Greek street food in London has a quiet advantage this month. From Clapham Common to King’s Cross the city is in full Oktoberfest mode, all bratwurst, pretzels and oompah bands, and that is exactly when a hot souvlaki wrapped in pita feels like the smarter order. Cheaper than a beer hall ticket, ready in minutes, and it tastes of home.
This is the Greek answer to the German season: where to find proper souvlaki, gyros, spanakopita and bougatsa right now, which Oktoberfest events are worth it if you fancy both, and the Greek events of the next ten days. Every Greek business below is a Greek List member, so it is a real Greek kitchen, not a tourist menu.
Street food in Greece is a daily habit, not a trend: a souvlaki after work, a tiropita on the way to the office, a bougatsa with the morning coffee. London has caught up fast and you can now eat the same things, often made by people who grew up on them. The difference between a good shop and an average one is simple: pita grilled to order, meat cooked while you wait, tzatziki made that morning.
Oktoberfest season in London runs to the end of October and the big events are ticketed, loud and heavy on the pork. The Greek options below are open seven days a week, cost less than a stein of lager, and nobody will ask you to wear lederhosen.
The souvlaki is where any tour of Greek street food in London should start: cubes of pork or chicken, marinated, grilled on a wooden skewer and served on a plate with pita, chips and tzatziki, or wrapped in the pita with tomato and onion. In Athens it is the late night meal, in Thessaloniki the lunch break, in London the fastest way to eat something that did not come from a chain.
The test of a souvlaki shop is the pita: thick, soft, brushed with oil before it hits the grill, never toasted into a cracker. The second test is choice, with or without onion, chips inside or not, pork or chicken.
Greek stop nearby: EPIC in the Food Hall on the lower ground floor of Westfield Stratford City, a Greek street food restaurant serving souvlaki and gyros to more than a thousand people a day. Handy if you are heading to a game or a gig at the Olympic Park.
Getting there: Stratford station (Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth line, DLR and Overground) opens straight into Westfield. EPIC is open daily, until 10pm Monday to Saturday.
If souvlaki is the skewer, gyros is the slice. Pork or chicken stacked on a vertical spit, roasted slowly, shaved off in thin strips and folded into pita with tomato, onion, tzatziki and, done properly, a handful of chips inside the wrap. It is the most popular Greek street food in London for a reason: messy, filling and under a tenner almost everywhere.
Look for a spit that is actually turning. Pre sliced gyros kept in a tray loses its crisp edges within half an hour.
Greek stop nearby: It’s All Greek To Me at 101 Praed Street, two minutes from Paddington station. The chain started here in 2016 and now has branches in Shoreditch, Brent, Wandsworth, Peckham and Chiswick, all built around souvlaki, gyros and Greek drinks, with late opening until 12.30am.
Getting there: Paddington (Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Elizabeth line). Walk out of the Praed Street exit and you are almost there.
Not all Greek street food in London involves meat. The spanakopita, spinach and feta in crisp filo, and its cousin the tiropita, cheese only, are what most Greeks actually eat on the way to work. Sold by the slice or as triangles, they travel well in a paper bag and are best warm from the oven in the morning.
A good Greek bakery will also have kreatopita with minced meat and, in autumn, kolokithopita with pumpkin. The pastry should shatter when you bite it. If it bends, keep walking.
Greek stop nearby: Grand Cafe 241 at 241 Selhurst Road in South Norwood, a family run Greek coffee shop, bakery and bar with fresh cheese pies and spinach pies every day, brunch, homemade desserts and a soft play corner for the kids. A proper neighbourhood stop for south London families.
Getting there: Selhurst station (Southern) is a few minutes walk along Selhurst Road, and Norwood Junction is about ten minutes away.
The sweet side of Greek street food in London is the bougatsa: thin pastry wrapped around warm semolina custard, cut into squares and dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. It comes from northern Greece and is eaten standing at the counter with a Freddo espresso, the only correct coffee order between April and October, and most Greeks would say the rest of the year too.
Bougatsa is a morning thing: the custard is best before noon, so make it a weekend breakfast. Ask for extra cinnamon.
Greek stop nearby: Kamari at 25 Westow Street in Crystal Palace, a kafeneio and bakaliko in one, with custard bougatsa, spanakopita and tiropita baked every morning, Freddo espresso and Freddo cappuccino made properly, briki coffee, and a deli counter with barrel aged feta and Greek olive oil to take home. Crystal Palace and South Norwood are a short bus ride apart, so you can do both in one morning.
Getting there: Crystal Palace station (Overground and Southern), then about ten minutes walk up to the Triangle, or Gipsy Hill station from the other side.
Nobody is saying skip the beer. If you like the idea of a stein and an oompah band before your souvlaki, London has more Oktoberfest events than ever this year. Secret London’s October guide lists the big ones: Oktoberfest on the Common on Clapham Common runs from 9 to 24 October and bills itself as the biggest outdoor Oktoberfest in the UK, the German Gymnasium at King’s Cross keeps its Bavarian menu and music going until 23 October, Bermondsey Bierkeller carries on until 31 October, and Flat Iron Square near London Bridge has themed sessions through most of the month.
Weekend sessions sell out and Saturday nights are the rowdiest, so a weekday afternoon is the calmer option. And if you leave hungry, which happens more often than the organisers admit, Paddington is a short ride from Clapham and King’s Cross for a late gyros.
Getting there: Clapham Common (Northern line) for the Common; King’s Cross St Pancras for the German Gymnasium; London Bridge for Flat Iron Square.
Food is one way to feel at home; the other is the Greek List events page, the most complete list of Greek events in the UK, updated every week. Here is what is on in the next ten days:
Organising something yourself? Listing an event on Greek List is free and takes a few minutes.
The businesses in this guide are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month through the website, the newsletter and the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google. A listing puts your business in front of the people already looking for it.
Where do you go for the best souvlaki in your part of London? Tell us in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino and we will add the best tips to the next guide.
