The best kebab in East London! You can go or you can order online. Just love it!read more

Being half Turkish, I love to eat my beloved Turkish food. Iskembecisi has been around for a long…read moretime, and when I first remember going there, it was quite elegant, this was around 10 years ago and the décor has not changed at all, so it is now kind of looking dated. I recall it being quite busy as a youngster but custom seems to have dropped. This is probably due to the amount of Turkish restaurants that have opened up in the area, which is uncountable. Nevertheless, I do pay the occasional visit, and on my last few visits, I have had the lamb chops, which are brilliant. I past buy today in my car, and the first thing I thought of were those chops. So on our way back through Newington Road, we stopped off and I got those chops, nothing has changed, it's great. I also just discovered that it stays open up till 5am!!

https://twitter.com/mangal2/status/871332608726228992…read more I'm now planning my visit for next trip to London. Can't wait!

The only problem with living in an area like Hackney with such an abundance of great, affordable…read moreworld cuisine is that it makes English food seem about as appealing as day old spotted dick. I am a sucker for a Sunday roast, but for every other day of the week I eat West Indian, Nigerian and Turkish. Mangal II is the crowning glory of East London's Turkish restaurants and displays this fact proudly on a window adorned with so many paper clippings it looks sponsored by Time Out. The menu is vast and everything on it (I go there a lot) is delicious, extra special is the vegetarian moussaka. It's a traditional ocakbasi restaurant with all the delicious meats and sauces sizzling away on hotplates and a big flame grill. This can be distracting when especially hungry, I have found myself on dates here, staring, drooling, nostrils flaring at the chefs, completely ignoring which ever poor soul I roped in to my feeding frenzy. This is one of my favourite restaurants in London, its perfect in every way and if you don't believe me, just ask Gilbert and George.

Reminiscent of my visit to Istanbul, this restaurant delivers on delicious Turkish food with good…read moreservice to boot. Having come with a Turkish friend who recommended it and ordered for us in Turkish, I didn't pay enough attention to all the names of the dishes. I will say this, everything we ate was exquisite! My favourite was the Turkish pizza, thin with loads of toppings. Perfect to roll, dress with salad, dip in sauce and enjoy. The cold aubergine salsa was excellent as well. Lamb doused in tomato sauce with bread and sour cream was rich and divine. Did I mention I enjoyed the meal? We had several cups of Turkish tea which was really good with the dessert. A crispy noodle dough stuffed with sweet cheese, topped with honey and pistachios was the perfect ending. I slowly made it out of here with a full belly and many leftovers. What a treat!

Excellent food. Service was fine but waiter was a bit grumpy. All orders come with free fresh…read morebread, cacik (yoghurt, mint and cucumber) and a salad. Lovely and light start to the meal. Bread is always fantastic here from the wood fire oven. I got the tavuk (chicken) pide and it was fantastic. The dough was crisp, charred and chewy. The wood oven makes a world of difference. The chicken was tender and seasoned wonderfully. Dad got the lamb sis and he loved it but it could have come with more rice. The cubes of meat were also noticeably smaller since we last came here. Food is reasonably priced and overall worth trying, especially if you want pide

No reservations. This is the best "Best Mangal" in London. It might have been a lucky night. That…read morewe were extremely famished. But no matter. I will hear no word against it. It's the best! We decided upon this place after a pool tournament at the nearby hurricane rooms. Having both been knocked out in the first round, it was quite a fortunate circumstance as we wouldn't have discovered this place otherwise! Upon entering the place was well lit and clean. It wasn't in the least bit smoky unlike some Mangal's that absolutely leave you smelling of charcoal. There were only two other tables taken so I thought it might have been a wrong move... Our orders taken, straight away we're brought the complimentary turkish bread and dips that all mangals normally serve. Quite often this bread is cold and chewy, or given with a nasty dip that smells a bit off. Not here. The bread was warm and super yummy, and a good portion of it too! I absolutely stuffed myself on this because the dips, of which I don't know the names, were so good! Remembering that we still had out mains to come, I stopped. But at this point I was around 50% full! Our mains come out and boy are the portions gigantic. Lots of meat, extremely fresh looking and tasting salad and your choice of fries or rice. With a thin pitta as the base. There was oil in the doner chicken, but not as much as you normally find. It was very tasty. The chilli sauce, wasn't that hot, but the flavours were full and a welcome addition to the slightly charred moist chicken. As we were about to ask for the bill, (note: Earlier to this I had heavily complimented the staff on how good the food was) they were exceptionally gracious in offering us some complimentary turkish tea and delights. That was a nice touch and perfect end to a perfect meal. I honestly felt like a guest in somebody's home, as all the staff from the cooks to the waiting staff were super nice and friendly. This is apparently a chain (same owners), with another in Shoreditch which I've visited. But it's nothing close in either food quality or staffing at this branch. So it's fair to say they only share the name (along with many dozens across London) Give this place a visit if you're around King's Cross Station and looking for a quick bite. For just over a tenner, you're sure to leave stuffed and more importantly happy. Now isn't that what life is about.

Located 5 mins walk from kings cross, this place has the best lamb donna with rice and salad. It…read morehas a nice pleasant vibe and perfect for a group of friends or if you are on your own.. Make sure you try their turkish tea - its made from real leaves. Overall this place is reasonable in price, huge portion and you won't be left hungry. The Resturant staff are friend. My food did take a little 15 mins to arrive but it's worth the wait :) I highly recommend this place and often come here for afternoon lunch when I need a big heart meal for reasonable price. Also they have a set menu for office workers during the week..

For those of you who don't know the dish Tava (a Mediterranean Casserole), it is quit an ancient…read moredish that both the Turks and Greeks claim is theirs, once again, I don't care as I stem from both cultures. My Greek grandmother cooks this dish, and its delicious, when I know she's cooking it, I really do anticipate that first spoon full. It is an oven dish and cooked in a certain bowl that other dishes aren't usually cooked it, it supposedly give it a certain taste. Either way, it is delicious and one of my favorites. You do not find many restaurants that serve it as it takes quite a while to cook, and it is no surprise that Tava Restaurant have marketed their establishment around that fact, by naming it after the dish. You have it with Lamb or chicken and I recommend both!! This is a great restaurant, it was recently refurbished and it is looking really lush now. They have a full menu, serving fish, Pide (pastry with various topping, cooked in a wooden oven), and all other grill and kebabs. It is spacious, has good service and a great restaurant.

Tasty, cheap and friendly. Whislt we waited for our singular, take out kebab between two of us, the…read moremanager greeted us and brought us little glasses of arabic tea. I will be going back.

Exceptional. As seen…read morefrom the reviews, Charcoal Kebab ranks high up there. I too have had my share of Turkish food and late night kebabs. Charcoal grill ranks as my absolute favourite. Whenever I an in London and need to make a trip to Wood Green for errands, I am always so happy to go at the prospect of having a generous portion of their delicious lamb stew or anything else on there menu. For a sit down meal, I recommend your choice of a complete meal (you can see the selections on the hot trays) like my favourite lamb complete with a delicious side of salad, hummous, lavash and carb of choice For my absolute favourite deal, get a takeaway lahmachun stuffed with green salad. This is the best value takeaway turkish meal I have ever had and all for a pound and fifity! Now I am on the hunt for something as delicious in LA! I cannot wait to come back to charcoal kebab again, I know you have a few kebab choices along this high street but trust me, you want to pop in here!

Had a house special Sharing Platter which comes in at £30.00 and told its enough for two people,…read morebut to be honest its enough for 4 easily. MAIN COURSE : Lamb Shish, Chicken Shish, Lamb Kofte, 2pcs of Lamb Chops, 4pcs Chicken Wings, Mixed Doner Served with Rice and Salad. Managed to at least try some of the items and make sure to ask for their sauce as that really makes the dish. I still am so surprised by the portion size. Really friendly staff and not far from the shopping centre car park so very easy to park and walk. They have an extensive menu and although not fine dining it is worth a visit for a great lunch.

It's a sad state of affairs to have to deduct stars but I've ordered takeaway from Kilim on more…read morethen one occasion and pretty much every time there is a leak of some sort in the bag because they shmoosh it all into a scooter! The first time she was very apologetic so I thought it was a one-off but since then it has happened again and again. The last time was a couple of days ago and she'd already left when I opened the bag to find the Patlican Soslu had actually bust open and there was aubergine and tomato all spilled out. SO disappointing and such bad service paying for something that you don't even get to eat. I had to scoop it all out of the bag and scrape it off everything else. Nice! I can't deduct any more than one star though because it is damn tasty food and their halloumi makes me happy. Just bring my takeaway in a car, for gawd's sake!

I go here frequently; its my favorite Ocakba - type place in the area. Recently (spring 09?) got a…read moremakeover. The food is what you would expect; doner, shish, beyti, etc but its all done really nicely, the food is good, its unpretentious, and its a pleasant place to sit down. If you're looking to take out the doner sandwiches are huge and inexpensive. Yum!

I love restaurants that - in addition to good food - have friendly and helpful staff…read more It was one of those dreary, rainy and cold London winter days and when I entered Cirrik during an early lunch-time, I surprised the waiter while he was eating his lunch before the rush hour. He was eating some kind of soup and immediately knew that I wanted that too! I asked him what it was and he said that this was the kind of soup that his Mum made for him on cold days like this...well perfect! The soup, which was a rice-yoghurt soup with oregano and chili sauce, arrived shortly after and it was really what I needed at that time. I was served warm bread and a typical side salad along with it. (Update: a Turkish Yelper saw my photo of the soup and sent me the following compliment: my favourite soup.. name is "yayla corbasi ;) Once I'd finished my soup, the nice waiter approached me again and inquired if I wanted anything else to eat. I asked him to recommend something to me and he said that being from Adana originally, he'd recommend Adana Köfte. The raw köfte went onto the grill and after they were done the arrived on my table...along with a few more side salads: onions in a reddish sauce as well as an onion-salad. All was very delicious. True to Turkish hospitality, I finally received a Turkish tea, which rounded up my meal quite nicely. So, if you're willing to entrust yourself to the staff when it comes to food recommendations, you're in good hands here!

Spectacular! Fresh, great sauces,…read more My love has traveled to Turkey a lot...he said: Hands down the best Turkish grilled meat dishes. BAM!! No really!! Friendly people, easy dress code (cause its more like a fancy kebab joint than a "white linen napkin" restaurant. Why?!?! Is this not in the city!!! Fak!!!