Such moments are impossible to import, especially to a city as serious as London, but Zylia is romantic and hopeful enough to try. And so here arrives a Covent Garden taverna from the endearing Nick Molyviatis (of Singburi fame) and a Cypriot restaurateur called Barry Karacostas, who cut his teeth at the food hall group Arcade. Interiors mirror those of the neo-tavernas of modern Athens: walls are white, ceilings industrial; modernity is seamlessly blended with tradition. Zeus might be long gone but the promise of dishes like tuna crudo, tender beans and slow-cooked lamb lives on, albeit next to fancier wine and shocks of refinement. To Greeks, Cypriots, food is neither trend nor currency, but life in all its terrifying glory. Zylia captures this astutely but comfortably. An excellent Athenian waitress helps. She’s quick to bring a £36 bottle of assyrtiko, the grape “of the moment”. Inoffensive, inexpensive.
Zylia, Covent Garden restaurant review: Greek food masterfully done for a London crowd
