When BHS closed in our local shopping mall, everyone was hoping for it to be replaced with an M&S food hall or Waitrose. However, this is Walthamstow in North West London and we got Lidl plus a 24-hour gym and a Turkish restaurant, “Gokyuzu”:http://gokyuzurestaurant.co.uk/walthamstow/, which opened in February when we were on holiday.
We visited when my nephew was staying recently and really enjoyed it. Gokyuzu already has a couple of branches in neighbouring Harringay and Chingford which we’ve never been to, but this one is huge and on two floors.
It was a cold and wet night and, when we were asked where we’d like to sit, we said, ‘somewhere warm’. We were shown to an upstairs to a window seat overlooking the town square.
Without asking, we were presented with glasses of tap water and a large basket of warm bread and a dish of what I suspect from the menu, was Haydari (yogurt, dill and feta cheese) which was delicious and meant we didn’t need starters although their mixed meze platters would have been ideal.
Roy chose a large lamb doner from the Charcoal Grills section and he was in heaven with a large mound of tender lamb pieces and a portion of rice. Being a lover of pizza, I ordered a mouthful – Ispanaklı Beyaz Peynirli Pide or Turkish pizza which was topped with spinach, feta cheese, red peppers, red onions, black olives, mushroom and mozzarella. It was an oval shape with pointed ends and the outside of the dough was folded in slightly to form a crust. As it was huge, I decided to cut off the crusts to start with, but as the meal went on and whilst I was waiting for the others to finish, I found I’d nibbled them all away. Andrew opted for one of their specials, Sarma Kuzu Beyti which was ‘marinated mince lamb seasoned with garlic and grilled over charcoal, wrapped in lavash bread with cheese & topped with tomato sauce, then drizzled with butter served with yogurt & bulgur’. The rolled bread with its spicy filling had been cut into slices and were attractively arranged round the plate with the tomato sauce drizzled on top and the bulgar in the middle. It looked and tasted delicious.
Despite portion sizes, we all managed to finish, but I noticed a few doggy bags heading home. We had a bottle of white wine and with a couple of pints of Peroni, the bill came to £70.
I will definitely return as it’s only a five-minute walk from home and I’m sure they wouldn’t have a problem if we shared a dish. They also do take-away.
