Address: 551 Green Lanes, London N8 0RL

Telephone number: 020 8340 9691

Website: www.flamebistrorestaurant.com

Date of visit: 23 November 2010

Approximate cost per head: Around £15

Comments on wine list/beer: Very cheap and wine list with little choice – £15 a bottle. Efes beer is £2.80 a bottle

Summary:

I was on Green Lanes exploring the local gastronomic scene. The place seemed to be full of Greek Cypriots, Turks and Kurds. By the way, they seemed to have very similar food.

I was first enticed to the Cypress Kitchen in St Anne’s Lane. However from the outside, I can’t see any alcohol for sale. I next went to the Kurdish Restaurant on Green Lanes and again, it looked dry to me. I then cross the road and discovered Flame – a Turkish restaurant.

As you walked in, there is a mini kitchen and counter to serve takeaways. There were two donor kebabs rotating and a huge grilling area for skewers of kebabs. The furniture was Formica but the place looked very clean. The floor was snow white.

I settled for the Falafel (£4), Calamari (£4) and the Imam Bayildi (£3). I also asked for a bottle of Turkish red (2009 Yakut Kavaklidee, £15).

The waitress first brought me a glass of red and I had great difficulty in explaining that I wanted a full bottle (yes, there is only one of me and it is lunch time). When she eventually worked it out and bought me a bottle, the bottle was slightly (ever so slightly corked). I decided that it would take me the rest of my lunch to explain that the wine is not all right but it is drinkable. To be honest, it was not a bad wine if it was not corked.

Then the food came and it was very, very good. The falafel was made with crushed beans and chick peas, the outside fried to a crisp. The taste and texture were both excellent. The calamari was battered and was ok. Now both dishes came with a salad of lettuce leaves and tomatoes and a dip. For the falafel, they served hummus, for the calamari, I was served taramasalata. Now these weren’t little pots but huge servings like a starter portion. I was also offered warm Turkish bread – whole loaf – about a double sized bap. The iman bayildi were five little aubergines that were slit down the middle with both ends intact and stuffed with tomatoes and onions.

I was in foodie heaven. For £11, I had three enormous portions (for starters) and two dips. They were all cooked properly and very tasty. Pity about the wine but the whole bill was £26 excluding service. By the way, they had paper napkins but it is ok for places like this. I asked for a cork and took the bottle away (two third full). Later, I emptied the wine down a drain and recycled the bottle.

E

Address: 5 Langham Place, London W1B 3DG

Telephone number: 0207 323 0505

Website: www.sofra.co.uk

Date of visit: 19 December 2009

Approximate cost per head: From £10

Comments on wine list/beer: Reasonable list at reasonable prices for central London

Summary:
We were booked in at the Palladium to see “Sister Act” and Ozer is just round the corner. You can also park in Portland Place for up to 4 hours on the meter. Sister Act was absolutely fantastic!

Ozer is the flagship restaurant of the Ozer/Sofra chain of Turkish Restaurants. The restaurant was big and fairly smart. The lights were quite dim which was all right for eating but not for reading – so Sunday lunch with the papers is going to be difficult. I struggled with the menu.

The first thing we noticed when we sat down was a sign: drinks in 2 minutes and your starters in 5 minutes.

We went for the cheapest meze at £14.95 a head - 15 dishes! Well, they were relatively small portions. There are pricier versions which gives you a better selection of grills. There is also a theatre menu at under £7 provided you ordered before 6pm. The dishes came more or less within 5 minutes. We were offered a basket of warm Turkish bread which was excellent. Cold starters included, Tabullah which has both coriander and parsley in it, an aubergine stew, hummus, peeled broad beans in yogurt and more vegetable dishes. The deep fried dishes included falafel, spinach and feta cheese bourek, and something that taste like an onion bajee. Then the kebabs arrived – chicken, lamb and minced lamb (burgers?). The kebabs were highly marinated and extremely tender.

For desert (included in the price), we had a plate with 4 different deserts on it – ice cream, some form of date, chocolate and tiramisu.

We washed the whole lot down with EFES beers (£3.75), a bottle of chianti (£25.25), bottles of water and cokes. The bill for 7 came to £170 including service.

This is definitely a great place for a pre-theatre dinner as the service is highly efficient but then only the Palladium is within 10 minutes walk.

Eddie