Iznik Kaftan

Iznik in Highbury has been one of London's better Turkish restaurants for nearly two decades, but it's taken this long for them to open their second branch. As befits the expensive new location at Brompton Cross, they've pitched the look and feel of the place more upmarket than the original, with Ottoman-style details such as stained-glass lamps and a beautiful antique kaftan framed on the wall. The basement dining room is spacious, while the ground floor feels cosier.

The menu plays safer than you might find in Turkey or, for that matter, Dalston, with no offal dishes that might scare the Chelsea set away. Instead, there's an appealing selection of vegetarian dishes that sound even more tempting than the various lamb and chicken kebabs. The patlican salata is particularly good - a puréed aubergine salad with a beige, bland appearance that belies appealing aromas of the chargrill and the flavour of garlic. Far more colourful was the manti - tiny ravioli filled with ground lamb, swimming in a yoghurt sauce with a vibrant slick of red chilli oil as a garnish. Manti is just one form of the dumplings, which are staple fodder all the way through Central Asia to Korea (where they are called mandu).

The delicacy of the cooking here impressed us, such as the lightness of the mucver - courgette and feta cheese fritters that look like onion bhajis at first glance, but have none of the weight of their Indian lookalikes. The delicate flavour of fresh dill also lifted the dish beyond the mundane.

Service on our visit was a little amateurish, though sweet and well-intentioned, and the menu explains the dishes clearly - just in case you don't know your imam bayeldi from your börek.
Guy Dimond

Time Out Issue 1964: April 10-16 2008

See other: