Sappho Meze Bar

After a fairly boring week or writing my dissertation and flat hunting the mister and I deemed Saturday night date night. We chose somewhere local so we didn't spend 2 hours of our date night on the tube. We visited Sappho Meze Bar in Clapham North, just literally right around the corner from the tube station.

Where: 9 Clapham High Street

The Scene: Hungry budget dining Londoners (a noticeable number of Aussies and Kiwis)

Delight: A wide variety of food

Disappointment: Confusion over the 'menu'

I had actually stopped in here once before on a freezing winter night while I was waiting to meet the mister and his sister and partner for dinner at Tsunami. At the time I was just grabbing a beer and sheltering myself from the arctic weather outside. It was before the dinner hour so I was the only one in there. The owner, (who also cooks and serves you) was so incredibly nice to me. In his broken English he told me Keo beer (the national beer of Cyprus) was the best beer in the world and gave me little snacks to munch on while I waited. Had I not had this experience I probably would have never known or wanted to try this place out.

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On Saturday the mister and I headed out for what would be the first Cyprian meal for both of us. Cyprian cuisine is closely related to Greek cuisine so it wasn't a big leap. We sat down at the restaurant and I ordered a beer. The mister had been out boozing almost every night last week, so he went for tap water. There was no menu, but rather a steady flow of food. The owner/cook/waiter asked if we ate meat. We do and I guess that's what determined our meal.

We started the meal with a plate of raw veggies and olives. Next were two small spanakopitas. The 'third course' was a huge selection of dips from the traditional hummus and taziki to more interesting options like beetroot and apple. We tried almost all of them, except the mushroom option and the beetroot. When the owner came to clear our plate we got an ear full about the benefits of eating beetroot. Still, neither of us tried it.

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For our last course (and there was some confusion if there was another course after the dips - do we fill up on bread and dips because that's all or do we hold off and see if there's more coming?) we got 2 chicken wings, a nice piece of beef on the bone and lamb with some potatoes. The meat course came with accompanying salad and couscous. The lamb and chicken were delicious. The beef was really tender and well prepared but for some reason I wasn't really into it. By the time I finished with my meat course, I literally had no room left for the yogurt and honey for dessert. We skipped dessert (which is so unlike us) and opted for the bill.

For one large beer, one small beer, two meals and service our bill came to £30! For the amount and quality of food and service this was almost unbelievable for London. I assume they can offer such good value because all diners (except for vegetarians) eat the exact same meal. Sappho Meze Bar is a total hidden jem.

As we left the restaurant we decided to walk to Clapham Common to catch the tube. Even though I have walked Clapham High Street before it wasn't until then I realized how many places there were to eat (and go out) and how buzzing it was. I spotted a place called Cafe Sol Dos which looks like it might fulfill my occasional Tex Mex craving.