London is full of great Turkish restaurants. Almost every area in London will have a decent Turkish you can pop into to get your fix. And you’ll leave satisfied. Everyone has their favourite joint. It’s almost like an equivalent to an Indian restaurant, or a chippy. This part of Enfield is like a hidden cluster of little homey Turkish restaurants doing a variety of standard and super authentic Turkish food. I’ll feature them all in separate posts, but this one will be about the standard Turkish restaurant. What do I mean by standard? You know the one where you go in and order a platter of mixed kebabs, each table gets bread and dips for starters and free tea at the end (not here, but you get the picture). This post will be about that type of restaurant in this hidden cluster. Read on to find out more.
Charcoal kebabs from Enfes Ocakbasi
Let’s talk a little about Enfes Ocakbasi. It is the typical family kebab restaurant. But there are some things that make it worth traveling to this part of London for. Firstly, the area itself. A hidden cluster of authentic Turkish restaurants that make a trip to this area so worth it. Secondly, the restaurant itself has a homey, warm charming feel to it. The decor is welcoming and it feels cosy in there. Thirdly, the method of cooking. Their kebabs and grilled items are all grilled over charcoal. Resulting in deliciousness. The only downside for us is that they serve raki (Turkish alcohol) on site, even though it’s not on the actual menu. So, going into the restaurant we didn’t know of this. Shame that. Another slightly concerning thing was that we didn’t see the word halal or a sign anywhere on the menu or restaurant. But after asking, they did confirm verbally the whole menu is halal.
Check out the full menu here.
Our experience
The menu is like your typical Turkish restaurant. The option of kebab and other grilled dishes as well as some family platters. There was two of us and we were planning to eat elsewhere so we opted against one of the platters and we went for the mixed kebab option from the menu. It comes with 1 adana skewer, 1 lamb shish skewer, 1 chicken shish, 1 lamb chop and it is served with Turkish rice and salad. It was a fairly small portion to be fair, but it was okay for us. Taste wise everything was delicious as you’d except from charcoal grilled meats. The adana was the best thing on the plate. I’d say everything was above average, but not necessarily exceptional enough for me to want to return.
Mind you, the bread and dips served at the beginning was definitely exceptional! You get three dips: yoghurt, beetroot grilled onions and tomato salsa. The tomato salsa was outstanding! The bread wasn’t your standard bread neither, I mean it was, but there was a genius final move that just elevated to wow. They smother the bread on the grill to take up all the smoky meat flavours from the grill and boy did that elevate it. I mean we usually try to limit how much we eat before our mains comes out, but the bread here was so good we couldn’t control ourselves from devouring it all. So good! I’d probably return for this alone!
Getting there:
Parking: The road round the corner from the restaurant (Brick Ln, Enfield EN3 5BA) has unmarked parking spots (free parking). Other than that most roads are Sundays and Weekends free.
Nearest Mosque: Palmers Green Mosque is a bit far (15 minute drive), but I think the closest one with female facilities unfortunately. Enfield Islamic Centre is closer (4 minute drive).
Nearest station: Southbury
