I've been dining at Turkish Delight for many years, and it's always been a favourite of mine.
It's a pleasant environment, with an unassuming decor of white walls, hung with Turkish artwork, including attractive silk rugs. The lighting is at a pleasantly low level, creating an ambience of informality and intimacy. One thing I like about this place is its unheralded location behind the takeaway, giving you the feeling that it's your own hidden gem; a secret place, frequented only by those in the know, rather like a dining equivalent of a prohibition-era speakeasy.
The food is consistently good, supplied in generous portions, and in the past offered with simple yet appetising presentation. For this reason I was surprised on this latest occasion to see a change to the way the dishes were served. It seems that Turkish Delight has gone all nouvelle cuisine.
One of the things I'd always found appealing about this restaurant was the attractive yet unpretentious presentation of its food. On this occasion my meal was artistically moulded, presumably with the use of a small bowl, into a precarious stack of doner kebab meat. The mixed grill items were laid on top of each other like the corner joints of an American frontier log cabin, and the plate drizzled with the tiniest arty trails of sauce imaginable. I expect that many discerning diners will no doubt find this modernistic arrangement appealing and spot on trend. For me though it wasn't to my personal aesthetic taste. It looked pretty enough, but I couldn't help feeling that the presentation clashed uneasily with the food genre. Kebabs are hearty fayre, and the amount of sauces applied to the dish should be the choice of the diner, as has been the case in the past. If I'm honest, I have to say that one gripe was that the sauces were so nice, I wanted enough to go with the considerably sizeable amount of meat on my plate. I didn't find a drizzle adequate. It would have liked it if additional ramekins of the sauces had been supplied to the table for diners to apply, according to personal preference.
Surprisingly, in a departure from the norm, service on this occasion was not the greatest. The staff were polite when taking our order on arrival, but unfortunately less than attentive thereafter. We had to ask twice for a jug of water, and when it eventually arrived, it was actually three glasses of water instead. We observed a number of other diners also having to make several attempts to attract the attention of the waiting staff in order to ask for items missing from their order, and to ask for extra drinks. This has not been the case on other visits there however, so I put it down to a hiccough.
An issue which was mildly amusing and quirky, but at the same time a bit of a trial was the fact that we had the wobbliest table imaginable, and also the plates slid around all over the table top as if they were served on an ice rink. It was quite a challenge chasing our chinaware around in order to eat our meals! The placement of mats under the crockery would easily remedy this.
It was a shame that the cosy downstairs dining area wasn't open. Seating in this snug jewel of an environment has only ever been offered to us on one visit, which is frustrating because we absolutely love that room. I assume that it's only open when the restaurant is busy, but it would be great to have the choice. I'd choose downstairs every time.
I can't fault Turkish Delight for the size and quality of their meals. I had the Iskender Kebab this time, which is basically a bit of everything, rather like a mixed grill. Unnecessarily trendy presentation aside, the dish was fabulous, and every meal I've had there has been so. I'm especially fond of the filo pastry parcels of soft cheese and fresh parsley. Turkish Delight serve what are without doubt the best kebabs I've tasted, both in the restaurant and the takeaway, and the ingredients are always very obviously fresh and of high quality. I always like eating establishments where the kitchen is on clear display, as is the case here. You can see how good the raw ingredients are, as well as the standards employed in preparation and cooking.
In the past I've always had excellent service here, so I'm giving the restaurant the benefit of the doubt and putting this visit down to a glitch. The presentation is only a matter of my own personal preference, and the availability of the downstairs area no doubt due to practical restrictions. Therefore, on balance, I would have no hesitation in recommending Turkish Delight to dinersjust be prepared to ask for more sauce. :) read more