years now and they never fail to deliver.

Very tasty chicken kebab, generous portion, and friendly service.

Ok food- LOVELY staff. They try really hard to make your experience lovely. Ive just been to better greek restaurants food wise.

Amazing place, michelin star restaurant at an affordable price! I know my Greek food, coming from a Greek family, Retsina can deliver such great flavours with a wide range of food options. Additionally it has vegan and vegetarian options.

Very nice classic Greek restaurant with a very tasteful food and a lot of charm!

Over the years, it has not lived up to its previous highs, gone slightly downhill.

Not only some of the best food in London (Greek food), but a lovely family feel and service. Harry and Zeta are Belsize Village icons.

Lovely food . Very friendly staff. Good price too . Would definitely go again when visiting this part of London

We really enjoyed our evening at Retsina on 24/11. The food was very good, and most importantly, all the staff was extremely friendly and made us feel very welcome. Thank you.

Really lovely restaurant serving authentic, delicious Greek food.

Environment was good and covid-19 safe. But here's where all the positives end. Starters were average, tzatziki tasted more like a frozen Tesco variety, dolmades not particularly tasty. Service was extremely slow - we had to wait for 1hr 1/2 for our main dishes (after jokingly reminding them we were still waiting) - no apology from the owner. My dish (Chicken Souvla) was cold and very fatty. I understand it might have been a bad day at the office as the place was busy but overall a poor value for money.

Great and authentic Greek Restaurant.
Quality service and amazing food.

Went there after saw it on ramsays show. this is terrible greek food, the owners son thinks his real greek god and the food was well over rated. trust me im Cypriot and the meze was so small and rubbish me and my fiance left hungry!

Lovely Saturday night meal.
Very fresh and authentic
Recommend

A fantastic place to taste delicious delicacies and Greek flavors in the heart of the city of London. The environment is quite friendly and the staff always willing and courteous.

Souvla was on the fatty side and not souvlaki as the people are more used to, otherwise everything was good, prompt service, tasty food, Metaxa on the house with desserts) aubergine salad was delicious!

Great pre lockdown 2 final meal.
Thank you

Retsina is cosy, has fresh air + Greek food + family reception.

I became happy in this restaurant, for the second time.

Lovely food!! And very friendly staff, peaceful area i will definetly be returning!

A longstanding family run Greek Cypriot restaurant. Reliably excellent food and friendly service.

Great family Restaurant, real authentic Greek food. Great service, great atmosphere and reasonably priced.

Pretty poor food - not much taste in veg mousaka and lamb was tough. Shame as Greek food done well is beautiful. Location was pleasant.

Nice area and nice place to sit.the service was not so bad. The hot meze and the salad were tasty but the lamb and chicken was tough and not so tasty and furthermore the prices for the amount of food you get were so high . For 2 people you More

Visited New Year s Eve 2019

We were not offered any wine
We had to buy a bottle
Also had to ask for rice it was not offered
food was cold and poorly presented
Won t visit again

one of the best greek restaurants I have been in London. Good price, tasty food , and atmosphere is welcoming

Packed Tuesday Night in Belsize Village.
This Greek Restaurants food was fantastic- good vegetarian selection and nice wine
Will be back soon

This place is fantastic the service is so friendly and welcoming as for the food WOW so worth the money it tastes like im back in Greece again!
Thank you Restina!

Previous review:All i can say about this place is that it is absolutely amazing! The food is top notch, and so is the service!!!
Absolutely fantastic i will definitely be back again in the future.

We visited this restaurant 29th August 2015 after 8.30pm the service was aulful the waiter slang our starters on our table at the other end not in front of us no smile no communication like enjoy.
The main meal came immediately as we finished our starters, it was so hot it tasted as if it came out the microwave aulful experience, never ate the food we paid and left.
Miserable very unfriendly staff
Food aulful
It felt like none of the staff wanted to be there??????????

Perhaps things have changed since the F word. My grill was hard and over cooked. The meze was very average.

When I pointed the meat out to the manager he took offence and decided to tell us that they have to over cook the chicken to avoid food poisoning.........an apology would have been nice.

Will not be going anywhere near this place again; pay good money, expect nice service and good food correctly grilled.

the place was full cause of a traditional celebration day,but we served so good! Nice wine,the food is very good and the staff makes us feel like home

A really lovely restaurant with friendly staff and traditional fresh and tasty Greek food and the Greek red wine was yummy too.

A pleasant evening the service courteous and efficient the food pleasant . Am I damming with feint praise? Perhaps not terribly exciting bit sometimes that's what you need

Excellent food, service and a very warm welcome and great value for money. Greek family owned. A must visit when in London. Gordon Ramsey loved it!

The best tarama, delicious kleftiko, seafood and the starters all around are just lovely. The family running the restaurant are such lovely people, they make you feel welcome and they really do look after their clients. There's nothing wrong to be ever said at this place. At the end of the day, dining at Retsina is such a treat!

Exotic and quite Greek restaurant in a very quite residential area. Meats, fish, pitas, and humus... All of them were so nice.

Really terrific family-run Greek restaurant.
My family and I have been eating here for decades, both in the current premises and the original ones, and their standards are as high today as they were thirty years ago.
Eating here is always a treat.
Thank you guys.

Did not even get time to look at the bill the waiter was so fast , i payed & he took the bill with him would of liked to see what i was paying for !!! Food was very nice, but im thinking well over priced for what i had ...

Fantastic meal outside in Belsize Village on the terrace,
Food was perfect supplied from Retsina - Chicken Souvla was exceptional, perfect sunny evening.
Will be back again soon.

Excellent food and service, and a pleasant ambience

Very yummy Greek food. Attentive service and friendly staff will come back again

I had an amazing dinner at Restina for my first time.
Had the grilled octopus to start and the mixed grill for main with 2 glasses of nice red wine that complemented the meat followed by choc ice cream and brandy for dessert.
All the food was tight quality, service was fair and to standard.
The owners were there and were really nice.
Highly recommended.
I intend to return.

In London for whatever reason it's quite difficult to find good prices Greek place but this place definitely delivers. Been there few times, and the staff is ALWAYS super friendly and nice. The food is lovely..some dishes more then others' (depends on what one likes to eat). I quite like their mezzes (dolmas, aburegines, fillo pastries, hummous, beans). My friend always enjoyed mixed grill plater. Overall it's a good family run restaurant.

aubergine salad and chicken kebab were delicious. big portions. Menus were a little old and dirty.

We "the rockabilly Ladys from Germany" enjoyed it very much. We had the meat meze Jesus it was finger licking delicious. The fish dish was lovely the shrimps where on point not overcooked like we like them and the meat was freaking tasty . Jesus they know how to season. Would go there again

Amazing food and nice atmosphere. We had souvla and kleftiko. Both of them were amazing and recommended.

We came on a Groupon and had a lovely meze and desert. Friendly staff and a nice atmosphere. Would definitely return.

A fantastic meal with a great service. The lamb was melt in your mouth. The wine was also of good quality at a fair price.

I had an amazing experience the first time with my father when we went there. Good food and friendly staff.

I went back with my boyfriend thinking to spend a nice evening and i felt it wasn't the same restaurant!.... Expeditive waiters, meat not well cooked, and we've been asked to leave as soon as we finished our dishes (they weren't closing).

It was a year ago and I still don't feel like going back here, even if I live just around the corner.

Lovely food, good prices, warm and friendly service, nice ambiance, mix of families, couples and groups without being too noisy. Clean toilets.

Sorry to have been to that restaurant on a Tuesday evening , totally overpriced Mezze , poor & slow service , rude manager , the bill didn t even match the prices on the menu , mezze for two at Retsina means a basic mezze for one and we More

The outside is rustic and welcoming, our waiter was exceptionally friendly.
However...he forgot to take even our drink order for 45 minutes, he then forgot what we ordered which was a shame, sadly the kitchen also forgot to add the wine to the beef Stifado.
Might be better to try on a weekend but we won't be back.

Tasty and very fresh food at a reasonable price. The lamb kleftico was outstanding and you definitely don't starve here. There's also a lot of nice starters to share. One star less, because this restaurant is on Groupon. Terrible idea, in my opinion.

Family-run Greek restaurant. He was received with great kindness and sympathy. After a small dish offered by the house, I ate excellent eggplant creams and tzatzighi. The lamb dish is also delicious. Really very courteous staff, I will definitely be back.