“Otto”:https://www.ottorestaurant.co.uk/ is a Turkish restaurant on Wanstead High Street, roughly midway between Wanstead and Snaresbrook, two Central Line stations.
The large restaurant had a couple of small tables on the pavement, but we opted for a table just inside, where a large window had been folded right back. So we had the benefit of feeling as though we were outdoors with diluted traffic noise. Having got seated, we were immediately provided with chilled tap water, and complimentary hummus and bread.
The extensive a la carte menu had various sections for cold and hot starters, seafood, grills, specials, pasta and salads. To make our choice even more difficult, there were a couple of lunch time offers: two courses at £14.95 and a Meze Platter (£11.95). We decided to share the platter to start with, and each of the eight items were all evenly cut or divided into three so we could have a mouthful of each. It was a perfect way to start our meal.
For mains we chose a Lamb Shish, Chicken Shish and a Spicy Kofte pot, which were all accompanied by reasonable portions of rice and salad. The Kofte pot was the most interesting with minced lamb patties cooked with vegetables in a spicy broth.
There was a fairly simple wine list but interestingly the house wine was an unavailable Pinot Grigio, so when in Rome and all that, or in our case a Turkish restaurant, we chose the next on the list, a Turkish wine, Cankaya, priced at £20.45.
The service from an older guy and a young teenage girl was excellent and we watched carefully as he showed her how to uncork a bottle of wine. After practising on the second bottle at the waiters station, she felt confident enough to open the third at the table. If three bottles sounds decadent, it was instead of puddings having checked that they didn’t close mid-afternoon.
We had a lovely relaxed meal with great service and it’s somewhere I’d like to return to.
