Kosmos Taverna

Another great meal at this classic Greek, this time for valentines, steak in a piquant sauce and a special of sliced roast duck with meatballs starter and a two person seafood mezze which amazingly they agreed to do for one! Service above and beyond and shows the incredible flexibility offered by a small family run restaurant.

I have had the privilege of eating at Kosmos Taverna several times and I have never been disappointed, the place is fantastic and in my opinion the best establishment serving this type of cuisine in Manchester. The restaurant has a very homely traditional feel and is always packed on a Friday and Saturday night. The service is extremely friendly and genuine. I went there last night and had a delicious meal. I had the falafels to start which were full of flavour I also loved the homemade houmous that accompanied them. My husband’s halloumi was so thick and had obviously been done on charcoal as it had a nice smoky flavour. The best part of the meal was the main course. I ordered the seafood kebabs which were amazing. They were massive and there was a good selection of fish such as halibut, salmon, swordfish and king prawns. I am counting down until I can go back to kosmos and have this dish again, it was that good. There were also nice little touches such as the Greek Delights which came with the bill. If you haven’t been to Kosmos yet then get yourself down there, you won’t regret it.

A lovely old traditional Greek style Mediterranean restaurant with a delicious menu. Though somewhat pricey my food was excellent and copious enough that I was at bursting point after my main meal.

Apparently this is a Manchester institution, serving authentic Greek food from this site for 30 years (estimate by my drunk friend last night — may not be 100% accurate). Despite passing this place on my school bus for 5 years however I’d never spotted it before. I now realise this has been a huge oversight on my part! I went with a group of 10 people for a bday celebration of an ex housemate. The staff coped really well with a big group and we were taken very good care of. They don’t put a tip on as standard even for a large group — I prefer this practice, other restaurants please take note!
The interior is nice, basic rather than luxurious but this adds to the atmosphere. They have a good drinks menu, I shared a carafe of red wine with someone and it was decent for the price. The menu has lots of choices, too many — I wanted everything! I had the deep fried halloumi in batter. It was delicious, perfectly done but I’d have preferred a better salad garnish, it just had 3 wedges of raw tomato with balsamic glaze. Friends shared the mezze platter and this looked great. Everyone said the starters were fantastic.
I then had a steak casserole dish with star annise and cinnamon. The mains come with a choice of rice, chips, salad or roast potatoes. I went for chips and they were perfectly cooked, the rice looked good on other plates too. The meat was tender and the onions in my dish were lovely and sweet. I really enjoyed it.
They brought out a piece of chocolate fudge cake with candles and sang for my friends bday, a nice touch. We all tried a bite of cake and the fudge icing was delicious. I had a medium sweet coffee which was the only down side of this meal for me. The Greek delight it came with (a piece of pink sweet very like Turkish delight) was amazing but the coffee itself was very bitter and full of grainy residue.
Overall I loved it, really want to go back and try someone dishes. Needs to go on the list for Unilocal events I think!

Looks really can be deceiving. As others have said, the last place you expect to find high quality authentic Greek cuisine is Fallowfield, and the exterior of this small family restaurant gives no major hints as to the delights that reside within. Ironically, despite it not being massively popular with the student population, it has one of the best student deals in Manchester. Funny old world eh?
The big draw of the Taverna is undoubtedly the food. The décor is good too; warm and simple, but not unusually noteworthy. The food however is top notch. I started with a very homely bowl of vegetable soup and the pitta and dips, which were both very varied and very good. The Kosmos dip in particular is truly remarkable, and could only be described on the night as «lush». Other reported having good stuffed vine leaves and the such like, in fact I don’t think I heard a bad word said about any dish on the table. The mains were also strong, with well made meatballs in delicious sauces, and lamb kebabs to die for. Everything had that homecooked feel to it, belying the fact that this really is a traditional family restaurant.
So why not the 5 stars? Mostly the prices, which aren’t (normally) that impressive, especially for drinks. The banquets are around £20 which is fine but in the same league as competitors (the Armenian Taverna, for example) and the a la carte is a tad steep given the portions are a tad small. Alcohol was quite dear, especially given the glass size. This is not true for students, who can have two courses and a glass of wine for £8.50 most nights, and more should. In this respect it is much like Red Chilli. A good restaurant with great food at a decent price, but with a student offer to go mad for. If you are a student, go every week. If not, go a couple of times anyway.

Pyjama takeaway update: So when you order your mini meze to go, just so you know, Kosmos provides you with almost a billion different dips for with your falafel, parcels, vine leaves, pitta bread and other deliciousness. I know, right? Just the ticket when you’re watching the first of the new X Factor season and need some picky bits for your car crash TV party…

The reason that Kosmos excels so well is that there are so few places in Manchester that seem to do Greek food, let alone do it well. It’s a good job then that Kosmos manages both, otherwise we’d all be put off and walk around complaining that Greeks are terrible people. Or possibly that might just be me.
It’s a rather unusual location as students are not the most discerning of individuals when it comes to flavour and class, so picking Fallowfield may have been a bit of a dumb move. Still, for those who venture within, they will find a lovingly crafted, well-​designed restaurant, populated by friendly staff and excellent food.
The only thing that detracts from it is the bizarre choice of placement, but I’ll overlook that and hand it five shiny, glowing stars. Don’t waster them now, Kosmos.

A little box on Wilmslow road. Very compact, very cosy. Order some food get blown away. Kosmos is the king of Greek food. Having been to Greece I can tell you this is better than a £200 flight to get some food from there. Kosmos doesn’t receive legendary status for no reason, tucked away in that tiny kitchen is a T. V chef; Loulla Astin has been with Kosmo since its incarnation in 1981 (8 years before I was born!) she’s also had her own programs on sky, praise from Richard and Judy and an award from the Queen for services to hospitality! Literally I am telling you to go there, Kosmos does awesome Mousaka and three Mezethes menus meat, fish or vegetarian at a reasonable £18. Just go, GO!

Kosmos Taverna is the only genuinely authentic restaurant in Fallowfield excluding Kebab shops. Whereas most of the restaurants manage to sell what they like and call it the authentic cuisine of wherever they like to the surprisingly uncultured student population, Kosmos are cutting no costs to deliver quality Mediterranean culinary delights.
The restaurant was established in August 1981 and is still owned by the same lovely family. They’ve won a few awards in their time as well including a listing in the AA top five hundred restaurants. Their head chef, a Ms Loulla Astin, has actually appeared on TV a few times, including once on ‘This Morning’! She is damn good though!
The restaurant is a lovely little place and you absolutely forget you’re in Fallowfield with its authentic décor and hanging baskets.
So to the food, the best thing to have is the Kosmos Mezethes, which change from time to time but are served in three stages, meaning you don’t scoff it all down at once but are forced to take your time and enjoy the delicacies. Theres a veggie one, a meat one and a seafood one. Generally they includes a few dips such as Houmous, Tzatziki, Taramosalata, etc, a range of salads, Tabbouleh, Olives, Feta Cheese and the like, then the meat option has Dolmathes (vine leaves), Kieftethes (meat balls), and other vine leaf stuffed delights. It also includes a lovely generous portion of Haloumi, and the star piece, the Lamb Kebabs with Kosmos Rice. These meals start at £16 per person but they really are a banquet.
They also sell a Greek lager, Mythos, and a Cypriot one, Keo, neither of which I have seen elsewhere and both of which are well worth trying.
Great place, but a little expensive.

I’d been thinking about visiting this long established Greek restaurant for years and not just because I’d heard it was once a favourite of Richard and Judy! Once we’d finally got round to booking a table and trying the tasty food, we wanted to kick ourselves for not going sooner!
The restaurant’s kitsch, slightly outdated décor gives it a fun, rather interesting look, while the friendly staff make you feel right at home. On our visit, we ordered vegetarian mezethes a three-​course banquet of hummus, pitta, pastries, stuffed tomatoes, aubergines and moussaka. When the waiter finally stopped feeding us, I was content but very full. So prepare to go home feeling stuffed!
There’s a great value set menu available too. So if you do decide to go, get there early to take advantage of them!

If you are looking for authentic Greek cuisine, a friendly and chilled environment in which to eat it in, and prepared by a chef that has been accredited with many awards, not to mention that this lady chef has had her own show on sky (‘Simply Greek’ and ‘World On A Plate’) Loulla Astin has been at the helm of this legendary Greek taverna since it opened in Fallowfield in 198, and for a little more history, her father holds the title of opening the very first kebab shop on Oxford Street. way back in 1969!!! Wow… if that does not make you want to go and be a part of Manchester’s culinary history, then I don’t know what will!
I love Greek food, and although I have a few Greek restaurants that are closer to where I live, I make the effort to get to Kosmos as often as I can.

This is a very safe bet for a great night of Greek food. The restaurant has been open for almost 30 years and has received many national awards but the prices remain reasonable, the staff very friendly (the owners are often around serving the tables too) and the themed décor and ambiance warm and welcoming.
All the ingredients taste fresh, in fact they’re market fresh, and they abstain from using any GM foods. If you want value for money, then go for one of the meat/​seafood/​vegetarian mezethes, or better still, get all three. Favourite mains here are Kleftiko (Leg Of Lamb Chop Cooked «Bandit Style» Slowly In The Oven With Potatoes, Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Herbs And Olive Oil) and Pastitsio, greek-​style lasagna. Great selection of wines including some classic Greek and Cypriot choices. We had a wonderful time and would come back in a second.

Even though its on the main road, its easy to miss this little gem of a Greek taverna. The atmosphere is great, especially at weekends and the food is fantastic — easily the best Greek/​Eastern Mediterranean cooking I’ve had in Manchester. If you’re lucky you may even witness a raucous bazouki performance courtesy of the waiting staff. Give it a try because the standard of food is topnotch, especially with prices so cheap.