Durum Ocakbasi Restaurant: A high spot for Finchley

13th July 2013
There are many Turkish Restaurants in North London, now seeming to outnumber the Cypriot kebab houses.
Whilst much of the trade of the Durum is take away, they have an excellent sit-down restaurant, which I booked on the same day for Saturday. I have eaten there several times before, and forgot to take my camera on this visit. However, the somewhat bizarre collection of pictures on their web site http://www.durumrestaurant.co.uk/websites/123reg/LinuxPackage25/du/ru/mr/durumrestaurant.co.uk/public_html/en/ tell no lies, but would have benefited by showing some served food (may be next time)
The restaurant is a little cramped and has a variable throughput. We arrived at 7.45, and it was pretty full. An hour later on a Saturday night, it was quieter, and they were laying up for the next customers. However, we have seen it packed. It had been 30C outside that day, and the papers said it was the biggest barbecue night of the year.
The trick here is not to over order, which is very easy. We shared a cold meze between two, which has a variety of dips including humous, babaganouche, tarama, and others that we could not identify. It was attractively served, was enough for two, and came with a plate of two different types of flat-bread.
For main, we had a chicken shish and an ezmeli kebab. These come served with bread and some salad. You can add rice or chips or whatever as an extra. We resisted the lamb testicles, which surprisingly are not mentioned on the on-line menu. The food was hot (CHOF of 8.8), excellent quality and highly tasty. A dish of garlic and a dish of chili sauce are offered. I seem to remember that in the past, these things came with the rice and a dish of olives, but times are hard.
You don't need to order desert, as a melon plate is offered as part of the deal. We drank a glass of Efes beer. We did not see the bottle, but we could see Efes cases out the back when we parked up, so it probably was. The waiting staff were efficient and helpful and smartly dressed. The whole meal for two including beer but no coffee came to just over £38, and we felt as if we had a good experience. Next time I will take a camera, as the food is attractive in a way that kebab shops are not.

Royal Park Hotel, Lancaster Gate: I hope I don't have to go back there

24th June 2013 (slightly out of sequence, but inserted for the sake of completeness and interest)
I was participating in a media bash again. The Royal Park Hotel describes itself as a boutique hotel out of the center of  London, and is a stone's throw from Lancaster Gate underground station. The name is a bit of wishful thinking as it is near a Royal Park, and looks somewhat mundane from the exterior (although there is a smart concierge person) Web site is http://www.theroyalpark.com/the-hotel  For a night with B and B in mid October, you can expect to pay about £250.
It has one function room as far as I can see. Dinner, once again was served buffet style, but I think someone had forgotten to light the burners in the serving baine maries.

It was grim, and the food was served cold and under- cooked. Salmon was just about eatable and the beef was awful. There is rare and rare, and this was rare and cold. No better than a 4.9 on the CHOF scale. I hope I do not have to go back there again.