amazon Archives - SAHARASPLASH

Just two weeks after my last day at my office job, I found myself heading for Westfield Shepherd’s Bush at 1 o clock on a Friday afternoon. I was so excited as this was to be my first blogger’s lunch and boy was I in for a treat! I’m sure you have all seen one of The Real Greek restaurants if you are local to London, there are 9 in total and I was about to experience The Real Greek Lunch celebrating the launch of their new book. This inspired cookbook is written by the restaurant’s consultant and expert in all things Greek- Tonia Buxton. I was so surprised when the menus came round to see the incredible variety of things which I could eat as a coeliac. Over half the menu is gluten free and so I was thrilled to see what was going to be brought to us, ordered all by Tonia who looked after us so well.

It was lovely to meet the Blink Publishing team along with Tonia herself and a handful of bloggers too. It was great to chat blogging and food while we waited for our starters to arrive.

We tried pretty much everything from the starter menu, my favourite was the Melitzanosalata, an aubergine dish which I have recreated in my own kitchen and photos are at the end so you can see!

We tried a range of wonderful mains too, a lot of the fish I didn’t eat just because I’m not a fan of things from the sea, but the others certainly enjoyed the dishes.

I had the most amazing greek salad and chicken skewers with peppers. The stand out dish for me was a vegetarian dish called Gigandes Plaki. Giant beans in a tomato sauce went down a treat.

Speaking of treats, I tried something new which I had never even considered to be a dessert until this was put in front of me. It looked like yoghurt and mushrooms, but Tonia explained that it was candied walnuts. I tried one and fell in love!

The sweet nut paired with the greek yoghurt was so moreish, it was lucky we were sharing this as I would have eaten the entire thing.

The tea was also a big hit, it’s a herbal blend called Greek Mountain tea and was so good, I have been back since just for this alone!

What I discovered at The Real Greek Lunch, aside from the amazing tastes, was a new found repsect for Greek culture and the great importance food has for it. I loved how simple the dishes were and how we shared them out to try a bit of everything- this is definitely something I will be going back to with friends and family to show them the way of the Greeks!

As promised, here is a little something I cooked recently using The Real Greek cookbook. The Melitzanosalata recipe on p29 was so simple and easy to follow, I made the most amazing accompaniment that gave my turkey steaks and quinoa rice the perfect zing!