IT’S not difficult to find hummus in Wilmslow. In fact you’re probably never more than 20 feet away from it at any point. But we’re not talking about the organic, vegan stuff you get in Chorlton or West Didsbury, Wilmslow has more authentic Middle Eastern hummus than a belly dancer can shake a bejewelled navel at.
Kleftico or Stolen Lamb is a corker of a dish, it has to be since they named the restaurant after it.
There’s Armenian hummus from Heddys and Lebanese hummus from Sahara, which is why I wasn’t exactly first in the queue when a new Cypriot restaurant opened on Grove Street last year.
My parents went and I should have known from the glint in my mother’s eyes that The Stolen Lamb was better than good. It’s not very often she gets to find a gem of a restaurant before I do, so she couldn’t wait to tell me. My mum’s not what you’d call a trendy restaurant ‘collector’; she likes good food, in generous portion sizes, carefully cooked in a comfortable environment without paying a fortune – pretty much what we all hope for from a restaurant.
Stolen Lamb DoorwayChef George Hadjiyiannis heads up the kitchen with help from various family members (mostly also called George). Dishes are a combination of much loved and well tested traditional Cypriot family recipes, modern cooking styles and the presentation skills George picked up working for top restaurants such as the Hilton and Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
First time diners who want to get an overall sense of the place can order the Spring Mezze Menu (£30 for 3 x 3-dish courses) or the Symposium menu (5 courses £45/matching wine option £70). There’s also a dedicated vegetarian menu. The wine list features the best of the Aegean with a great range of excellent Greek red, whites and rosés in amongst the regular classics.
Whilst dipping deliciously comforting homemade halloumi bread in Greek XVO we ordered from the ‘Piata’ menu, the seasonal ‘a la carte’ which is confidently short.
Sesame Sheeps CheeseGeorge’s paternal grandfather (also George) was well known for producing goat’s milk to make the Cypriot Halloumi so I started with sheep cheese coated in sesame seeds with sweet onions, spicy spinach and black bean hummus (£7.95) – actually the only hummus on the menu. It was really good. The cheese was substantial and ticked every ‘good recipe requirement box’ with complementary textures, flavours and various other positive food-based adjectives.
No envious glances from me then towards my husband’s equally excellent starter, the mighty meaty Zalatina (£7.50) a fritter packed with slow cooked wild boar served on an apple salad with rounds of homemade brawn. They’re not afraid of using the ‘less popular’ cuts of meat occasionally, but rest reassured if you’ve never eaten ox tongue or brawn, you’re in the hands of experts.
Zalatina
Kleftico or Stolen Lamb is a corker of a dish, it has to be since they named the restaurant after it.
Apparently bandits cooked this in the mountains when they wanted to eat well but didn’t want any delicious aromas giving away their hideout. They improvised by making a fire in a sealed pit in which they buried a lamb and some foraged herbs. By the time they returned from a busy day’s banditising, the lamb had been slow cooking with nowhere for the sweet aromatic juices to escape but back into the meat, rendering it soft, sweet and delicious. Rather than disturbing the branch of Laura Ashley below by digging a pit through their ceiling, George uses a traditional wood fired clay oven and a coal fired BBQ to create a similar effect.
Kleftiko
For main, I chose Bakalarios (main picture, top of the page); perfectly roasted cod, smoked bean and loukaniko cassoulet topped with crispy calamari and a couple of testicular looking (but no less delicious for it) wild boar stuffed squid (£15.95) ‘Zalatina’, ‘Kleftico’, ‘Bakalarios’, ‘Galatoboureko’ - It’s almost impossible to read these dish names out loud without shouting ‘Gladiators READY?’
Desserts very good at The Stolen Lamb.
My husband, ‘not a dessert person’ has now fallen head over heels for Galatoboureko - a brûléed rosewater and vanilla semolina pudding, caramelized figs and toasted pistachio nuts. I originally wanted Kati Oreo, a Greek biscuit cheesecake served with Kahlua milkshake (desserts £6.95) but George came out and said he didn’t think it was set enough.
GalatobourekoChefs take note – he didn’t send another George, he came out himself to tell us, and he brought me something else instead that was so delicious it made my eyes roll 180° into my head and back. A warm white chocolate rice pudding with sharp summer berry compote, one of the two things George’s mother (also George) makes for the restaurant.
Our meal was so good, we actually decided to go again the following week. If you want a genuine piece of glorious Cypriot sunshine nearer to home, make like a Centaur and get yourselves to The Stolen Lamb in Wilmslow. Ask for George – someone’ll come.
You can follow Deanna Thomas on Twitter @DeannaThomas
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL AND PAID FOR BY THE MAGAZINE.
The Stolen Lamb, 70a Grove St, Wilmslow, SK9 1DS. 01625 419 571. info@stolenlamb.com Twitter @Stolenlamb
Rating: 14.75/20
Food 7.75/10
Ambience 3/5
Service 4/5
Moussaka - Not As We Know It
It's a deal
