Meze Mangal in London was only opened 12 years ago by Turkish brothers Sahin and Ahmet Gok, however the Turkish Kebap house restaurant ranks higher than The Ritz, Barrafina, Whits and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley.
London / NationalTurk – A south London kebab restaurant is rubbing shoulders with top name Michelin star chefs as one of London’s top ten restaurants.
Meze Mangal, a Turkish specialities restaurant was opened 12 years ago by Turkish brothers Sahin and Ahmet Gok, but succeeded in ranking higher than classy restaurants such as The Ritz, Barrafina, Whits and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley on TripAdvisor.
Meze Mangal is currently ranked as seventh, with only Michelin starred restaurants scoring higher than its 95 % approval rating – Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Brett Graham’s The Ledbury, Michael Roux’s La Gavroche, Da Palo’s in Charlotte Street and Mayfair’s Goodman steakhouse.
Turkish Kebab for London : Meze Mangal serves superb Turkish food tradition
The brothers from Turkey came to London in the 80s, starting their culinary journey at a Wimpy in Kingston-Upon-Thames, before estabklishing their own kebab shop in Ladywell, Lewisham, in 1987.
The kebab shop expanded into a neighbouring cafe nine years later, and Sahin, 43, and Ahmet, 45, took on the Lewisham Way, St John’s, premises in 2000 after living above the shop.
Sahin’ reaction on the news that his restaurant Meze (delicatessen in Turkish) Mangal ranked 7th out of more than 10,000 reviewed:
‘The news is really good. It’s nice when you do something for people and they appreciate it.’
‘We are very proud and it’s a really nice feeling. We work hard and love our jobs. To see this reaction from the customers is a brilliant thing.’ adds the proud Turk.
The lamb, fish and chicken are cooked on skewers over a charcoal grill in the main restaurant, while elaborate pide dishes are baked in a brick oven at the back.
Sahin continues on Turkish food and difficulties of selling Turkish food in England: ‘When we opened there was nowhere like us in the area. Turkish food had a very bad reputation – doner kebabs dripping with oil – and we wanted to change that and show people what real Turkish cooking is like.’
‘We had tablecloths, nice silverware and wine glasses on the tables. Everything to get away from that takeaway image.
‘Our prices are very reasonable and the food is always very fresh and we make everything ourselves – including our bread.’
The prices at kebab and meze restaurant as it is called in Turkey total around £12 for main courses, with mixed mezzes under £10, and house white at £10, while a bottle of Moet and Chandon champagne will set customers back £40. But kebab and meze tastes much better with Turkish Raki and a good conversation at the kebab table, best located next to the pit where the delicious kebabs and vegetables are grilled and served right to you. And Neze Mangal manages to bring the genuine Turkish cuisine tradition and experience to London.
LONDON’s best RESTAURANTS LIST : Top 10 Restaurants in London according to Tripadvisor
1.Petrus
2.The Ledbury
3.Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
4.Le Gavroche
5.De Palo’s
6.Goodman
7.Meze Mangal
8.Whits
9.Apsleys
10.The Kitchen@Tower
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