THE SOUVLAKI, MARGATE. So many red flags, I worked out why in the end.

Nothing excites me more than stunning and inspired street food, and so it was great delight to hear that The Souvlaki was now in Margate having just been crowned best takeaway in Greater London at the JustEat Restaurant Awards.

Situated in what was The Ocean Lounge, but more popularly remembered as the Ruby Lounge, it commands an enviable position along Margates seafront.

The Ocean Lounge was a calamity of a place so anything would have been better than that! 

At least now we can expect a real treat!

(The picture is taken from the article by Kathy Bailes for The Isle of Thanet News and neither have any association with my blog (nor does Lovett's for that matter, but credits where it's due))

Now with new livery The Souvlakis appearance was both instantaneous and welcomed. Gone are the terrible specials boards and the signs proclaiming the best chips in Margate, now we are treated to images for the uninitiated no doubt of a Souvlaki and Gyros which serves to provide a visual clue to what food you might find inside. 

I'm not convinced that a serious restaurant should have pictures of its food outside, unless it's ice cream because when you fancy a 99' then you need to spot where to get one a mile away.

The Souvlaki is a welcome addition to Margates fine selection of restaurants and food vendors, and given the nature of the food being authentically homely and hands on means it should be a informal dining experience.

It provides a more casual approach to dining and on a Saturday afternoon where our rumbling tummies were calling for sustenance the Souvlaki was both exciting and guaranteed to hit the spot.

We were greeted at the door by what I can only really describe as someone that had the look of the person that could sell you a £50 wrap down a back street and that's not the Souvlaki special. 

He kind of leaped into our path as we looked inside the door. I realise that my description is unkind and so jokes aside I can say he was pleasant enough and served his purpose by putting a menu in our hand and pointing us in the direction of some empty tables, and to inform us that we had to order at the counter.

The counter was basically a table with an Epos device upon it, and a couple of eager order takers.

Eating in or taking away was the first question asked, and certainly people were hovering around for their take outs.

Meals all appear to be served out of tin foil trays which is unashamedly utilitarian but plays to the theme of a sizable but unfussy meal.

I guess it's because I know having visited when it was The Ocean Lounge that this point is worth mentioning, but nothing has been changed from when it was The Ocean Lounge apart from the menus, so for me it just feels a little lazy... Ah I stand corrected, they were playing some traditional music (middle eastern, not Cypriot if I'm not mistaken) and not the radio playing classic 90's FM with smashie and nicie which I had reason to chuckle at when it was the Ocean Lounge. 

It is early days though so only time will tell if they decide to personalize things.

But unlike the Ocean Lounge It was good to see it fairly busy, a pleasing blend of couples and families to larger groups, it makes for a good friendly atmosphere.

Today was one of those days where we wasn't in the mood to muck around. We wanted the biggest meal we could have and price wasn't an issue. I was pleased to see there were some great sounding choices.

I won't pretend to you to have known the difference between them all but what could possibly go wrong?

We ordered 3 meals, the mixed Gyros box, Souvlaki Box, The Souvlaki. The latter sounded like a signature dish so despite my urge to order the most expensive thing, I sacrificed myself for the cause.

The bill came to £57.40 for 3 meals and 3 small beers.

When ordering there was a confusing convo with the eager order takers about what dips and sauces were available, I will always go for a spicy sauce, tzatziki was mentioned I am sure, but when the food arrived it was only mine that had a dip, so I wasn't disappointed and my fellow diners didn't ask where theirs were so no great shakes, but if it was my mistake or theirs I cannot say, but the meals were missing a major component nevertheless.

The box was arranged into 2 quarters and one half.

Half of my box was salad of the simplest order. I'm not shy of raw red onions but it was a seemingly endless amount to get through. The top left quarter was an meagre offering of cook-from-frozen chips and the bottom quarter was the grilled bread which had been pre sliced into tiny triangles. The main star of the box was the chicken on a skewer which despite my initial disappointment at the size of the portion was infact beautifully moist and with good flavour. The link which binds the dish together is the sauce, but as I dip my chicken into the plastic pot, it bounces back barely making a dent. I prod it with my finger and it is freezing cold! I use my plastic knife to dig it out, and then the bread to try and smother it on, but it is just grainy at best like a very dry humus mix.

The bread rattled me also, why have they cut it up? I can't dip it in anything, I can't sandwich anything in between it, it's just there to nibble on in between the red onion. The bread is also fairly rigid, I would have imagined the bread would have been a stand out ingredient being flavoursome plump and moist that you could place all your bits inside and wrap it all up, that would be a massive part to the dining experience but no, it was more like a small supermarket bought garlic bread pizza cut into quarters.

Ah! there was some halloumi before I forget which was very nice, but it was the first to go before I got my camera out.

As a signature plate of food, this was quite disappointing and forgettable.

My other diners were tucking into theirs like they had not eaten for a month, and having the larger portioned meals they had more meat, but still the ridiculously sliced bread, and looking at what's in their tray I'm not seeing the value, it was hardly bursting at the seams. There is nothing really special going on here, it's just stuff in a tin tray, basically a deconstructed Turkish kebab for its elements but more expensive than the Charcoal Grill which is a very good take away on Margates western quarter.

I mean no offence or insult to compare the two cultures, but in essence we are talking the same trinity of ingredients...meat-bread-salad and a side order of chips 

I do actually have a strong Cypriot family connection and have attended many family celebrations involving consuming the best Greek food so I really had high hopes for The Souvlaki but on my visit I left with feelings of disappointment because what I got wasn't the experience promised by the hype I had seen advertised. 

It wasn't as good as a Turkish take away, and if the dining experience is the difference between a take away and here, then you can't put them in the same category as Ala TURKA who by contrast are a totally different league.

Based on this visit my verdict is centered around my likelihood to return. I wouldn't buy the same things again because they just didn't represent good value, and now I know I don't like red onion by the forkfuls that much. 

However there are cheaper options which must be the missing link, like an actual Souvlaki or Gyros that you can pick up with your hands as a wrap.

But here's the thing, now it's in my head I would have to have a real reason to come back because if I fancied a middle eastern inspired bite in this neck of the woods again then I will probably try Alexandria Cafe first, and then if the flow goes in that direction then hold out for a take out from Charcoal Grill.

I was going to wrap things up at this point but I've just spotted something which is somewhat of a ah ha! moment, now this calamity makes sense!

My bill on my banking app says The Souvlaki Franchise. 

What does that say to you? 

This suggests to me that far from being the replacement for the calamitous Ocean Lounge, it is probably more likely to be the same owners, hence why there is dodgy pictures of the food outside, the strange host that makes you jump in the door to point to a table, this is why nothing has changed inside apart from the menus and probably why I didn't leave feeling content that I had just been treated to an outstanding meal from award winning operators... Because this is still The Ocean Lounge under a different name.

Now that makes sense to me.

THE SOUVLAKI, MARGATE