http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin <b>Tas Firin</b><br />London, 160 Bethnal Green Road, E2 6BG, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/placepics/trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/115ro8
Review by rumpelstiltskin

Rating: 5.00
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If a guy takes you to this restaurant on a first date, I suspect that he is a very very cool guy , quite simply because the food is delicious, the place unpretentious. Catherine, you'll love it.]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:26:49 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/115ro81529774810 rumpelstiltskin 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1n4jz7
Review by elizaflan

Rating: 4.00
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my favourite local which blows the late night kebab out of the water.
eat in or takeaway, but make sure you order the rice, which are the plumpest little grains in the world]]> Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:34:13 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1n4jz7956316731 elizaflan 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1h0jt8
Review by t_moussa

Rating: 4.00
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This restaurant is situated along bethnal green road, and is lovely little place to go for some authentic grilled turkish food. The decor may not be to everyone's taste as it is very tradtional and the walls are plastered with family photographs (including a large framed photo of a baby above the door!) and lots of other cultural items, but I found it charming and it added to the character of the place. The restaurant itself is not very large, there are only about 6 tables, but the food is worth waiting for one. The food is typical of any turkish grill, and is very good. The service is great, as the waiters are warm and friendly. Great place.]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:45:51 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1h0jt8281116089 t_moussa 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1k1aa8
Review by chrisp

Rating: 3.00
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Like a moth drawn to a flame, I am genetically pre-programmed to try anywhere serving obscure ethnic cuisine with a silly name, even if said food turns out to be quite inedible and there's a very good reason for its obscurity. I have no idea how to pronounce Ocakbasi, but as far as I can tell from a quick Google it just means 'Turkish grill'. So, essentially a kebab shop then? It's amazing isn't it, how pretention to some sort of trendy "next big thing" can draw rave reviews of even the most mundane place from people desperate to say they were first to discover it. People like me, for example.

The decor treads a fine line between odd and very odd, with pictures of happy Turkish peasants on the wall next to a bizarre tiki-hut bar which is too small to sit at but dominates a good third of the tiny restaurant. There is also an impressive-looking wood-fired oven which looked to be in constant use over the course of our meal and yet all the bread we were served was cold and fairly bland so God knows where the fresh stuff was going.

Being just the two of us yesterday lunchtime, and attempting to get as much of an idea as possible of the skills of the kitchen, we chose a selection of hot starters (lamb livers, hummous, calamari, halloumi) and one chicken shish to see if their grilling was up to much. Livers were tasty but just on the wrong side of dry and had been cooked too long for my liking. They also arrived almost immediately so clearly had been prepared well in advance. The calamari were pretty bad too - greasy and unpleasant batter but the squid inside at least wasn't too rubbery. Halloumi was just as you'd expect - in fact we saw him opening the packet of the bog standard stuff you can get at ASDA. It was nice of course, but Halloumi is always nice isn't it?

Perhaps most disappointing though was the chicken shish kebab, which was mundanely spiced and a little on the dry side. Not exactly bad, just very boring, and again no better than anything you could get at any 2am kebab shop, never mind somewhere claiming to be a specialist grill house. The accompanying veg was equally uninspriring, although the rice was nice and buttery. Hummous was hummous - uniformly pallid and unlikely to have been made in house.

The one saving grace, I suppose, was that it was fairly inexpensive. Just over £20 for all that food, and the portions were nothing if not generous, so if you just want to fill a hole and aren't that bothered about quality then why not give it a go. Just don't expect to be blown away - despite the fancy subtitle, Tas Firin is just another standard kebab shop.]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:17:56 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1k1aa8202503876 chrisp 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1e8am7
Review by cdean

Rating: 4.00
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Great Place,]]> Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:51:46 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1e8am71805017937 cdean 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1d77w7
Review by cdean

Rating: 4.00
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4 of us went there on Friday Evening, Waited for about 20 mins for a table.The food was lovely and fresh. the salads and meze looked most apetising.We did our best to order a mixture so we could all taste the menu.The staff were very
nice and pleasant.
We finished the meal off with a glass of Raki each.
Excellant value for money. Will return soon.
]]> Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:23:23 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1d77w71466095041 cdean 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1m05k8
Review by Umran

Rating: 5.00
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After wanting to try this place for months I finally convinced her to go about 3 months ago and it has quickly become our Friday night retreat! Am pleased to say that this restaurant passes our 'consistency test' which many places fail miserably!

The lamb shish kebabs are absolutely delicious and you can smell the food cooking from across the street. If you are taking away you can order a wrap (5 pounds) or if you're really hungry you can have your kebab with all the trimmings which includes rice, salad and bread (7 pounds).

I prefer the latter as the rice has a delicious flavour which melds perfectly with the lamb and the bread also has the delicious flavour of the meat and marinade because while the meat is cooking over the charcoal the bread is dabbed on the meat and the bread is also used to hold the meat and push it off the metal skewer...my mouth is watering at the very thought of it!

McDonald's and Burger King eat your hearts out!]]> Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:23:01 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1m05k8161112578 Umran 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1p9028
Review by mundek

Rating: 5.00
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This Ocakbasi (chargrilled kebab) Turkish restaurant on Bethnal Green Road near Brick Lane is up there with best in my opinion. Serving up a wide variety of pides (turkish pizzas) and kebabs cooked on hot coals in front of you that taste as good as anything I've had in Istanbul.

The kebabs come served with homemade breads, salads (try the one covered in Sumac - it's lovely) and rice. The chicken kebab with yoghurt and lamb chops come highly recommended. Everything is reasonably priced and the service is always pretty friendly. It can get a bit busy and smoky (from the indoor charcoal grill) but this adds to the excellent ambience. One of my favourite places.]]> Tue, 12 Dec 2006 11:41:56 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o7228m/tas-firin/1p90282076082665 mundek 51.52634478443 -0.068307594972972