The Life Goddess is an experimental Greek restaurant located on the quaint Store Street specialising in Greek wine and seafood. Drop by for a tapas lunch that changes every day or walk in for a light and colourful dinner perfect for light evenings.
Cameron and I sat outside in the warm summer evening on a cute table nestled between couples and friends: if the weather’s nice, it’s totally worth it. Store Street is a hidden gem of independent coffee shops, galleries and cute restaurants in between the bustle of Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street. It transports you to the back streets of Seville or Paris that’s a welcome change from the often grey London streets, so I’d highly recommend a leisurely stroll down. The interior is also good with the walls lined with the exclusive Greek wines they offer to buy with your meal or separately for a gift (or for later). It is well set out for 2 people dining so you can easily walk in and get a table, but if there are 4 or more of you, I would recommend booking or at least ringing through first. They do have an intimate area downstairs for two parties of 6 and 10 or a single party of 16 with large tables perfect for sharing. I would happily choose The Life Goddess as a place for a larger meal where you could let the waiter recommend you a platter of meze and mains to share. The typical Greek style sharing with fine Greek wine is sure to bring a night of laughter and cheeky confessions.
The food. Oh my. What presentation and flavours.
To begin, tomato soup in a small glass with ricotta and a hint of red pepper and chilli. This was actually one of my favourites of the night, such flavour and a sweetness that was unexpected. Out came the meze which consisted of roasted aubergine with walnuts and goats cheese; crab, prawn and fish croquettes; and filo wrapped feta with honey and sesame. The wine was a 2015 Areti from Biblia Chora that was a little dry for my tastes, but has great reviews from experts. Highly, highly recommend the roasted aubergine and the filo feta because they were just to die for. The roasted aubergine was cooked to perfection, not bitter nor stringy as aubergine can be if not cooked correctly. It was complemented with the goats cheese that had been baked on top as well as the tomatoes and onions inside. The filo feta was put best by Cameron: ‘feta + honey = mind blown!’ The most unexpected dish of the night, the honey with the sesame had seeped through the filo pastry to infuse with the feta and it really was delectable, certainly something I will be experimenting with at home for sure. The crab croquettes were interesting, I’ve never had seafood in the texture of a juicy meatball before and I appreciated the originality. Cooked very well, but when compared to the aubergine and feta, it wasn’t as good. The mains were also good, with the presentation once again very good. The tuna was fantastic, perfectly seared on the outside and raw on the inside. Excellent quality of fish, it just melted on your tongue and really was brilliant. The sauce was what I like to describe as a tomato chilli teriyaki and it went very well with the tuna. It gave it a sort of Asian flair which was interesting to see in with the Greek dishes. The octopus was well presented, good but not the best I’ve had. I felt it had maybe been cooked a little too long making it a little too chewy, however, it was certainly a good catch since the meat was dense and certainly no cheaper corners cut. Since my original review, I’ve been back and had an octopus meze that was much better, perfect texture and flavour that makes you sigh: definitely recommend the meze over the main if you’re a seafood lover. One thing I would say is that the tables aren’t that big so it’s not easy to have many plates at once, which could be an issue if you wanted to order 4 or 5 meze instead of mains.
Be aware if you are vegetarian and don’t eat fish that you may have to ask if certain dishes have fish, because in Greece, a vegetarian is someone who does not eat meat but eats fish. However, as they have become more established, they understand that eating fish is not the norm for most vegetarians, so you most likely won’t have this problem.
Overall, The Life Goddess is one of my favourite restaurants in London. I would definitely recommend The Life Goddess to everyone who wants something a little different to your bog-standard Italian. I personally prefer the Store Street restaurant over their sister restaurant in Carnaby Street for the menu and wines, but the Carnaby Street Life Goddess has a more ‘datey’ vibe if that was what you were looking for. If you’re looking for a cuisine that’ll really make you take a minute, look no further than The Life Goddess for something that’ll truly satisfy tastes you never knew you had!
Menu choices (2 people):
Red pepper and tomato soup
MEZE
Roasted aubergine with walnuts and tomatoes
Filo feta
Crab and prawn croquettes
MAINS
Octopus with potato ganache and salad
Seared tuna with a tomato teriyaki sauce and salad
DESSERT
Dessert of the day (shared)
WINE
2015 Biblia Chora Areti
