My big fat greek saturday night out

It was a warm, balmy Saturday night in Windsor, and other than the groups of girls with bright purple hair and “Bride to be” emblazoned on their t-shirts, (who incidentally caused a lot of photographic excitement with a group of Japanese tourists), the members of the 3pm wedding party at the Guildhall,  who had obviously been in the pub for the last four hours if their drooping buttonholes were anything to go by, I could have been in the heart of Greece at a local taverna. I genuinely felt like I was on holiday for the evening. Church Street is a delightful cobbled lane next to the Guildhall, famous for the wedding of Charles and Camilla (and Josh and Louise) and due to the lovely warm weather, it was crammed full of tables, to allow the diners to sit in the evening air and enjoy a really fun atmosphere. Latino’s has been in Windsor since 1987 http://www.latinotaverna.co.uk/cms/index.php, but this was the first time I’d been there.  Our friend Lee encouraged us to have the mezze, a selection of all things Greek at £22.95 per head, and finding that Mumm champagne was only £34 per bottle and the house wine less than £13 a bottle, we kicked off the evening in good spirits. Inside the party was rocking with lots of “Hupla” and “Zorba the Greek” music and I would imagine that if you came with a large party and wanted a bit of “Big Fat Greek Wedding”-type fun, this would be perfect, as they do have live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Sit outside if you don’t want to be Zorba-ed. The food started to arrive quickly and we were presented with a massive array of 8 starters http://www.latinotaverna.co.uk/cms/index.php?alacartemenu, including as you would expect taramasalata, houmous etc all served with a generous helping of hot pitta bread . Next came a fish course of squid, tiger prawns and mussels, which were really good and then if that wasn’t enough, we were given a Greek salad with grilled halloumi, lamb stew, potatoes, chicken souvlaki and some sort of rissole which was my favourite, the amount of food was amazing.  It was sensibly followed by a bowl of fresh watermelon and grapes. The staff were extremely  friendly and efficient and made us feel very welcome. We sat for a long time and whilst not completely tempted to join in the karaoke that was going on inside, in a bizarre way, it added to the atmosphere more than a sophisticated style of entertainment might have. So final verdict? For a large group who want to let their hair down, perfect. For a quieter evening, make sure the weather is good so you can sit outside and enjoy vicariously, or avoid Fridays and Saturdays. Value for money was excellent. The food was substantial and whilst not super-amazing – they’re not going to make Heston shake in his shoes –  it was honest, well-cooked and I had a great evening. On the Kimmy restaurant scale, I’m going to give Latino Taverna a suprising 4 out of 5, whether it would be the same on a cold night in December, I don’t know, but on this occasion. Hupla! …now what was that about the bazouki player?