Watford, Turkish Restaurant Guide

This “good neighbourhood Turkish restaurant” – which serves a “nice variety of interesting dishes” using “fresh and high-quality ingredients” – celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It now has spinoffs in Berkhamsted and Harpenden – the latter “attracting a younger crowd than usual for Harpenden, which gives it the sort of buzz which is rare in these parts”.

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”.

This “trendy Turkish restaurant in Cockfosters” has given the Anatolian grill a smart makeover over the past decade, and now “has the vibe of a West End restaurant, with a DJ at the weekend” and “faultless service”. According to its biggest fans, “Cockfosters is becoming a destination thanks to restaurants like Skewd!”

“A go-to place for consistently good-quality kebabs” and “good Turkish food” in Ladbroke Grove. There’s a “lively atmosphere” – “more civilised upstairs” – and the BYO policy keeps the bill under control.

“A favourite neighbourhood spot over many years”, say fans of this Crouch End Turk, for whom it “continues to outshine its competitors on Harringay’s Green Lanes”. The ambience has improved of late with “stylish but comfortable new chairs, slick marble-topped tables and trendy ceramic plateware and cutlery” but not everyone’s wild about the “traditional murals depicting global tourist hotspots”.

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”.

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”.

Established in 2004, this upmarket Turkish spot in Marylebone “has maintained a high level of quality for many years”, and is “always worth a visit” for its “attentive staff and good food” – most notably mezze and charcoal-grilled meat.

“Great Turkish food – either to eat in or take away” has earned a more-than-local reputation for this pair of Anatolian charcoal BBQs, on Fulham Broadway and near West Kensington station. (Note, ‘Best Mangal 1996’ in North End Road is a separate business).

“Great Turkish food – either to eat in or take away” has earned a more-than-local reputation for this pair of Anatolian charcoal BBQs, on Fulham Broadway and near West Kensington station. (Note, ‘Best Mangal 1996’ in North End Road is a separate business).

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”.

“Middle Eastern (Istanbul) dishes that are a little different” and can be “very good” win fans for this ambitious Soho three-year-old, which had to cope with the passing in August 2023 of co-founder and chef Esra Muslu. It has the same downsides that it has always had though – for some reporters “value just isn’t there and while it may be delicious it’s far too expensive”. Top Tip – go as a couple and sit in the “stunning, central tiled bar downstairs” (“groups often sit upstairs and/or in a dull mezzanine area”).

“Great Turkish food – either to eat in or take away” has earned a more-than-local reputation for this pair of Anatolian charcoal BBQs, on Fulham Broadway and near West Kensington station. (Note, ‘Best Mangal 1996’ in North End Road is a separate business).

Offering a combination of Turkish, Kurdish and Greek dishes, this “cheap ’n’ cheerful” grill on the Islington main drag has been “a mainstay in the neighbourhood for years, and with good reason”.

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.

Following success in Istanbul, London-trained chef, Civan Er opened this stylish if fairly straightforward Soho operation in 2019. The focus is using British produce to create Turkish-influenced dishes cooked over open fire: “super-tasty food at a very reasonable price”. Many dishes are to share, and ‘Manti’ (a type of filled dumpling) are a menu feature.

2024 Review: 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”.

2023 Review: This “excellent local” Turkish restaurant just off Islington’s main drag offers a classic and extensive menu of “good food at a very reasonable price”, served up in a “buzzy and friendly setting”.