Category Archives: Turkish

Maedah Grill

July 19, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

One of the first Turkish Restaurants in East London and still so popular. On the same street as the famous Tayyabs, Maedah is far more inviting, family friends, value for money and service is far more friendly.

Maedah Grill was the place Elena and I fell in love with the Iskander, a love that took us all the way to Turkey in search of what the home grown dish tastes like. The Iskander is a layered dish with a bread base, tomato sauce, a choice of shawarma (we always go for lamb) and lashings of natural yoghurt. It’s a creamy, tangy and meaty dish. We love how the bread soaks up the juices and really combines all the flavours of the dish together. It’s one of those ‘hug’ dishes which is so comforting to eat if you have had a bad day or week, instant cure.

Top Tip: It is a heavy dish so limit how much bread you have to start with or you will find yourself feeling stuffed quite quickly and you will regret it later.

Unlike your usual Turkish hospitality you won’t be over loaded with complimentary salads, breads and dips but I like to think the food makes up for it and you do get some complimentary Turkish Delights at the end. So you will have to order your own starters.

If you are a fan of dips then a staple order has to be the Maedah Mezze which is a selections of dips from hummus to petlican souslo. Served with warm lava bread it’s a great sharing starter and is excellent value for £5.95

Another dish I would like to recommend is the Adana Kebab which is a chicken garlic kebab wrapped in lava wrap on a bed of yoghurt. The chicken is so tender it just melts in the mouth. The garlic isn’t too over powering but you can definitely taste it.

I do like the service structure at Maedah Grill which makes it all that more comfortable to dine it. They have waiters that take your order and come round with the bill and check up on you and then they have an abundance of table boys that are always available for refill, plate changes and attentiveness. The service of customers is shared yet controlled by the waiter assigned to your table so you never have to wait long when you want anything.

It’s a great place to dine without any fuss. Thursday – Saturday it is advisable to make a bookings to avoid long wait times.

Maedah Grill
42 Fieldgate St, London E1 1ES
www.maedahgrill.net/

Turkish

Sheesh Mangal

April 13, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

We love Turkish food and had always thought that it was rather difficult to find quality Turkish food outside of Green Lane until we found Sheesh Mangal in Worcester Park. Sheesh Mangal is an authentic Turkish eatery with all the trimmings of a coal fire, Turkish crockery displayed on the walls and beautiful ornaments in every corner.

Upon arrival we were greeted with complimentary olives which were juicy and had a love spicy coating. Something to nibble on as we shifted through the extensive menu. The mains are wonderfully arranged to make it easier to select dishes, all the dishes with yogurt in place, all the special curries in another, then the grilled dishes and so forth. This made it very easy for me to narrow down what I love and that’s dishes with yogurt if you didn’t know already. I selected the lamb beyti and my friend who loves meat selected the mixed kebab, to start with we ordered the hummus sautee. The menu has all the classic Turkish dishes from iskanders to pides so you will not be disappointed.

The hummus sautee is a warm mezze served with bread. The hummus is topped with a grilled cubes of meat which brings a new excitement to hummus very similar to the one served in Mandaloun but the hummus at Sheesh Mangal is freshly made. The dish is served with fresh lava bread and its one of those hands on eating situations where you rip the bread and scoop so don’t be shy. It’s odd to think how much difference the juicy meat to the hummus makes. The portion size is enough for two and sharing is caring. However, if you are hungry I would reckon in a few different mezzes.

My beyti lamb is served similar to a yogurt Adana in other Turkish restaurants. Each piece of meat is wrapped in a tortilla wrap and topped with yogurt. The dish is also served with the gorgeous Turkish vermicelli rice and that amazing rocket and pickled red cabbage salad with the sumac and lemon dressing. The dish is delicious. The meat is spicy and has a tad coating of tomato which seeps through the wrap just the way I like it. There is a generous helping of yogurt which just works so well with the meat.

My friend’s dish may have only cost £15 but boy was it value for money. I half wondered how he would eat it all but he found a way and well I did help out a bit. On his platter he got a lamb and chicken shish, lamb doner, Kofta and beyti, all serve with salad and rice. The meat was cooked to perfection.

The meat at Sheesh Mangal is top quality and the dishes are very low in cost for what you are getting. Portion sizes are generous and welcomed 🙂
The staff are friendly and walk around engaging in conversation. Customers seem to be regulars and everyone knows each other which is a good sign as they seem to love and trust the place. All of it gives it such a good vibe so you can’t help but sit and enjoy your time here. The staff are very tentative so you will never sit with an empty glass or plate for long.

Parking is amazing when you come to Sheesh Mangal and free. Outside there are a number of parking bays for customers and all the side streets are free to park on too. A Londoners dream! I can not believe this place has always been 10 mins away from my home and yet I have not tried it. I will definitely be back here soon to eat my way through the rest of the menu.

Sheesh Mangal
82 Central Road, Worcester Park KT4 8HX
sheeshmangal.com

Turkish

Yayla

September 18, 2014 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Every time we visit this delight we find it really hard to spend over £50 regardless of how many people you take with you. If Elena and I just go as a twosome we have never spent over £22 and we leave with a full stomach, hands full of a bag with left over and full smile on our faces as drift off into foodcoma. Yayla’s value for money has to be highlighted straight away.

As soon as you are seated you are over whelmed with the complimentary bread (delicious, soft and fresh), salad seasoned with that special Turkish dressing and sumac seasoning and various dips. Yayla know how to make their customers feel welcome. However, you must remember to control yourselves as you often fun yourself full before you have even ordered.

The meat here so tender and well seasoned so it’s our place to go when we are craving meat. You can order meat platters for £43 which can feed up to 10 people and trust me I have tried it with 10 people have still had to take left overs home.

Our favourite dish at Yayla is the Yoghurt Adana. It comes in a casserole dish and each layer of this dish is a little taste of heaven. At the bottom you have a layer of bread cubes which have been soaked from the juice from the meat and the tomato sauce. The next layer is a later of lamb shish with a special tomato sauce and roasted chillies and the last layer is a healthy serving of fresh yoghurt. My mouth is watering as I write this. The flavours are insain. You have a mixture of tangy, meaty, spicy and creamy depending which layer you have attacked.

The pides are beautiful and Yayla are so accommodating that they will adapt the dish to however you want to create your own Turkish pizza at no extra cost.

The hospitality does not stop their. Once you finish they will serve you an amazing aromatic Turkish tea which helps digest the mountain you have just eaten. This is served with a Turkish sweet which changes from day to day and again this is all complimentary.

I have been going since I was a teenager and have taken Elena there for the duration of our friendship. It is a place we know we can trust and a place we know we will be cared for. Yayla is the gem of Green Lane without being too fancy in comparison to the other Turkish rivals on the street. Here’s to more joyous memories at Yayla for years to come.

Star Rating: *****

Yayla
429 Green Lanes, London N4 1HA
Phone:020 8348 9515