Restaurants

Advertised as Mediterranean, Manzara is indeed anything but a standard Turkish restaurant. It opens early, offering breakfast (including cereals), and stays open late. During the day, staff rustle up sandwiches and provide a range of cakes and gateaux at the takeaway counter by the front. Customers eating in can choose organic beefburgers and organic wine, but Turkish food is the mainstay of the menu. A mixed meze included a good spread of starters: börek, houmous, cacik and dolma. To follow, ‘spicy lamb with yoghurt’ was deceptively named, as it wasn’t very spicy. This was served on diced pitta, accompanied by a dollop of thick yoghurt and rice. A lamb kebab offered slices of aubergine interspersed with slightly heavy köfte, decent rice, and tomato. Pitta is the only bread option, but you can order pide pizzas. Blue tablecloths cover tables that aren’t unlike those of a fast-food café, but the overall emphasis is on takeaways rather than the restaurant – a pity, as Manzara remains the only serious Turkish eaterie for miles around.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008