19 Numara Bos Cirrik II - Stoke Newington

Last week we went for dinner at one of the many Turkish restaurants on Stoke Newington High St. I'm a huge fan of Turkish food having spent many summer holidays in Northern Cyprus, so it's great living somewhere with such a wealth of Turkish restaurants. There's something about food that can be eaten by hand that I find hugely satisfying, mopping up the juices from a delicious lamb kebab with some freshly made flat bread can't be beaten!

Hummus

We opted for four mezze and one main course to share, which turned out to be a ridiculous amount of food, as they also provided us with three complementary salads and flat bread. We started with hummus, falafel, lahmacun and vegetable moussaka. The falafel were super crispy and topped with plenty of delicious hummus. Lahmacun is a sort of middle eastern pizza, topped with minced lamb and is delicious rolled up with salad and hummus. At only £2 it was not only a steal, but pretty tasty too! The moussaka was a little bland, but maybe the meaty version is a bit tastier.

Tasty tasty lahmacun

The three complementary salads they provided were great, but only if you like onion (which luckily I do). One consisted of chargrilled onion chunks, cooked on the grill with herbs and a sort of sweet but smokey sauce. Another had thin slices of onion marinated in spices with parsley, which was perfect with the meat. The third was a simple garden salad with lots of onion. Along with the flat bread, the salads really bulked out the meal making it feel like a real feast.

One of the many onion salads

For our main we shared a lamb kebab with yogurt and a tomato sauce. The huge grills used in Turkish restaurants make everything taste fantastic, but nothing more so than lamb, which is why it's always my first choice. The meat was delicious, juicy and still pink in the middle, perfect. The sauce and yogurt weren't that exciting, but were perfect for bread dipping purposes. I think we could have made a better choice on the main course, I'd like to try their kofte next time I go as the added spices make for a more exciting dish.

Questionable looking but actually nice lamb

The bill came to £30, we could easily have eaten for £10 a head if we'd ordered more sensibly. Overall the food was very good, although probably not as good as the legendary Mangal down the road. The service was quick and friendly, despite the restaurant being busy. It's a great option if you're looking for something quick, cheap and easy or if like me you just love Turkish food!