A proper Turkish feast
We started on the complimentary bread and medjool date butter which was delicious. These are also available in Selfridges.
chilli roast cauliflower, red onion, parsley & pistachio £7.00 – wow, if cauliflower was served like this each time, I would eat it all day long. It was such a picture with a strong toasted red with jewels of pistachio scattered around and crowned off with shavings of red onion. Just for a moment I had a crazy vivid childish imagination of these cauliflowers coming to life, growing legs and started invading the restaurant. Madness! But, back to reality it had such a nice nutty combination from both the roasted cauliflower and pistachio. A gentle kick of chilli at the end, it was proper comfort food.
braised octopus, ricotta, green olives, honey, pickled caper shoots and thyme £14.00 – individually the ingredients were brilliant – meaty octopus (not chewy), tangy pickled caper shoots and thyme, sweet honey, crispy thin bread – and they all came together in a mouthful of flavours. Served up with fresh salad, I enjoyed it very much. The ricotta, I carefully avoided.
charcoal grilled prawns, fennel seed, chilli and garlic £12.00 – nice big prawns but I did think that for four of them it was a little dear.
crispy pomegranate glazed lamb breast and yoghurt £9.50 – this dish was the star. Crispy on the outside but succulent and moist with a subtle lamb flavour, flavoured with the pomegranate glaze which was slightly sweet and bitter. There were only four small cubes of the lamb and I took my own time to savour this dish very slowly, hoping to prolong the taste.
The presentation and style of the food were very sophisticated and portions of food were on the small side. We were advised to order a starter each and two more dishes per person for a proper meal. The dishes were served as and when it was ready so the distinction of starter and main dishes makes one wonder what was that all about. It could have been explained in much simpler words, three dishes per person.
What I did not mention earlier here was that Oklava serves very interesting Turkish wines. I had the opportunity to taste them at a wine event before and was impressed by these New World wines. My favourite was the Turkish sparkling wine at £60.00 bottle. I was tempted.
I just wondered if there was any restaurant that I had returned for a second meal in the last 12 months. Not to my godawful memory, but I certainly and must make it back to Oklava again.