Gokyuzu: The Best Turkish Restaurant in London

By Halal Xplorer England Food London Turkish March 16, 2022

For a Turkish restaurant to be Tripadvisor’s No.1 restaurant in London for a few weeks (back in 2013) is an outstanding achievement. It most definitely one of the best Turkish restaurants we’ve had in London, quite possibly one of the best we’ve ever had. It certainly lives up to the hype. Often I find at Turkish (and Lebanese) places the meat dishes are a tad too meaty in taste. However, here, there was none of that. The meat platter was delicious, the Manti (Turkish dumplings) was a find and the Sultac (Turkish rice pudding) was sublime! A top tier restaurant serving up top tier food.

What we ordered:

Platter for two

£39.00

Lamb shish, chicken shish, Adana kebab, 2 chicken wings, 2 lamb ribs, mixed doner served with rice & bulgur. A platter is a must order in a Turkish restaurant let’s be honest. Firstly, I am super pleased to say the lamb tasted wonderful!!! Didn’t have the meaty after taste at all. In fact my favourite meats on this platter was the lamb. The shish and the ribs were wow! Succulent and flavourful. It was more firm and chewy as opposed to tender, but that’s how this is supposed to be I think? The wings were incredible. The doner mixed with the rice and chilli sauce was a dream! A bit steep, but you can taste the quality! This is a must.

Sarma Kuzu Beyti

£18.50

Marinated mince lamb seasoned with garlic and grilled over charcoal, wrapped in lavash bread (flatbread) with cheese and topped with tomato sauce, then drizzled with butter served with yogurt and bulgur. We actually ordered the chicken version, but we move. I’d seen this all over social media. The famous beyti! Unfortunately, I didn’t like it. It’s basically a very tomatoey pizza – you got meat, cheese, flatbread, all drenched with tomato sauce. That’s not for me. It tasted exactly like pizza! Strangely, this tasted better the following day! It grew on my wife more than it did on me.

Manti

£8.50

Tiny lamb-stuffed dumplings topped with yoghurt and butter. I did not know the Turks have their own dumpling dish. Familiar in taste yet so different and unique at the same time. Small enough to take 3 or 4 in one go mixed with the yoghurt and what looked like chilli oil tasted amazing. The yoghurt is not something I usually associate with dumplings, but it added a nice fresh tang. Would definitely get this again. My discovery of the day!

Sütlaç

£4.50

Turkish Rice pudding. This was the perfect end to the heavy meal. It was cold and therefore light and refreshing. Topped with pistachio to provide some crunch and the top burnt a bit like a creme brûlée. A must try! Many have suggested the kunafa from here, but we were soooo fullll we opted for a lighter dessert. Maybe next time we’ll try the kunafa.

Complimentary Turkish tea was given to us at the end of the meal – as most Turkish restaurants do. Also, we were not charged for the Sutlac.

Overall

Overall, the quality of this restaurant is obvious. The leftovers the following day tasted amazing too – that has to be a sign of quality. The platter is a good test of a Turkish place as you can sample bits of everything. And this passed that test. The manti and sutlac were nice discoveries. The service was superb – very attentive staff. I can definitely see why they’re so highly rated.