Village Greek opens second outlet for Hellenic treats The Village Greek in Borrowdale

Epicurean
Over the years there have been a number of Greek restaurants in Harare, but all of these have closed, a sad development in view of the popularity of Greek cuisine in the overall world of culinary offerings.

A couple of years ago, however, a newcomer was created in the busy Sam Levy’s Village complex, called Village Greek, and this is proving equal to the task of making sure the variety of culinary treats in the capital city includes a Greek selection. It is run by long-standing restaurateur Paul Sinclair, with his partners, the Babiolakis family, and its almost ideal position in “the Village” gives it easy access to a large number of diners across the city.

Whenever I visit dining venues in Sam Levy’s Village I am reminded that many people living in the core of the northern suburbs, from Mount Pleasant to the west and through to Chisipite and Highlands to the east, are reluctant to travel far from home to dine out.

That, of course, is very sad, as they are robbing themselves of a great many exciting opportunities to enjoy good food and good venues.  My message to them remains: get out and about more, and travel further afield!

But they are indeed lucky to have a good selection of eateries in this central part of the suburbs, and the Village Greek is definitely one of the must-do dining venues in Harare. The ongoing fuel problems have not made it easier for people to travel around in search of good meals, so one imagines these dining venues are situated within fairly easy reach of what is popularly known as Harare’s ‘golden triangle’  and benefit accordingly.

My guest and I had a delightful lunch at Village Greek this week, on one of those magical May days of warm days and blue skies; dining at this venue is al fresco, so good weather is something of a necessity. The menu is varied and interesting and we had a superb shared starter of spanakopita (triangles of spinach and feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry) and pitta bread with two dips: hummus and tzatziki. Then followed a merida for my guest: pitta bread, salad and tzatziki dip, with skewers of chicken and haloumi — she found it excellent. I had hake fillets with salad and chips, also tasty and generously portioned.

We had a small but delightful sweet ending: a slice of baklava (pastry filled with assorted nuts and a syrup dressing) for my guest and corabiades for me (a traditional Greek shortbread biscuit, dusted with sugar). As a real treat, we finished with a really marvellous Greek coffee, strong and tangy.

The venue’s ambience is buzzy and pleasant, the staff service is good and the food is both enjoyable and satisfying. It is a good venue for lunch or dinner and it so rewarding to have access to Greek styles and flavours in a Harare eatery. It is not only a diner, but also a takeaway, either for self-collection or delivery by the restaurant staff.

Chatting to Paul, I discovered that a second Village Greek has opened, this one almost exclusively a takeaway. It is in the Mon Repos centre in Newlands shopping centre, on the site where the lovely Libby’s operated for a number of years.

This new venue has been open a short while and is doing reasonably well. Sadly the Newlands shopping centre is a shadow of its former self, but it would seem an ideal spot in which to create a takeaway, as other ventures of that kind seem to be thriving there.

Family-friendly, Village Greek Borrowdale is open from Tuesday to Sunday between 11am and late evening (kitchen closes 9pm), while its delivery service operates from 6pm to 9pm Tuesday to Friday and from 12 midday to 9pm on Saturday and Sunday.

At Village Greek Newlands, opening times are 11am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, with no opening on a Sunday. A moderate charge is applied for deliveries to customers from source. Inside the restaurant’s service area is a small but very well-stocked deli, and we were impressed by the selection of coffees (at least seven nationalities represented in the packets I saw!), nuts, honey, biscuits and other treats on the shelves.

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