The rating is 3.75 stars... i was there on 21/07/07. This is a Turkish restaurant with well known reputation and 2 branches. The decor is expectably kitsch, including fake plastic flowers on the tables. The main show is where the big barbeque (ocakbasi) blows a big cloud of smoke on top of the meat. The door needs to be left open for ventilation, so it can get a bit cold. Also it is good to consider that for the rest of your night, you will smell from the ocakbasi and people might ask you ‘where was the barbeque and why were we not invited?’... The acoustic is problematic, it all becomes a salad of sounds and it is better to concentrate of the food. The menu appears to be suspicious due to a dish called Spaghetti Bolognese, trying to make Turkish sounds. We ordered Humus and Tubule for starters, lamb beyti and mixed meat for mains. The starters were fantastic. The humus was a champion and had a unique Turkish taste- nothing like what you get in a Lebanese place. The tubule was also good and the interesting variation was that the main ingredient was tomato rather than parsley. It was fresh and accurately spiced. The bread which came with it, was cut into strips and was perfect for handing the humus and tubule. Then came without any warning some extra salads on the house: awarded with distinction was a barbequed onion salad with parsley and pomegranate sauce- blessing to the inventor of this amazing dish! This salad came with a friend- another onion salad but this one was fresh and although delicious, made us thing about the future of our evening and our odour... And then came the meat. This was the moment of truth- after a bite or two we agreed that it was good but not amazing. It seems that most of the meat was overcooked. The chicken was slightly dry and the lamb had some sort of chewy plastic texture. The spices were great but I think the problem was the quality of the meat and the cooking time. The Efes beer was a good company with the food. Also it was nice to get a special moist towel after this intense meal. The Turkish coffee was exactly what you need to finish. The service was ok but varied from one person to another. We paid around £30 for 2 people. It is a good option for eating in this area but it is a bit overrated.
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