I've been here twice with my most recent visit just a few days ago for a friend's birthday dinner. I love the cozy size of the restaurant with the kitchen being the stage. Watching the chefs and cooks at work is always entertaining. This place is all about sharing plates which I'm a big fan of since you can try lots of dishes and the food won't go to waste. We ordered the short ribs, Black Sea cheese pide, grilled hellim (halloumi cheese), seasonal vegetables and the Cyprus potato chips (forgot to get a picture. For dessert we ordered the künefe and for cocktails we all ordered the apple cinnamon drink which was actually a non-alcoholic option but our server said we could add alcohol- so we opted for gin. Wow, probably the best cocktail I've ever had actually. Now for the food: The hellim was cooked perfectly and came with a nice sauce but was a bit too sweet for my liking due to the honey The pide was rich but very tasty. The portion is a perfect size where everyone gets a good piece of it without feeling overly stuffed The seasonal greens were mega flavourful and this was one of my favorite dishes Seftali kebab (not pictured because we are it too fast ) the meat was very flavourful The Short rib was tasty with a crispy potato sticks garnish. I liked the meat but would recommend getting another portion of sharing. It had a fair amount of fat on it so I would have liked another order to get more meat. We asked for a birthday dessert which we had to pay for so we ordered the künefe. They did add a candle which was nice but I'm surprised they don't have a complimentary bday dessert option. Overall we had a nice meal. I could have eaten more but that's also because it takes a lot for me to get full. Rating this 4/5 based on the food alone read more

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Can I give more than 5 stars? Recalibrate previous Yelp ratings? You know it's serious when such thoughts run through your mind. Get the set menu. Starts with homemade bread and incredible date butter. I used to love a sweet cinnamon raisin cream cheese on bagels... this is like that, but 100x better. Second course was halloumi, then a glorious pide (Turkish chipati) with ground lamb and salad that you spread inside. Honestly, I was already so full that I could have stopped there. But...the amazing dishes kept coming. The cauliflower! With chili that wasn't overly hot, but had a smoky bite, this was one of the highlights of the meal. Next, we had a hake with greens and mustard sauce. Then, a ground lamb kebab. And THEN...dessert! Kind of a baklava, with a cheesy layer underneath and some cream and cherries. Divine. From start to end, it was pure pleasure. read more

Dishes here range from "really good" to "excellent". It's fantastic food with friendly staff. Be aware that the wood over makes the small space very warm, so wear layers. The chili cauliflower is excellent, as everyone promised. I am surprised more people don't rave about the grilled hellim, which is the best I have had. The pide with leeks and cheese was also heavenly, and my man loved the roasted chicken, which looked perfectly prepared. They have a great wine list and will give you a taste to find something you like. It's nice enough to be a great date, but not ridiculously expensive. read more

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After just arriving in London the day after a loooooong plane ride we stumbled apon Oklava and made a booking. Tired or not, the meal at Oklava woke us up it was so good! The restaurant is on the small side so havma reservation is likely key. The interior is dominated by the beautiful kitchen and packed in seating so it can also get noisy. The menu is shared plates so the wife and I split 5 dishes based on our waiter's recommendation. That was about 1 plate too many based on what we picked. First off, the service was really excellent. Our server was realy on it and helpful. After ordering some nice cocktails (get the Old Fashion), our meal consisted of the following: 1. Baharat spiced bread and date butter (my wife loved this a lot) 2. Courgette, feta and mint fritters 3. Black Sea cheese pide (very much like flatbread for you Americans to know), soft egg, carmelized butter (really good but large portion for just 2 peeps) 4. Chili roast cauliflower, red onion, parsley and pistachios 5. Roasted Hake, Aegean greens, yellow pepper with yogurt sauce (very good) All in all very satisfying and another great Shoreditch dining establishment! Definitely recommend! read more

Oklava - Kitchen and counter seating - Turkish Near Me - London, XGL

We started on the complimentary bread and medjool date butter which was delicious. These are also available in Selfridges. chilli roast cauliflower, red onion, parsley & pistachio £7.00 - wow, if cauliflower was served like this each time, I would eat it all day long. It was such a picture with a strong toasted red with jewels of pistachio scattered around and crowned off with shavings of red onion. Just for a moment I had a crazy vivid childish imagination of these cauliflowers coming to life, growing legs and started invading the restaurant. Madness! But, back to reality it had such a nice nutty combination from both the roasted cauliflower and pistachio. A gentle kick of chilli at the end, it was proper comfort food. braised octopus, ricotta, green olives, honey, pickled caper shoots and thyme £14.00 - individually the ingredients were brilliant - meaty octopus (not chewy), tangy pickled caper shoots and thyme, sweet honey, crispy thin bread - and they all came together in a mouthful of flavours. Served up with fresh salad, I enjoyed it very much. The ricotta, I carefully avoided. charcoal grilled prawns, fennel seed, chilli and garlic £12.00 - nice big prawns but I did think that for four of them it was a little dear. crispy pomegranate glazed lamb breast and yoghurt £9.50 - this dish was the star. Crispy on the outside but succulent and moist with a subtle lamb flavour, flavoured with the pomegranate glaze which was slightly sweet and bitter. There were only four small cubes of the lamb and I took my own time to savour this dish very slowly, hoping to prolong the taste. pistashio sponge, caramelised white chocolate, barbecued quince, and crispy filo £7.50 - dessert was a little hit and miss for me. I thought certain elements were lovely like the barbecued quince; beautifully soft and pulpy with the savoury smokiness from the barbecue, and the pistachio sponge was light and not terribly sweet. The presentation and style of the food were very sophisticated and portions of food were on the small side. We were advised to order a starter each and two more dishes per person for a proper meal. The dishes were served as and when it was ready so the distinction of starter and main dishes makes one wonder what was that all about. It could have been explained in much simpler words, three dishes per person. What I did not mention earlier here was that Oklava serves very interesting Turkish wines. I had the opportunity to taste them at a wine event before and was impressed by these New World wines. My favourite was the Turkish sparkling wine at £60.00 bottle. I was tempted. I just wondered if there was any restaurant that I had returned for a second meal in the last 12 months. Not to my godawful memory, but I certainly and must make it back to Oklava again. read more

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OMG. The chili-roasted cauliflower with red onion, parsley and pistachios. OMG. I ordered it twice it's so good! My friend and I also split the roasted pumpkin and mozzarella flatbread, which was served almost like bruschetta. The pumpkin was incredibly creamy and full of flavour, a wonderful contrast with the mozz. It's served with salad and pickled red cabbage. As a starter, my friend and I also had the whipped feta, candied pumpkin and chili crostini. It's an exquisite, rich mouthful. The service was a tiny bit iffy at the start but then quickly improved (shocking in London). I would gladly return here, as I was also really interested in other menu items. I would suggest coming earlier in the week as we did as you're more likely to get a reservation. read more

Oklava - The cauliflower OMGGGGG - Turkish Near Me - London, XGL

In this lovely low-key space on a quiet Shoreditch backstreet, Oklava is doing a real service to Turkish cuisine. Most places are either affiliated with Tas restaurants, family run spots with huge menus of dishes that all tend to taste the same, or kebab joints. None of these are bad options when hunger strikes but they generally strive to meet our expectations and that's it. Here we enjoyed their liberal use of fresh spices and herbs, the perfect char and smoky taste from grilling over wood, and generous portions. On Sundays, Oklava has two options - a £20 'modernized' Turkish breakfast or £25 feast with three meat skewers and spread of side dishes. Most tables were enjoying the smaller brunch with a lovely board filled piled high with burek, tomato/cucumber/peppers, unlimited chai, plus eggs and pastirma. Breakfast was always a highlight for me in Turkey so I will need to return to try this. We sat at the counter to watch the woodburning grill magic and went for the feast. Mezze were generous, flavorful and came with a nice warmed flatbread. Our chicken, lamb and beef were perfectly cooked with great seasoning though a tad salty as other reviewers have noted. All ingredients were beautiful and fresh, the flavors were delightful without being too 'experimental', and the plates kept on coming. I can't even recall how many dishes we shared but it was a fantastic feast indeed. Finally a Turkish restaurant that is trying! This place just made my regular rotation. read more

There was a minor snafu or two but I considered them in good context - the pomegranate martini was a bit too sweet and lacked a depth one would anticipate from a £9 drink. But when that's the only downside and you are in the backwater that is the London dining scene, you kind of take the hits you know? The food here is exceptional - no other way to describe it. Having gone to Turkey and eaten a 'flat bread' there (which was kind of like a b*stardized pizza but still quite lovely), I can say that I wholly anticipated these to be basically bread with whatever. However, they just crush it here - the level of creativity, attention to detail and quality of ingredients can kind of not be overstated. Highly recommend this place - and your vegetarian friends are going to be happy as well. read more

Even though we heard amazing things about this restaurant before we went, it even exceeded the expectations we had. We started with the feta crostini and the cauliflower. I don't even LIKE cauliflower, but Oklava has me rethinking my allegiances. It is as good as every reviewer on Yelp says it is. I got the zatar chicken and the flatbread with goat cheese and roasted leeks. AMAZING. Please go here right now! The waitress thought we might be ordering too much food but we polished off our plates. The only downside is we didn't have room for desserts. The service here was great as well. I can't wait to go back. read more

Oklava - Flatbread with goat cheese and roasted leeks - Turkish Near Me - London, XGL

Wow I really am so happy I found this gem! Me and a friend were walking around and ran into this place randomly. It sits in a quiet corner in Shoreditch and is a sweet spot. We were able to be seated at the bar area which was absolutely fine with us! I ordered some Turkish wine and my friend had an efes. We then were served brews with date butter which was out of this world - cinnamon & delicious! We ordered a nibble of apricot, whipped feta topped with mint which was just a perfect way to start the meal. And I love love cauliflower so ordered this charred cauliflower dish covered with a flavourful sauce that was perfect for me. My friend loved it less so but hey if you like cauliflower I think you will like this dish. We finished with the chicken pide which is pretty much chicken in a pastry baked in an oven like a pizza which was to die for. Service was good and people are nice so yes we are coming back :) read more

Very, very solid. The chili roasted cauliflower was one of my favorite dishes of the year. Cool spot! read more

I came here for a weekend lunch with two friends after booking many months ago, before the buzz really hit the press. They had a brunch available, and nearly everyone around us was having it, but the cold food looked rather disappointing to me and I pushed the group decision toward the many rich and savoury plates that Oklava is known for. They recommend 2-3 plates per person, and to start we got the baharat bread and medjool date butter and the courgette, feta and mint fritters. The date butter is apparently sold in Selfridge's, a neat accomplishment for a newly opened restaurant. It was silky smooth with just the right amount of sweetness, really embodying everything I love about whipped butter. I also loved the fritters, especially the mint that did a great job cutting through the oiliness. From the vegetables we had the pearl barley and the baked lamb fat potatoes. The barley was like a salad, the type you would find at Ottolenghi's, and the potatoes, with a duck egg on top, was one of the most beautiful in terms of presentation. We ordered the classic lahmacun flatbread, which is with minced lamb on top, and it's razor thin but the size of a pizza and served with a light salad. We were told that the lahmacun was the most popular, but I thought it was rather lacking in flavour and next time I would go for the octopus or the short rib, which were the original ones that caught my eye. From the meat section, we ordered the lamb breast and the chilli-garlic chicken. These were the standouts, and of that, it was definitely the chicken with its perfectly crumbed exterior. The only thing I would say about the chicken was that it was unfortunate that it came on the bone, as that was a surprise and a bit of a challenge to deal with. And for dessert, we indulged in the chocolate with blood orange cream and the yoghurt & honey parfait with pear granite. Both were amazing and personally I preferred the pear granite with its strong fruity flavours, but my friend loved the chocolate, which was an extremely rich, dark, and fairly bitter chocolate. I loved the entire dining experience and I would not be surprised to see this become one of London's hottest restaurants. The majority of the bar seating near the kitchen and by the windows remained empty throughout our entire meal, so for now, I can't imagine it would be difficult to get a booking. The restaurant has huge windows that really take advantage of its corner location, reminding me of the ones at Granger & Co in Clerkenwell, and the tables are fairly well spaced, so it's a very serene, relaxed dining experience. We must have sat there for over two hours and did not feel rushed in the least. I think we did a pretty extensive job sampling the menu but I would be more than happy to come again! read more

Amazing food! Excellent cocktails. I had the cauliflower and lamb with Sumac martini and the Bloody Mary. All highly recommended.

I Had high hopes for the restaurant given the strong reviews. The service was great but the food wasn't that impressive. The presentation in general was great but everything was just a tad too salty and sweet. We ordered Roasted Cauliflower - beautiful looking dish but too salty. Mince lamb pide - tasty, but the cabbage slaw that came with it was too sweet. Duck breast - had great flavour but too salty. We could not finish it. Roasted carrots - beautiful presentation but again, too sweet. read more

Sophisticated twist on Turkish food. Great ambiance and delicious food. The concept is small plates, and it's best to go as two people because the portions aren't very big. The courgette fritters were amazing, I wish there were more than two in an order! The halloumi was nicely done as well. We had a great salad too. Everything tasted good, and is taken to a higher level from what you would expect. Great date spot! I knocked off a star because my seating arrangements were uncomfortable. I don't particularly like sitting on stools with no back support. Also, it was a bit pricey. read more

I would give this a three and a half stars for the service. It just wasn't great. And it's interesting because they have a mandatory 12% added to the bill. It was also really loud and the server recommended plates of 4-6 and we definitely were very full with our 4. Food was good, innovative for sure, not a huge wow factor, but we thought two of our dishes were delicious (the pork and shrimp). read more

There's not many things that are quiet and unassuming in shoreditch. But Oklava is just that. Swung by this gem on a recent business trip and had one of the finer meals I've had in London. Ordered the Seftali kebab, the Carrot Boryani, and the Courgette fritters. Everything was classic Turkish yet daring with the Boryani being an absolute standout. And If you're still in the mood for more (as I was) go for the kuneffe for dessert to close things out. It's big. So bring a buddy. read more

The easiest way to start is to say that this is the best Turkish meal I've ever eaten the flavours of each course were amazing. This little restaurant set in the streets of shoreditch was a real delight with a fantastic menu created by chef Selin Kiazim. When we looked at the menu believe me we just wanted to try everything but in the end we went with the recommendations of our excellent & friendly waitress and so glad we did as they were fantastic choices. They also have a great selection of wine and most also seem to be by the glass aswell plus a great Izmir Beer . The restaurant has an opened kitchen so you can smell the amazing flavours before they reach the table. Well I suppose I better get to the food which started with a delicious Baharat Spiced Bread & Date Butter before the amazing Pastirma Sausage & Grilled Hellim this was followed by the most stunning Flatbread which included Octopus , Ricotta & Caper Leaves then a fantastic Aubergine dish. Then came the mains of Crispy Pomegranate Glazed Lamb & Seftali Kebab just food heaven . But do leave room for dessert as you don't want to miss out on those one was a Kinefe a Crispy Kadayif & Cheese Pastry & the other a stunning Chocolate! Prune & Cardamom Delice matched with a delightful Turkish dessert wine. I definitely can't wait to return and I would highly recommend a visit as the food , service and general friendliness of the place makes it a real pleasure. read more