Memories of Orama Restaurant When It Opened
Orama is a new Greek restaurant in Hatch End and the name Orama is Greek for vision, as in the word panorama. I was aghast when Van Antoni's closed down in Pinner Green and tutted when Hatchets closed in Hatch End.
But I saw a restaurant was replacing Van Antoni's. It has opened up with a sparkling white clean new decor and new owner who has persuaded Paul to stay on, though Paul claims he had been going to retire
. The menu is very similar to the one you might remember from visiting Van Antoni's, traditional dishes such as my favourite, Mousakka. (Vegetarians can have a vegetarian moussaka.) Potato lovers like me can have potatoes with salmon, or sea bass or gemist (stuffed peppers) or steak and chips. If you like rice the main courses include with lots more choices such as strips of chicken breast, lamb diced or on the bone, or pork. You will have been kept amused by the starters of soup of the day, or dips (taramasalata, humous and tzatziki served with warm pitta bread. The price is £24.95 per person, plus 10% service charge. Drinks start at £3.95 for a 175 ml glass of house white or red. Prosecco or rose prosecco by the glass is £6.95, by the bottle £20.95. House rose by the glass £4.95 and a bottle is £16.95. Also beers, spirits, cocktails, several bottles of white or red, soft drinks, sparkling water and so on.
For those planning special occasions, seeking entertainment, they offer Elvis and Sinatra nights, and still do the plate throwing but the menu says it will 'in the interest of customer safety
be carried out by our trained staff'.
In this restaurant's previous life they were often fully booked with birthdays and hen parties on a Friday or Saturday night and I could get a table for two only by eating early. If they are fully booked and you've just wandered in, book for another occasion and eat elsewhere in Hatch End which has 16 eating places 'restaurant capital of NW London' a London newspaper enthused, a more family style Greek restaurant is Mosfilo, two or three Italians, an Indian, an Oriental, two Jewish style places, pizza, hamburgers, Turkish style, a Wetherspoons pub for a coffee or drink if you arrive before Orama opens. Of course if you are visiting any of the other restaurants or Harrow Arts Centre or Morrisons, pop along to check the new decor and menu of Orama Greek & Continental cuisine restauarant.
Orama 254-256 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Middlesex HA5 4 HS tel 020 8428 0066.
But I saw a restaurant was replacing Van Antoni's. It has opened up with a sparkling white clean new decor and new owner who has persuaded Paul to stay on, though Paul claims he had been going to retire
For those planning special occasions, seeking entertainment, they offer Elvis and Sinatra nights, and still do the plate throwing but the menu says it will 'in the interest of customer safety
In this restaurant's previous life they were often fully booked with birthdays and hen parties on a Friday or Saturday night and I could get a table for two only by eating early. If they are fully booked and you've just wandered in, book for another occasion and eat elsewhere in Hatch End which has 16 eating places 'restaurant capital of NW London' a London newspaper enthused, a more family style Greek restaurant is Mosfilo, two or three Italians, an Indian, an Oriental, two Jewish style places, pizza, hamburgers, Turkish style, a Wetherspoons pub for a coffee or drink if you arrive before Orama opens. Of course if you are visiting any of the other restaurants or Harrow Arts Centre or Morrisons, pop along to check the new decor and menu of Orama Greek & Continental cuisine restauarant.
Orama 254-256 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Middlesex HA5 4 HS tel 020 8428 0066.
Update November 16 2025.
Orama closed down and was replaced by Fire and Ice. I have several posts on Elvis around the world,
and the latest I have discovered in the annual Porthcawl festival of Elvis lookalikes in Wales, UK.
Elvis Event Websites
Fire & Ice
Fire and Ice is still in Hatch End, in November 2025.
See my posts on Fire and Ice.
Doolchee HATCH END 2025
The latest opening in November 2025, coffee bar Doolchee. See my posts on Doolchee.
Update 2026
Fire and Ice is still there in April 2026. So is Doolchee.
Caffe Pascucci
Scheduled to open early May, 8-10, they told me, is the Italian Caffè, by the same people as the caffè Pascucci a few doors along towards the station. The new branch in on the corner, where the old post office was for years.
I have lived in Hatch End many years and often pass the caffe and find the name hard to remember. I finally got around to looking up the origin of the name. It comes from the Italian word for Easter, so it was a name given to children born around Easter time. Or the offspring of a parent who was given that name.
If your first language is English, how do you remember it? The Italian sounds similar to the French for Easter, Paques. Also the Hebrew Pesach. There you have it, the meaning, and the way to remember the name of the coffee shop.
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