Description: Turkey – 19/11/09

I was looking forward to my Turkish meal. I had not long returned from Turkey where I had happily chomped my way through the menu – sherberts and sweetmeats in Istanbul, manti in Göreme, pide in Niğde… and stomach cramps in Antakya! But closer to home I had no fears – I even took a date!

As such, a visit to a cheap kebab take-away was out of the question. This suited me fine. So instead I made a booking at Istanbul Grill in Didsbury. This place had always looked classy to me, and so it proved. We were seated in comfy high-backed leather chairs and provided with a menu. The only problem was that there was too much on offer! So much so that we could not decide which starters we wanted. And so we followed the waiter’s suggestion to order the Karisik meze - mixed starters – for £7.50. This meant that we got a big platter of starters: creamy, nutty humus, tangy tabule, stuffed vine leaves (yaprak sarmasi), spicy Turkish sucuk sausage (similar to the sujuk Paul and I had tried further up Wilmslow Road at the Syrian Aladdin), fried hellumi goat’s cheese, feta cheese pastries (borek), and a rich, deliciously tasty tomato / aubergine dip, all together with pieces of pitta bread. This was a great introduction to Turkish meze, and I would recommend it. As far as I could see, there was only one dish missing for this mixed platter - imam bayildi. At core this is just an aubergine, stuffed with green pepper, tomato, garlic and onion. I had made a special effort to track it down when I was in Istanbul purely because I liked the name – literally it means "the imam fainted". And the authentic Istanbul imam bayildi had not disappointed me – at the time. But the Istanbul Grill version was so much better! Ordering it separately (£4.20) was a great idea. It really was a plump, saucy taste explosion. Frankly, if you are not an aubergine fan I would challenge you to come here, order this, and not be converted. It was super!

Having shared the meze starter, Rebecca and I ordered separate main courses (though obviously we tried each others… in the name of ‘research’!). I had been tempted by the mixed chargrill, but was concerned that it might overface me. So instead I ordered kulbasti, slow-cooked paprika lamb (£13.95). The menu had promised that this dish would be ‘incredibly tender’, and so it proved – juicy chunks of lamb in a thick richly warming red ragu of paprika, red wine, and strips of sauteed onion.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my paprika lamb – but I think if I go back I might order Rebecca’s ispanakli tavuk (£12.95). This was chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. It came with an orange sauce. I wouldn’t have thought this would have worked – sweet orange sauce, tart feta, peppery spinach? But it did work – it did work very well. The creaminess of the cheese and soft spinach ensured that the chicken was lovely and moist. If I have one complaint at all, it was that both meals were served with ‘Istanbul rice’. This was a small timbale of rice, and not really enough to go with either dish. But because they had been listed on the menu as coming with rice, we had not ordered any sides / accompaniments. My advice would be to order a side order of more rice for £2.20 to share between two.

Otherwise, no real grumbles about Istanbul Grill. The food was good, the décor was smart, clean and understated, and the beer was authentic Turkish Efes (which I like in moderation, but which I find too dry and gassy for repeated drinking when on holiday). It cost £2.70 a bottle. So all in all, a very decent meal. Which in some aspects actually improved upon the food I ate in Turkey itself!

(It was nice to find a restaurant named after the wonderful city of Istanbul. I had always suspected there was some civic ordinance that decreed that all Turkish restaurants had to be called either Efes, Bodrum, orTopkapi Palace. And while Manchester does have an Efes (Princess Street), and two Topkapis (a restaurant on Deansgate and a take-away just up Wilmslow Road in Didsbury) there isn’t a Bodrum that I know of. There is another classy Turkish restaurant on Bridge Street by the name of Café Istanbul – from where the owners and chefs at Istanbul Grill all seem to have originated.)

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