Socrates Greek Taverna
25A Northenden Rd, Sale, M33 2DH
Telephone 0161 282 0050

Situated on Northenden Rd in Sale, Socrates is a well established restaurant and seems to have been there forever, despite the many changes seen in Sale.

Parking is available on the main strip and there is a large 24 hour secure multi-story car park a two minute walk away.

Based on the recommendation of one of our readers, three of us booked a table for 7.45pm on a Friday night. I’m glad we booked as when we arrived the restaurant was full. A good sign if you ask me!

On arrival, we were politely agreed and promptly seated. The menus and wine list were provided straight away and a bottle of Makedonikos Rose was delivered whilst we perused the comprehensive menu.

The menu is typical Greek with lots of meat, fish and vegetarian options available. We chose the Meze Combo Platter to start, so that we could enjoy a variety of dishes. Our waitress was incredibly helpful and took the time to explain what the Meze consisted of and suggested a platter for two would be sufficient enough between the three of us. The Meze consisted of a variety of dishes, including Chicken Kebabs, Dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), Halloumi, Fried Tiger Prawns and Chicken Wings with an assortment of dips including Tzatziki, Houmous, Taramosalata, Tahini and Ktipiti and warm slices of pitta bread. Novices of Greek food need not worry, before tucking into the starter our waiter was more than happy to explain what each dip consisted of.

The waiters were very attentive and after a short break our main meals were brought to the table. We opted for different meals which were Stifado, Moussaka and Kleftiko; all of which were accompanied with rice and salad. The Stifado was full of flavour and the Kleftiko was succulent and tender and the meat just fell of the bone. My Moussaka was cooked to perfection and received high praise indeed as one of my companions was Greek and they said it was one of the best Moussaka’s they had ever tried.

All of the dishes were of a generous portion size and in fact we struggled to finish them - but we tried our best to do them justice.

Whilst we reviewed the dessert menu we all ordered cappuccinos. Despite being sufficiently full we could not resist the lure of desserts and plumped for a Cheesecake, a selection of ice creams and Greek Yoghurt with honey and pistachios. All of which went down a treat.

All in all, the quality of the wine plus the excellent food was well worth the £109 charged.

My advice, if you want to experience a little taste of Greek culture, without the expense of flying to Greece, then pop along to Socrates, whereby the minute you walk through the door you are transported to Greece.

Will we return? 

Most definitely.

Our Verdict

Atmosphere: 9/10
Service: 10/10
Food: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10

Editor’s note: If there is a restaurant you think our TMD should visit, good or bad, then let us know with an email to tmd@savhandbook or call us on 0161 975 4925.