London , Turkish Restaurant Guide

“Good mezze and grilled meat” help tick the boxes for “delicious food that is not expensive” at this Turkish business with five branches in the City – making them suitable “for business or social occasions” (although they can be “noisy”). In summer 2023, the group made its West End debut with the opening of Olea Social in Covent Garden, with a more general Mediterranean focus.

“Good mezze and grilled meat” help tick the boxes for “delicious food that is not expensive” at this Turkish business with five branches in the City – making them suitable “for business or social occasions” (although they can be “noisy”). In summer 2023, the group made its West End debut with the opening of Olea Social in Covent Garden, with a more general Mediterranean focus.

2022 Review: In a quiet, pedestrianised square in the City’s sprawling Broadgate development – near Broadgate Circle – this January 2020 arrival occupies a swishly decorated unit, and has a large terrace outside for a warm day. The rustic Anatolian cuisine – much of it on the open-flame mangal – is cosily at odds with all the surrounding modernity, and is washed down with a more metropolitan selection of cocktails.

“Good mezze and grilled meat” help tick the boxes for “delicious food that is not expensive” at this Turkish business with five branches in the City – making them suitable “for business or social occasions” (although they can be “noisy”). In summer 2023, the group made its West End debut with the opening of Olea Social in Covent Garden, with a more general Mediterranean focus.

“Good mezze and grilled meat” help tick the boxes for “delicious food that is not expensive” at this Turkish business with five branches in the City – making them suitable “for business or social occasions” (although they can be “noisy”). In summer 2023, the group made its West End debut with the opening of Olea Social in Covent Garden, with a more general Mediterranean focus.

“Good mezze and grilled meat” help tick the boxes for “delicious food that is not expensive” at this Turkish business with five branches in the City – making them suitable “for business or social occasions” (although they can be “noisy”). In summer 2023, the group made its West End debut with the opening of Olea Social in Covent Garden, with a more general Mediterranean focus.

2022 Review: With its swish, spacious metropolitan styling, this 100-seater brasserie on one of Shoreditch’s main drags does little to advertise the fact that it’s part of the Hart Shoreditch Hotel London (part of the Curio Collection by Hilton), which opened in early 2020. Knowing this helps explain the slightly over-plush styling – at odds with the strenuously hip neighbourhood – and also the wilfully un-corporate menu: inspired by the flavours of Levantine coastal towns (Levantine weekend brunch is a feature). Early reports are too limited for a rating, but all-round very good.

“I know that I am not the first person to have been blown away by the imagination displayed in this deconstruction of the kebab!” – this no-longer-secret 10-seater counter in the basement of Kingly Court’s Le Bab aims to rocket-propel the kebab taste-palate to new heights, with a multi-course tasting menu served (smeared?) onto a special heated countertop (you scoop with your fingers). “Tasty… good patter from the chefs… engaging… quite the experience”. In August 2023, it relaunched with Pamir Zeydan as the new head chef (although he had already been working here with departing Manu Canales). The sort of dishes to expect? ‘Dover sole kebab delivered on an ironed hispi cabbage taco with roasted red pepper purée’.

This “cheap ’n’ cheerful Turkish operation” has been an atmospheric fixture on Upper Street for more than 25 years, offering “well cooked and presented dishes in generous portions”. “The smaller Gallipoli has gone, so all efforts have been put into this larger branch”, which has “a relaxed style, with different areas to sit in depending on the occasion”.

2021 Review: “As good as that we ate when in the Turkish original” – this stylish-looking Soho yearling is a London sibling to one of Istanbul’s hottest properties, and (at odds with some press reviews) it impresses all early reporters (notwithstanding the odd incident of “shaky service” or “lack of ambience”), with “interesting” cuisine produced by star chef Civan Er.

2023 Review: “An impressive addition to the Carnaby Street scene” – this modern Eastern-Med newcomer from Turkish chef Esra Muslu is decorated in an informal café style that’s deceptive given the high quality of the cuisine. The open kitchen and counter on the ground floor “give you so much to talk about (I just love watching the flames in the oven)” and “the food can be as light or heavy as you wish” according to which small plates you go for. “Love it”… but it can be “ridiculously noisy”, “staff don’t always seem to know what they’re doing” and the small dishes come at chunky prices.

This “small and crowded” grill on Islington’s main drag serves “reasonably priced Turkish, Kurdish and Greek-style food” and is “clearly a local crowd-pleaser”. The ‘Hidden Gem’ basement is available for private parties.

2022 Review: It’s a bit less nook-like than it looks, if you head to the larger basement of this summer 2020 Highbury newcomer: a deli by day and neighbourhood café in the evenings. With a vague connection to Linden Stores (RIP), which it replaced in 2020, there’s a Turkish twist to the contemporary European small dishes and sharing plates. Limited early feedback, but very positive all-round.

“Honest Turkish food and very good value” continue to inspire enthusiasm for this Pimlico local of over two decades’ standing: “meat is grilled to perfection” and there’s “a high standard of service”.

“Delicious chops piled high, good gluggable house red – what’s not to like?” at this long-running and “extremely good-value” Turkish-Cypriot grill near Victoria station in Pimlico. It’s “not a place for a romantic tête-à-tête, but great fun – you’ll leave very well fed and watered, and with a smile on your face”.

2023 Review: “Mangal 2 has reinvented itself during the pandemic” with Ferhat and Sertaç Dirik (the sons of the founder), “transforming it from its previous incarnation as just another of one of the (good!) pile-’em-high Turkish restaurants on the Dalston/Stoke Newington strip into a totally new venue: still Turkish, but more small plates now than giant platters”. All reports agree it’s a successful switch, “standing on a solid par with the other good small-plates-and-wine joints around Hackney, while still doing something quite different”. “The noisy room is a little Spartan, but the exciting and interesting food transports you” – “the Turkish influence is not that obvious” but the menu delivers “good ingredients very well cooked” (although “the wine list is a bit too natural, with no other conventional options)”.

2021 Review: “Absolutely delicious, fine-dining Turkish-inspired cuisine (another sharing plate concept)” is to be found at this big, fancy-schmancy Park Lane yearling: part of a Dubai-based restaurant empire. “It is, shall we say, a little bit toppy” when it comes to the prices (oh boy, it is), but all reports agree this is “great, great food”.

“One of the OGs and still one of the very best!” – this renowned Turkish dive in Dalston gets some diners’ votes as “the best-value restaurant in London”. “The smell of grilled meats entices you into the deservedly bustling interior”, where it “delivers amazing food every time”: “wonderful BBQ, lovely warm bread and generous salad”. One of owner Ali Dirik’s sons runs nearby Mangal 2, putting a more modern slant on grill cooking.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, this smart Turkish operation in Marylebone wins consistently solid marks for the “excellent quality and taste” of its dishes – in particular the grilled meat and mezzes.

2023 Review: “The chargrilled onions and flatbreads to start soon grab the attention” at this popular family-run Anatolian in Camberwell, founded across town in Islington more than 25 years ago. “The grilled lamb that follows is still as good as ever. Thankfully!”.