Let me start with a confession: I didn’t mean to fall in love with a restaurant. I’d heard the buzz about PYRÃ – a new Spanish-Greek spot in Queen’s Park, replacing Lula – and figured I’d pop in for a quick dinner, maybe a glass of wine, a few tapas. You know, keep it casual. But somewhere between the Basque cheesecake and the mezcal cocktail with pineapple and jalapeño, I found myself spiralling. This wasn’t just dinner – it was an experience. A full-blown Mediterranean love affair.
PYRÃ is the kind of place that instantly makes you want to stay a little longer. Warm lighting, wood tones, that hum of conversation that makes you feel like you’ve stumbled into something intimate but electric. It’s stylish without trying too hard, the kind of setting where a slow lunch could easily turn into a six-hour situation involving multiple courses and an impromptu DJ set upstairs. (More on that later.)
The menu reads like a mixtape (I’m aware this betrays my birth decade) of greatest hits from Spain and Greece – comforting, rustic, with a little edge. Head Chef Mattia Caddeo is clearly in his element here. I later Googled him, because I’m nosy like that, and learned he’s done time at The Arts Club Mayfair and Alyn Williams at The Westbury, but also cooked in Japan, Moscow, and Italy. You can taste that global finesse. Every dish had that quietly confident “I’ve got this” energy.
We started with their homemade milk bread – warm, impossibly soft, slightly sweet, and clearly made with love. The kind of bread that makes you forget every carb-related promise you’ve ever made. Then came a Greek salad so fresh and bright it felt like summer on a plate – juicy tomatoes, salty olives, and generous chunks of feta, all swimming in the kind of olive oil you’d happily drizzle on everything for the rest of your life.
The prawn skewers were a total knockout – grilled just right, with a smoky char that played perfectly with a zesty dipping sauce. And the deconstructed lamb gyro? Genius. M.O.I.S.T (apologies) lamb, creamy yogurt, soft flatbread torn into the perfect dippable pieces, and a hit of something spicy that pulled it all together. Casual enough to eat with your hands, elevated enough to feel like something you’d find in a fine-dining taverna on the edge of the Aegean.
And then – because I lack self-restraint – we ordered the Basque cheesecake. No regrets. Caramelised edges, a creamy heart, and just the right amount of wobble. It was technically for two, but I made a strong case for solo custody.
After dinner, curiosity dragged us upstairs to The Loft, PYRÃ’s secret weapon: part vinyl lounge, part cocktail bar, all cool. The lighting dipped a little lower, a DJ was easing into a set of mellow grooves, and I nursed a mezcal verde cocktail laced with pineapple and jalapeño that was dangerously drinkable. Spicy, smoky, sweet – like a tropical bonfire in a glass.
There’s something magnetic about PYRÃ. Yes, the food is incredible, but it’s more than that – it feels like a gathering space. A place made for unhurried meals, big laughs, second (and third) glasses, and unexpected moments that make you stay longer than you planned.
Would I go back? Already planning it.
Would I order the gyros again? Without question.
Would I move in if they let me? …I’d consider it.
PYRÃ, thank you for the food coma, the happy buzz, and the reminder that dinner can still surprise you. See you next weekend.
6A-8A, Lonsdale Rd, London NW6 6RD
