Cypriana - Leyton

11:36am Wednesday 4th June 2008

NEVER trust a restaurant with pictures of the food outside. Having imparted these words of wisdom to my housemate's boyfriend, he set out to prove me wrong.

So, a trip to Cypriana it was. Standing out ostentatiously with its blue fronting, Cypriana lies on the Lea Bridge Road, very close to the Baker's Arms junction. And if you were in any doubt about where you were, there's always the aforementioned pictures outside.

That adds to the feel of going to a restaurant on holiday, as did the noise levels as soon as we stepped inside. And when it wasn't from the table of excitable teenagers close to us shrieking like banshees, it was from the traditional music that gradually increased in volume as the evening went on, upping levels of conversation to shouting across the tables.

We were quickly brought some warm pitta bread and a selection of very tasty olives, chillis and cheese byone of several people to serve us throughout the evening.

The serving arrangements did lead to confusion on occasions, with drinks having to be ordered twice and side dishes only arriving after a little prompting.

While we waited for the rest of our party to arrive we ordered some Cypriot Keo beer (£5 for a big bottle)which really hit the spot on a balmy Friday evening.

Coca Cola, meanwhile, was £1.30, which felt like a bit of an imposition when the cans were brought to the table bearing "29p, multipack, not for resale".

When the others did arrive and we finally got around to ordering starters, they appeared within about two minutes, so top marks for that.

The garlic mushrooms (£3.50) were plentiful and excellent, as were the Keftedes (meatballs) (£3.50)and Dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with meat and rice) (also £3.50).

There was also more than enough Tzatziki (strained yoghurt with cucumber, garlic and other seasoning) (£2.50), although a small gripe was that we did have to ask for more pitta bread as it's not exactly the type of dish you can eat with a fork.

You may have worked out by now that you're certainlynot going to leave Cypriana hungry.

And very good food it was too. The chicken kebabs (£7)were done to perfection, with the grilled chicken very tender and the accompanying rice very plentiful.

The pork dish was also very favourably received and the amount left purely to do with the portion size than the quality of the food.

The Kleftico (£10.90) was perfectly cooked with the lamb tender and just the right side of rare, although the sauce was a little much.

The vegetable Dolmades (£7.90) were also excellent, although one strange thing was that there was no accompanying dish.

Mind you, with the extra salad that appeared on the table, along with the piles of grilled potatoes that came with the Kleftico, there was no chance of the vegetarians going hungry.

The whole bill, including more than one round of drinks, came to £105.80 for six people, which was very reasonable.

The food was excellent and great value for money, the service somewhat haphazard and the pictures outside certainly not off-putting.

In fact, the only thing that would stop me going back was the noise levels and not being able to hold a decent conversation over dinner.

CYPRIANA
662-664 Lea Bridge Road,
Leyton,
E10 6AP.

TEL: 020 8539 3466

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