Filos, an island of Greek food for when the Hellenic urge hits hard

Filos. (Photo: The Nose)

By The Nose

12 Jul 2024

Do you sometimes just get that craving for the simple flavours of Greek cuisine? That unhurried simple use of fresh ingredients undisguised by anything but the purity of good olive oil, maybe some oregano and healthy greens? I have the antidote.

The antidote to that hellenic urge lies in the quiet surroundings of Lynnwood road, Pretoria, opposite the august main buildings of Tuks University, hidden behind the statuesque and imposing Greek cathedral. You enter through a gate hidden away behind the building and in the outbuildings of the church lies a small Greek temple to food and, attached, its very comprehensively stocked Greek deli.

You know the cliché of the Greek Yiayia or granny in the kitchen. Here she exists in real life as two brothers of Cypriot origin run a lovely front of house with mum in the kitchen. And you can taste it.

The menu spills over with Greek and Cypriot delicacies among some other more mundane dishes that I guess are directed mainly at students.

But if you want pukka Greek preparation of regional specialities, you have arrived. Fresh greens sautéed in thick Greek olive oil with garlic and lemon. Garlicky Skordalia. Leopard-spotted freshly prepared pita bread. Hunks of juicy grilled meats tucked into yiros behind garlicky fresh vegetables and yoghurt tzatziki. Slow-cooked lamb, verdant Dolmades rolled into full moist mouthfuls, fish in all its forms cooked with classic simplicity, and a generous selection of very interesting Greek and Cypriot salads and Meze (small plates).

The tempting distraction and I eat here frequently on our infrequent days off, and the venue is perfect whether you want a full-blown feast, or a nourishing fresh snack after a hard day at work. We ate a simple chickpea and haloumi salad, wholesome and vinegary, with beetroot and the grilled slices of halloumi squeaking between our teeth as we contemplated life and the main course.

We often just order a vast selection of the different meze, but today decided on two souvlaki in pita following a draining day at work. They also have excellent cocktails (ask for less ice) and a wider selection of wines than you might expect.

While we wait for our food we often browse through the deli, which also offers frozen takeaway family meals at silly cheap prices. Vast trays of moussaka and the like.

Right: chicken souvlaki. Top left: lamb souvlaki. Below left, halloumi and beetroot salad. (Photos: The Nose)

The generous souvlaki arrives wrapped in the traditional paper and served with very crispy fries or hearty Horiatiki (Greek peasant salad), but there are other options. We needed the carbs. Or I did, as I eyed the distraction...

Hunks of juicy pork vied for our attention with coarse sliced tomato and cucumber drenched in garlicky tzatziki. All wrapped in the most perfect fresh in-house baked pita. It is comfort food that transports your soul to a small blue-and-white-flecked island somewhere in the Mediterranean.

We followed up with one of the truly delicious and sticky Greek desserts like little doughnuts soaked in syrup, and two thick Greek coffees. It was prepared to order with the obligatory black mud lurking at the bottom of the cup and the caffeine kick of a small Greek mule.

Yiayia came from the kitchen to greet us, as she does, with her apron on. Looking like an episode of a Greek travel channel special sprung to life. In the background was contemporary Greek music – not too loud but offering nostalgia without the stretched tape or Demis Roussos.

Filos. (Photo: The Nose)

A large table of visiting Greek academics indulged other academics from Tukkies, discussing centuries of philosophy over food. Two older Greek men smoking vociferously on the stoep played backgammon intensely. A solitary ancient Greek man slouched over his table, slowly sipping a large whisky, puffing his cigarette, his eyes in the thousand yard stare of someone seeing the island of his youth.

The setting is perfect. Kids have a playground outside, and a large three-generation Afrikaans family were animatedly tackling vast plates of food with the kids out of their hair.

And that is all. Service is relaxed and friendly with our usual waiter always looking after us well and unobtrusively. This is not fancy food or a grand setting, just homely comfort. And for the distraction and I, a home away from home. Filos is a solid 9.2 on the restaurant scale and must be visited every time that little Hellenic urge hits hard. DM

Filos Greek restaurant | 37 Lynnwood Rd, Brooklyn, in the grounds of the Greek Church opposite Tuks | Entrance through the street at the back of the church | 012 346 2382 | Free parking outside with a guard off the street | All credit cards accepted

This is the latest in a series of food reviews of SA food heroes and lesser-known spots serving great food and visited anonymously with the bill paid in full by our secret and highly qualified food reviewer. He is often accompanied by the delicious distraction, his partner in life and fellow gourmand.

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