The Guardian
Grace Dent headed with some trepidation to a new hotel beside the Central Criminal Court (“handy if you’re a judge or celebrating winning a trial”) where Turkish-Cypriot chef Selin Kiazim has opened a follow-up to her much-loved Oklava, which closed last year.
Grace need not have worried. “Far from just another tepid hotel dining room, it’s a whirlwind of a restaurant that aims to incapacitate with kindness”, full of “boho flourishes” and “art-deco twinkles” that “makes you feel like Greta Garbo on a day off from filming in Istanbul”.
The food is a good match for the “gorgeous” space. At lunch there are 12 different meze – “please, please order the muhamarra” – and the ‘Leydi Deluxe’ greatest hits set menu is “exceptional value” at £50 a head. There are chicken shish and lamb adana that you might find in any Turkish spot in London, “but here they came on a raised plinth of fat-soaked pide and marinated peppers, as well as a buttered rice pilau topped with caramelised onions”.
Grace Dent - 2024-10-20
