I met up with my cousin Simon the other day at Warren street, being a Saturday afternoon a lot of places were shut around there so we wandered down to great Portland st. It had been ages since we had both been for turkish food so we thought we would give "Efes 2" a go. I had been to the other Efes rrestaurant up by the BBC some time ago and found that to be pretty good. On entering "Efes 2" you do get the impression it is very much an evening place, it is quite dark and they had all the cabaret paraphenalia stored in the cloakroom. Having said that they had a very good lunch deal on which was starter and main for under £9 so we though we would give it a go.
The starter was a selection of cold meze (humus, tzaziki etc) with plenty of pitta bread, very nice, tasted fesh if a little cold. We had a additional side of halloumi cheese which Simon hadn't tried before and liked a lot. We both went for a mixed grilled lamb and chicken kebab which was really good. This is the sort of thing Turkish restaurants get very right. The meat was chared and smoky on the outside but tender and succulent on the inside, absolutely lovely. The meat was good quality and you could tell this was a restaurant doing a domestic classic well. We washed down the meal with a couple of beers. There was no room for desert afterwards but we went for a couple of medium Turkish coffees which was a perfect way to end the meal.
All in all a very nice lunch, I don't think I would be into the evening so much with all the entertainment but the food here is good. They proudly state on their menu that everything is prepared and cooked on site. the bill with the extras and service came to £20 a head which was very good. Service itself was professional and helpful rather than friendly but sometimes that suits the occasion. I had to cycle home afterwards or I never would have eaten the dinner at home later
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8