The 4 Lanterns

Great Greek Restaurant for those who want to get away from the noisy pubs and have a quiet quality dinner that won’t break the budget. I had savory lamb chops with rice and a salad. While my wife had a dish wrapped in grape leaves. Rx with a bottle of wine for a great night out.

I ordered lamb and it was pretty good. The owner was walking around talking to different tables as if they were next door neighbors. They must have been regulars or extremely friendly people because he would sit down with them and talk.
After I was finished i had to ask the waiter for my check. Not usually a big deal except it was after he had cleared my table for 5 minutes and I was just sitting their waiting. Mind you the whole restaurant is the size of a closet.
Overall it’s in line with what the others reviews say. Good food. Bad service.

Let’s get this out of the way: the food was good. Probably better than average. Tasty, juicy, soft lamb and potatoes with crispy skin that had a really nice flavor. So why am I giving this place one star? Because the owner of this place is an asshole and I’m a vindictive son of a bitch, that’s why.
First, he started off by berating at his waiters for not giving me a menu. Throughout the whole meal he continued to treat his employees like crap and yell at them the whole time. The waiters did a great job despite being verbally abused and were obviously trying to do their best. When it was time to pay, he gave me the credit card machine and I inserted my credit card, added a tip, and removed the card once the screen said to do so. Something went wrong with the transaction apparently but I received an alert on my phone that my card was charged. The owner told me that the charge was void and that I had to give him my credit card again. When I told him that it looked like my bank already charged me he flat out told me «I don’t care what your phone says» and insisted that he charge my card again. Naturally I was concerned about being charged twice and told him so but he just told me to tell the credit card company to fix it. So basically it’s my problem and something extra I have to deal with now. He then started saying it was my fault for removing the card too soon, even though the screen clearly said «Remove Card.» There are many ways a decent, normal human being would handle this situation. The owner of the Four Lanterns chose to be a dick about it because he needed my table and wanted to get me out of there as quickly as possible.
The final insult is that I need an itemized receipt for all of my expenses while I’m here in London. All he gave me was a piece of paper with some scribblings on it. When I asked for a clearer itemized receipt he refused to do so. So I’m probably not getting reimbursed for this horrible experience and might end up being charged three times. Yes the machine apparently failed twice while visa still notified me about the charges and he still thinks it’s my fault and not his machine’s? Summary: the food was better than average but definitely not worth the emotional toll of having to deal with an abusive, dickhead owner who can’t operate a credit card machine or write down a simple itemized receipt.

After a couple of gruelling months, it was time to take my team out for lunch. The nice thing is, we get to go somewhere relatively nice, have it paid for by the company and enjoy a long Friday lunch with a drink or two.
Being as our office is just across from Cleveland Street and whenever I passed by here, it smelled quite good, it was an easy choice. The food is Greek/​Mediterranean with the inside holding about a dozen tables.
This is clearly a Mum & Pop place as the owners made themselves present and were quite funny. The man was a trip, in the course of our meal, he jokingly threatened one of my colleagues (colleague was still worried he might follow through with the threat), kicked out one of his friends for being too big of a mooch, gave us a free round of drinks and created a really good atmosphere for the place.
The pricing is reasonable, the food is served in good sized portions and exceptionally tasty. This will definitely be a place to go back to soon.

this place does not deserve 4.5 stars. As one of the other reviewers said, Too much banter, not enough charm. Food is decent, but the place is dingy and shady.
But i’m never going back!

Hmm, the three 5 star reviews on here convinced me to try this place out. For a Friday night at about 9 o’clock it wasn’t very busy to say the least. Still it’s quite cosy so that was fine. The owner gave us a warm welcome and gave us a table.
So down to the food. The person I was with was vegetarian, they had one dish on the menu that was suitable, a stuffed pepper, which I’m told was ok. I had Lamb shank which was actually really good but the roast potatoes it came with could have been straight from the freezer cabinet in Tescos.
One other thing to mention was that the owner was very friendly. Almost too friendly. His banter could be seen as charming but some might find it bordering on sexual harassment. There were numerous comments that some people might have been offended by. Luckily myself and my date took it light-​heartedly.
Otherwise a passable restaurant, with reasonable food and not a lot of people.

I’ve been here two times.
Both of time was good!
Tasty and price is good!
Nothing was bad.
I like here.

So happy Unilocal led me to this place, it’s such a wonderful find! Very cozy and good service (complimentary warm pita bread, olives, carrots, and peppers to start and grapes to finish). Everything my friend and I had was really delicious: soup, haloumi, vegetarian mousaka, and cod a la 4 Lanterns :) Friendly owner was also a nice touch. Seems like a place for those in the know, and now that I am, I’ll definitely be back!

I have been to this restaurant many times! Highly recommend this place if you have a good atmostphere, good food and a great time! I celebrated my birthday which I wasn’t told that there would be belly dancers. Had a fantastic time! Attentive and friendly staff. The owner always make sure he speaks to everyone who dines there… and he has a great sense of humour! Just don’t get offended by it.

I’ve walked past here a few times, and been curious. Curiosity was thus rewarded by a generous meal for two, at reasonable prices, with leisurely service and a fantastic atmosphere.
Really was intended to be food for an evening rather than a quick meal, with service at a leisurely, but jovial pace.
Starters were flavourful with good textures, and whet the appetite beautifully. Then in turn each course to share — we’d gone for the tasting menu at £16, which resulted in sausages and fish and then meat — boy oh boy was that good. Beautiful flavours, varied themes, and not a moussaka in sight.
Inside it’s atmospheric — as the other reviewer comments, the décor takes you out and away, and it’s worth a detour to visit. Highly recommended.

Spending a cosy evening with my close circle of friends on my birthday was really special. The owner Tim was so very kind and friendly; even though it was my first visit everyone at The 4 Lanterns just made us feel at home. Laughing and joking with us, throughout the evening.
The food platters are very large; I personally feel the Charcoal Grill menu can be shared. I had no space to enjoy a pud, but coffee was good. The interior décor takes you out of London and into countryside Greece. Its very contemporary traditional and so is the music.
Overall a fun evening with us dominating the upper level space; they also have a lower level to accomodate parties and bigger events.
The best food I’ve ever slept in! — is what one customer commented :)