Pireaus Blues

While regulars sit and watch Brunswick Street change before their eyes, this comforting Greek taverna remains as solid as the rock the Acropolis was built on. The decor - worn timber floorboards, bare tables, yellow walls lined with framed family photographs - has been tweaked only slightly in nearly 20 years. A new chef has strengthened the focus on vegetarian and seafood dishes. You might start with a curling tentacle or two of tender char-grilled octopus, served simply with olive oil, rocket, spring onions and a wedge of lemon. A standout among the mains is a claypot of slow-cooked lamb in a lemon-spiked juice, accompanied by chunks of potato. Round things out with a salad from the specials board, perhaps a slab of warm baked manouri cheese and halved grapes, lifted by the crunch of baked almonds. Loukoumades drizzled in honey and dusted with crushed walnuts, are a fine way to say yassou.