Home > Businesses > Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna > Reviews of Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna > Review

"Greek? no chance. "

A review of Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna by Tim written on Friday 28th of November 2008

Advertisements

So, while reading the explorer one day i came across this restaurant listed under 'greek'. curious, i looked it up on the web..

..apparently the Eraina had been a well kept secret, an undiscovered institution, proud and long standing in cambridge...

...i think it would have been better if it had been left undiscovered, an embarassing secret..

lets start with the outside:

actually, i think this was its best feature, it looks nice on the way in, even nicer on the way out though i assure you...

once inside, the place was quiet, with only a young student couple seated near the door. The waiter seated us at the table immediately next to them, which i found a little ridiculous, and a bit embarassed at intruding on their privacy...

The fact that the staff are Asian is neither here nor there, but to try and pass off as greek? how bizzare...

The menu consisted of around 5 or 6 pages, each crammed with a vast, vast array of dishes written in a barely legible scrawl.

its confusing, the huge range of dishes puts far too much pressure on the kitchen if its to be cooked fresh, and subsequently the food suffers.

and suffer it did. terribly.

you could tell from the speed it arrived that it was fresh from the microwave.

the "lamb & mint sauce" roast i had was appalling, i would've expected better from a 80s scool canteen.. it was so blatantly microwaved from a prepacked portion ordered from brakes or 3663 (big, mass produced garbage) and was fatty to the point of being 60-40 fat-meat, the sauce was a brown, semicongealed slop and tasted of, well, nothing really, certainly no trace of mint....

all served with refried chips and gray vegetables, also microwaved from a packet.

looking round the table, i could see that the other dishes were of equal state; a rissoto, which was just plain boiled rice with a gloop of cheese microwaved over it. a "Cordon bleu" which looked equally disgusting, which was apparently almost inedible, and another undescribable mess.

all served with all served with refried chips and gray vegetables, microwaved from a packet.

notice a theme?

the only thing that came close to being fresh was the salad, a nice touch, but far too little.

the service was pretty bad too, dumping the dishes at the table was a very good way for our waiter to earn himself a 0% commision...

we ended it there, not really trusting the idea of dessert, paid and left, apologising profusely to my friends for my choice of establishment....

Agree? Disagree? Add your own review of Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna

Did you find this review inappropriate or offensive?

More Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna Reviews

Now showing reviews 1-5 of 28

View all 28 reviews »

  • Nice, no frills informal atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for a chilly October evening. A...
  • Strange Food by Ian
    The menu isn't much shorter than the old testiment and seems to be Greek, Turkish, Italian, Indian f...
  • Cheap, Cheerful & (never) Changing by Claire Bretherton
    Having been a student in the 80's & eating Eraina constantly, was never sure if it had a 'nation...
  • I had just discovered this greek restaurant in Cambridge and I was looking forward to giving it a tr...
  • The Taverna by Michael McLean
    A truly excellent restaurant. Brilliant for taking visitors to for lunch/dinner. Large menu of e...

View all Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna reviews

Advertisements

NOTE: Reviews are submitted by visitors of our site. The contents of this page are in no way representative of the entity being reviewed, Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna, and are merely third party opinions. Cambridge Online accepts no liability in respect of any material submitted by visitors and published by us and we are not responsible for its content and accuracy. For further details, see our Terms & Conditions.

Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna

Map showing Eraina Cosmopolitan Taverna on Free School Lane