Vegetarians in most restaurants get one dish. It is usually a risotto, and it is usually an afterthought.
Greek food is different, and not because anyone designed it to be. For centuries the Orthodox calendar asked people to go without meat, and often dairy, for close to half the days of the year. The result is a cuisine with an enormous repertoire of vegetable, bean and grain dishes that are not substitutes for anything. They are simply the food.
Vegan, and not by request
These are on the menu as they are, no adjustments needed:
- Hummus, Greek style, with chickpeas, tahini and lemon.
- Melitzanosalata, a smoked aubergine and roasted pepper dip.
- Dolmades, vine leaves rolled around rice, tomato and herbs.
- Gigantes, giant beans baked slowly in a rich tomato sauce. If you only order one thing on this list, order this.
- Greek olives, marinated in herbs and extra virgin olive oil.
- Grilled vegetables: pepper, courgette and aubergine with balsamic glaze.
- Slow roasted Mediterranean vegetables: chermoula aubergine with couscous tabouli and hummus, a proper main course.
- Vegan souvlaki, a weekday lunch wrap with Quorn, hummus, peppers and chips.
Our Nonos meze for two can also be served vegan on request, and the vegetarian burger can be made vegan.
Vegetarian, with cheese
If you eat dairy, the list gets longer and richer: tzatziki, tyrokafteri (a spicy whipped feta), the baked feta pastry with honey and sesame, spinach and feta filo triangles, chargrilled aubergine under crumbled feta, and a Greek salad that is the real thing rather than lettuce with a cube of cheese on top.
For a main, the vegetarian moussaka layers aubergine, courgette, peppers, spinach and potato in a tomato and oregano sauce under béchamel. It is not the lesser version of the beef one. It is its own dish.
Breakfast too
Breakfast runs from 8:30 to 12:00, seven days a week. The vegan breakfast brings beetroot, hash brown, portobello mushroom, gigantes beans, smashed avocado, hummus and cherry tomatoes on seeded sourdough. The vegetarian breakfast, the shakshuka and the poached eggs and avocado on sourdough cover everyone else.
How to order it
Treat the vegan and vegetarian dishes as meze for the table rather than one main each. Four or five between two, with bread, is a full and properly varied meal, and the meat eaters at the table will be eating from it too.
Menu items are marked V, VG and GF. If you have an allergy rather than a preference, please tell the team when you order. See the menu or book a table.