Borehamwood, Turkish Restaurant Guide

This “fantastic upscaled-local Turkish restaurant” in Cockfosters gives the traditional North London Anatolian grill a modern makeover – and fans say it’s “wonderful to see it so deservedly busy” on account of its “excellent food and service”. “They’ve just expanded”, but it’s “harder than ever to get a table on a Saturday night”.

2021 Review: “Very lively and noisy with families and children” – the “large” Harringay original of this small Turkish group is over twenty years old, and remains “understandably popular, given its reasonable prices”: “the food is good and plentiful and just keeps coming”, and “the grilled meats are just yummy”. There are now spin-offs in Chingford, Walthamstow and Finchley. Top Tip – “doggy bags are readily provided”.

2021 Review: This “very good modern Turk” uses high-quality ingredients, including organic meats from Wales, to produce some interesting meals in this under-served town, and it “gets busy and can be very noisy”. There’s a spinoff branch in Berkhamsted.

“One of the reasons we’ve yet to move house from Crouch End!” – local fans are sold on the virtues of this “stubbornly traditional Turkish restaurant (with murals on every wall depicting famous Turkish and other global tourist destinations… at least a step up from the glitzy establishments on Green Lane)”. “Despite recent price hikes, they are still very fair considering the high standard of cooking, as well as the warm welcome”.

2021 Review: “Very lively and noisy with families and children” – the “large” Harringay original of this small Turkish group is over twenty years old, and remains “understandably popular, given its reasonable prices”: “the food is good and plentiful and just keeps coming”, and “the grilled meats are just yummy”. There are now spin-offs in Chingford, Walthamstow and Finchley. Top Tip – “doggy bags are readily provided”.

2023 Review: The “exquisite kebabs” at this family-run Turk in Kentish Town (which takes its name from the original Victorian sign above the door) have “set the standard in north London for years”. Don’t be put off by the “limited menu and basic amenities (more like a local chippy)” – the food is “fresh, good quality and delicious”, while “service is cheerful”.

“Still one of the best Turkish grills in town” – this Ladbroke Grove fixture might be “a bit spartan”, but “speedy service and BYO” make it a “cost-effective alternative to eating at home”. Top Tip – there’s “slightly less-packed seating in the extension next door”.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

“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.

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”.

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.

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.

“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’.

2021 Review: “Very lively and noisy with families and children” – the “large” Harringay original of this small Turkish group is over twenty years old, and remains “understandably popular, given its reasonable prices”: “the food is good and plentiful and just keeps coming”, and “the grilled meats are just yummy”. There are now spin-offs in Chingford, Walthamstow and Finchley. Top Tip – “doggy bags are readily provided”.

A handy “cheap ’n’ cheerful” option – these traditional Turkish venues, near West Kensington tube and on Fulham Broadway are a favourite stop-off for a freshly BBQ’d kebab. (The West Ken branch is not to be confused with ‘Best Mangal 1996’ – a similar venture at 66 North End Road).

A handy “cheap ’n’ cheerful” option – these traditional Turkish venues, near West Kensington tube and on Fulham Broadway are a favourite stop-off for a freshly BBQ’d kebab. (The West Ken branch is not to be confused with ‘Best Mangal 1996’ – a similar venture at 66 North End Road).