This Turkish restaurant is a real gem, twinkling away brightly in the centre of Eastbourne, no more…read morethan a five minute walk from the seafront.
As the restaurant only has 40 covers, it is essential that you book on Friday and Saturday evenings especially, otherwise you won't get in!
A beautifully-designed restaurant in non-fussy but distinctly Turkish style, the piece-de-resistance has to be the open grill and original Turkish oven, where you can see your food being freshly prepared and cooked before you. Watching them kneading and preparing the bread mixture is rather hypnotic, you need to be careful you don't lose track of time.
The menu is simple with a good range of choices for starter, main and dessert. The wine list is, again, simple but offers good choices - nothing too classy, just good-priced clean-tasting wines which will complement your chosen dishes perfectly.
I don't think you will find fault with any dish that you choose - but if you haven't tried it before, try one of their guvec (Turkish stew) dishes. Ahhhh yummy!!
If you have a special occasion, do let the owner know in advance. It is a family-run restaurant and you definitely get that warm, welcoming feel as you enter - no matter how busy, you'll never know that from the very high service standards. Be warned 'tho - you get "nibbles" while they are preparing your starters - so that, in itself, is always another starter on top of what is heading your way ... make sure you wear elasticated waistbands!
Prices: very reasonable. For our most recent visit, for 3 people having starters, main course, 1 dessert and a bottle of wine to share plus water, we paid £60. Fantastic value for such a decent pile of food, beautifully presented.