Enfes Ocakbasi, 485 Green Lanes, London N4 1AJ : an excellent reincarnation of a previous pleasing Turkish Restaurant

 14th October 2025

I have walked past this reincarnation of a previously visited Turkish Restaurant, in an area which I visit very regularly, and which is near to the legendary Diyabakir. The Turkish food on Green Lanes is better than that you get in Turkey, and I have found most restaurants in the area to be of a decent standard, probably because the competition is so hot.  The prices in all these establishments has regrettably moved with the times, and whilst they are not expensive, they are no longer the bargain they used to be, but nowhere is. That said, what is remarkable to me is that even in the face of food price inflation, and the general increased cost of employing staff, the portion sizes are extremely generous, and I quite often see plates left with enormous leavings, something that I would try never to do.

If you have a favourite dish, then it is a reasonable thing to order that at a new establishment to see how it compares with your standard of expectation. If I were to eat Turkish that frequently it could be a little boring, but I am promiscuous in terms of nationality of food I eat, so it does not become a burden. Among my favourites are the yoghourt lamb sarma beyti style dishes which are typically minced spiced lamb, wrapped in flatbread, and covered with a sauce and yoghourt. Because this blog is all about the hotness of  food, I have figured out that it is best to ask for the yoghourt on the side so that it does not get cold before you have stuck a fork into it. A measure of how good the service is, is whether they will acceed to this request. Another part of the thinking is that the main dishes are big enough to create a take home portion, and this works best if there is no yoghourt on top before you stick it in the microwave.

 The very best news is that even without asking you are served with a 'complimentary' servings of dips and thin flatbreads. This is great, meaning that if you are not in dire need, there is no reason to ask for a starter course as well.  There was humous, tzatsiki, roast onions(?), spicy tomato dip and bread. Excellent.

 

 

For main, as said before, I had the yoghourt lamb sarma beyti with the yoghourt on the side. This was as good as I could have hoped for, and an enormous portion which took home part of. It was well cooked, well presented, hot enough scoring an 8 on the CHOF scale and I was right to ask for the yoghourt on the 

 

Sorry about the orientation, but I am sure you get the message. You can see that the dish comes served with rice and bulgar. I did not ask, but I am sure you could have had salad or chips instead. I am not drinking much alcohol at the moment, but I could have had beer or wine. A bottle of Bud cost about £5.

The bill was very reasonable, being £47 for two of us (almost unheard of these days), and they did not charge for my Turkish coffee. They did not offer desert, and there was no Turkish Delight, which used to be one of the gifts to customers in this kind of restaurant. A take-away box and bag was delivered with very good grace. 

We did not need to book on a Tuesday night in October.

This was a really great experience, and I am going to add this place to the list of establishments where I can take other people with no worries about the food and service.