Souvlaki Realness at The Athenian

Greek food. Often relegated to the post beer kebab category strips of greasy mystery meat that tops a grilled pitta glistening with intent and lots of garlic mayonnaise. You want a kebab now don’t you? But it gets a bad rep being the drunk’s choice, Greek food, done right is a wonderful thing. Bristol doesn’t have much in the way of decent Greek restaurants, maybe 4 ish at most, the somewhat secret Cyprus Kebab House being a particular favourite of mine. However Cargo 2 has come to the rescue with the arrival of The Athenian.  Athenian already has a few openings across London, including Boxpark, the first shipping container retail and dining mall which Wapping  Wharf is based on.  What the Athenian is offering up is souvlaki. Souvlaki are derived from the Turkish doner kebab, in fact gyros comes from the word to spin. The Greeks have made them their own by adding fries into the meat and salad combo. 

The Athenian offer options for carnivores, veggies and vegans alike. You can choose from beef and lamb bifteki, the Greek word for kofte, chicken, pork, halloumi, mixed veg and mushrooms. It also offers options for varying states of hunger. Which is lucky because I am usually ravenous.  Each main filling comes with a designated sauce, chicken for example comes with a honey mustard style one, and the kofte with a light tzatziki. There is also the option to add extra meat and/or halloumi. The halloumi is proper imported Hellenic stuff and it’s texture is a lot firmer and more delicious than what you can buy in the supermarkets, so well worth a punt I’d say. 

 I  sampled the kofte on my first visit along with a side of oregano fries and some of the feta and smoked chilli dip, which I believe is the accompaniment for the pork. I also opted for a chunk of halloumi to make sure I sampled my first gyros by The Athenian, properly. After several visits to the Athenian I can categorically say that this is a great place to get a quick and tasty feed. Certainly a welcome sight if you are hungover and have to count on Deliveroo bringing tasty Greek treats to your door, they travel very well. But it’s nicer if you can visit in person, plus if the sun is shining you can grab a cool drink and watch the boats wizzing up and down. 

Testing out Deliveroo

The week before Christmas for me is either filled with fraught panic buying or a time of laidback nonchalance, convincing yourself you're done with all the shopping. To address the mid-week slump and knowing that the fridge was down to a few hunks of cheese and some various half-consumed condiments, we decided to take advantage of the credit we had been offered by Deliveroo to try out their service. Rich and I had stopped ordering usual takeaways because they are often so disappointing in taste and quality. We were really hoping this would break the mould

You've probably seen the aqua Deliveroo drivers swarming round the city like busy bees, delivering food from chain and independent restaurants alike to those of us who want their favourite dishes in the comfort of our own home. They are present in many of the larger cities in the UK and a good number in mainland Europe too.  The Deliveroo website is slick and the iPhone app is very easy to use. The layout is clear and there is a helpful leading delivery time for each restaurant so you can see how long you are likely to be waiting. Rich and I had £35 to spend and after much deliberation we decided to try out Koh Thai Tapas. We ordered some lamb massaman curry, chicken pad Thai, coconut rice and crispy chilli beef. You can also choose to tip your driver on top of your bill which is a nod to tipping waiting staff, a nice touch, so we added on a tip to ours.  

Whilst we waited the stated 45 minutes we had a drink and caught up on the latest Masterchef The Professionals, compulsive viewing even just to watch Gregg's over active facial expressions. I occasionally looked down at the app to check on our delivery’s progress, as Deliveroo has a live updater. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our food would arrive ahead of schedule and, sure enough, after 35 minutes I got a call. The scooter delivery driver was extremely friendly and pleasant and I took the hot bundle of Thai goodness into the kitchen to unwrap and serve. Everything was really well sealed and wrapped, so it was nice and hot and everything all smelled wonderful.

I piled the food on to our plates and we got stuck in. It was all delicious; the crispy chilli beef particularly so. We've eaten at Koh Thai Tapas before and enjoyed the food there so we were pleased to note that none of the taste or quality had been lost, so we could dine on our sofa with restaurant-grade food. Deliveroo is more expensive than your usual takeaway place but you are paying for generally better quality food. It’s still less expensive than going to the restaurant itself because you have your own drinks. Deliveroo is a service I’ve used again since as the service is friendly and the selection of restaurants is also pretty good. You'll see many of your favourites on the list, particularly for burgers like 3 Brothers and Burger Joint, but it would be good to see a tasty Chinese option or an Indian one to complete the set. Deliveroo is a great addition to Bristol and it would be nice to see them expand their delivery area so more people can enjoy the service. Hopefully that will come in time.

To find out more about Deliveroo visit their website. Although we received credit to test out Deliveroo this did not affect my opinion. The following week we used the service again with our own money and found exactly the same great service and excellent food quality. Have you tried Deliveroo yet, what was your experience like?