Review: Vori Greek restaurant, Holland Park

Fresh local ingredients cooked simply, preferably with a gorgeous beach view, is many people's experience.

In fact Vori in Holland Park is named after founder Markos Tsimikalis' favourite beach on the island of Andros, and elevates impeccably sourced fare to showcase the depth and diversity of Greece's culinary heritage.

Lamb steak with vegetables and pasta (Image: Courtesy of Vori)

Warming hearty casseroles are unexpected; a grilled pork shoulder kebab with a sweet mustard dip, and a slab of crisp pastry atop slow-cooked chicken and veg were among the revelations on its menu.

Seasonally evolving, rustic, authentic, home cooking is what they are aiming at - the kind you might serve at a mid-week supper.

But this is W11 and the decor is anything but rustic. A wall of bottles, clean lines, hues of terracotta, olive green, and pale blue, and light fightings that resemble bent cymbals give an informal but contemporary air.

Vori in Holland Park (Image: Courtesy of Vori)

The service is warm and proficient, the wine list exclusively Greek with bottles hailing from Crete to Macedonia. A hardy bellwether for good value is the entry level red; the Tsantalis Rapsani was delicious.

It's a plates type of affair. Order three each was the advice. The Spitiki or pie of the week (chicken and veg) was swiftly demolished, portobello mushrooms with garlic, rosemary and white wine was lovely and homely, as was a side of potatoes, deliciously dressed with lemon, honey and rosmary.

That pork kebab was flavoured with smoky paprika and flamed over a charcoal grill, the mustard more reminiscent of northern than Southern European cuisine. Best of all was the pink seared lamb steak on top of pearls of pasta in a comforting broth drizzled with a herby oil.

Cretan cheescake with wild thyme honey and candied walnuts (Image: Courtesy of Vori)

It's quite veg forward; a smoked aubergine salad, a butterbean and vegetable stew, and smoked cheese in batter with fig jam would make a great meal. Or pescatarians can enjoy traditional fish soup, squid and sea bass.

Leaving space for dessert we shared a rich Cretan cheescake with candied walnuts and wild thyme honey, and moreish Greek doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and that same honey - nectar of the Gods.

Pork shoulder kebab with pitta and mustard (Image: Courtesy of Vori)

Drinks include natural wines, unpasteurised beers and Greek spirits and cocktails. My teenager loved the lip smackingly sour home-made lemonade.

Former derivatives trader Tsimikalis is a dedicated advocate of the ingredients and traditions of his native land, who switched career a decade ago to pursue a dream of modernising and promoting Greek hospitality, food and wine. He opened Hungry Donkey in Shoreditch in 2015, which closed its doors last year. Then voila there was Vori.

Vori is at 120 Holland Park Avenue, W11. Open Tuesday - Friday: 5:30pm-10pm, Saturday – 12pm-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10pm https://vorigreekitchen.co.uk/