We visited Surmeli on a Friday night as a group of five. The restaurant owner greeted us at the door with a friendly manner and was quick to organize a table for us. He wanted to order a few dishes as starters without much consultation, however he was willing to compromise per our requests. We were also not offered a menu even though he said they serve about 50 different dishes in the restaurant..Which is a shame because we have no idea what else we could have chosen if we had the option!
The starters (eggplant salad and lahmacun) were absolutely great and main dishes (Adana and lamb kebab) were delicious. Be careful with the service though, they tend to rush the dishes even though we kept reminding to slow things down! Therefore we were a bit rushed and our dishes were luke warm by the time we were ready to eat them.
They served complimentary tea, which was not great. I would suggest either skipping the tea or asking for freshly made coffee.
All considered, Surmeli is a good spot to check out if you are in the neighborhood. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here but definitely a good option to consider especially if one is trying to avoid chain kebab restaurans. read more