Archive for August, 2009

Turkish delights

August 9, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

 

Kebabs this good are an art form. Don't disturb me.

Kebabs this good are an art form. Don't disturb me.

 

We all know that fabulous Turkish food is one of Hackney’s most delectable and credit-crunch busting (watch that journalese fly…I’ll be talking about ‘staycations’ next) cuisines. 

But having frequented the magnificent Anatolia on Mare Street since I first arrived in the neighbourhood, I thought it was time to pay homage to the consistency of my favourite kebab shop. 

Succulent chicken shish, juicy lamb ribs hot from the aromatic ocakbasi. Delicious garlicky, meaty, herby, hot and crusty-but-soft lahmacun , or Turkish pizza for the uninitiated, straight form the oven and that amazing aubergine/yoghurt/bready delight that I forget the name of. IT IS ALWAYS GOOD. They never have an off night. Even the frog, a man of refined taste, is a huge fan of ‘the Ottoman restaurant’. 

(Also – it’s healthy, isn’t it? Chicken shish is basically grilled chicken with rice and salad. Clearly the people on this idiotic forum don’t know the first thing about nutrition..)

Service can be a bit changeable. The chaps doing the cooking have that look of ‘I’m not here to chat, but to create many delicious and juicy kebabs, alright?’, but the restaurant staff are friendly. 

You could argue, and others have, that there are superior Turkish restaurants in Hackney. Pidd and I are big fans of the deservedly celebrated Mangal on Arcola Street . The relatively classy  Cirrik, next to Hackney Central is a bit posher if you want more-restaurant- less-kebab-shop vibe. Testi serve up a mean stew, in addition to lamb’s testicles and Gilbert and George are big fans of Mangal II, though I’ve never been. 

Still Anatolia is my fave, it’s delicious, very close, and practically free. Yum. I might get one tonight, actually.

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And all that jazz

August 4, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

 

  manhattan

Huzzah. Another drinking establishment has opened in spitting distance of the park. Not that we would want to spit that distance, and actually, it’s not spitting distance. You’d have to be an olympic spitter to spit that far. But close, in any case.

The lovely Off Broadway is all, rough wooden tables and Manhattans and American bar staff. It’s an American cocktail bar, see. Only in London Fields (maybe that’s why it’s Off Broadway, and not Broadway. You know, not the mainstream place were the blue-rinse brigade hang out, but the cool, edgy, yeah, stuff. And yes, I do realise it’s on Broadway Market. But if it were related to street name alone, surely it would be On Broadway? In fact isn’t that the name of the gallery? Argghhh…association overload!)

I’m not sure it works. I quite like the concept (good cocktails, friendly bar staff, perching on bar stools*) but we’re all a bit boozy and silly for it to run smoothly. I like you making that yummy cocktail, I really do. But I want it NOW goddamit. Ahem. My uncultivated fault. Please do carry on. 

Still, they do plates of cheese and meat**, and the staff really are rather nice. A bejillion times nicer than the incompetents at the C&M, and I think we’ve talked enough about our opinion of the “bar staff” at the Dove. They need to sort the downstairs bit out, it still feels like a bit of an afterthought. But excellent work on the terrasse and the sunshine streaming through windows on old wood, and the bar stools and the vibe. My new favourite bar. And I really like the multi-faceted name.

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