Oklava – Turkish in Shoreditch EC2A

Great British menu dinner at Oklava 

Psst! Come here + wibble the jelly, you know you want to…

K and I got sucked in to watching BBC’s Great British Menu (GBM) for the first time this year; already in its 12th series. We were supporting Selin Kiazim (“lovely hair”) Chef of Oklava, partly because we’re Londoners and partly because her chargrilled “modern Turkish” food looks so mouth-wateringly good. Oklava was first recommended to me well over a year ago and has been on the LardButty hitlist ever since. So when I saw this tweet announcing a special GBM Wimbledon dinner serving all four courses @ £60.00, it was time to act. Quickly. Booking made.

As seen on TV…
See the four courses with recipes on the BBC’s GBM website:
1. Starter: Queue-cumber – Compressed cucumber + watermelon, spicy dukkah, pickled cucumber + shallots, borek
2. Fish: Nadal Vs Federer – Barbecued octopus
3. Main: Grand Slam Lamb – loads of smoky grilled BBQ lamb and spicy sausage
4. Dessert: Honouring Venus rosewater champions – all Turkish Delightish – a “Turkish panna cotta” (Muhallebi) with peach jelly, raspberries and rosewater sauce

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As seen in Oklava…
But not for long. Nom nom.

Being located on a street corner with two walls of windows, it feels light and airy inside Oklava even though it’s a fairly small restaurant (about 50 covers). The kitchen is open-plan, with high stool seating at the counter so you can watch food being prepared and cooked in the stone oven or on the charcoal grill (mangal).

On arrival, we were seated at a regular table by an open window – ideal for a warm summer evening. And service was really good – nicely casual, professional, and chatty too.

First decision: we opted for the wine pairings with this special dinner, which meant we got to try three types of Turkish wine.

Wimbledon dinner menu

Check out these photos, they pretty much do the talking themselves:
Queue-cumber – flat bread, compressed cucumber, verjus dressing, cacik, crispy pancetta, served with Turkish fizz

K hates cucumber. He won’t eat it, he won’t go near it. He absolutely loved this dish – I think that says it all really.

The flavours of all the ingredients combined together was sensational. I dislike fresh coriander but ate and enjoyed it here, and the salty crispy pancetta finished it off royally. Yum.

Nadal Vs Federer fish course – Grilled octopus with spiced potato rostis paired with a glass of Pasaeli Yapincak wine

Another treat to the tastebuds – the octopus didn’t quite live up to my expectations (I’d drooled watching the octopus being grilled on TV) but the rostis were crispy and just gorgeous. The Pasaeli Yapincak wine pairing was interesting too – a chilled white wine with a slightly musty taste when drunk on its own, but it sprang to life with this dish and went perfectly.

On to the highlight of this Wimbledon themed dinner: the Grand Slam Lamb main course, which really stood out. How it didn’t win the main course round on GBM is beyond my understanding.

Four types of lamb, all so different and all so, so special. The çemen glazed slow cooked lamb shoulder had dense, rich, smoky flavours (so strong I wouldn’t be able to eat a lot of it so… perfect in a meat selection) and the dutchee sausage with all its spices was something else. Unfortunately the onion purée didn’t like me (but we don’t need to talk about that here…).

Definitely worthy of a few photos:

Grand Slam Lamb – three types of lamb (pictured) – lamb dutchee sausage, grilled lamb neck, grilled lamb chops + caramelised onion purée

Who knew lamb could taste this good? Four types of lamb: çemen glazed slow cooked lamb shoulder, lamb dutchee sausage, grilled lamb neck, grilled lamb chops + caramelised onion purée, served with Romaine lettuce salad, and freekeh salad with pomegranates

Cemen glazed slow cooked lamb shoulder – çemen glaze ingredients include cumin, paprika, sweet pepper paste

This Romaine lettuce salad with feta dressing, lamb ‘bacon’ and candied walnuts was divine, especially the feta dressing (a new and improved interpretation of a Caesar salad?)

Romaine salad with feta dressing, lamb ‘bacon’ + candied walnuts – Freekeh salad with pomegranates and glass of Arcadia Cabernet Franc red wine in background (worth keeping a note of + saved to my pinterest drinks board for future reference)

Next up: peach and rose bellini, with dessert – vanilla muhallebi (Turkish panna cotta) with peach jelly, raspberry and rosewater sauce, and a caramelised almond wafer.

Hairy armed bellinis

Honouring Venus Rosewater Champions

The verdict: Great service from both of our servers. Staff looked as though they were all enjoying themselves working here, and working together as a team, which was nice (that’s not something that comes across very often in restaurants and was noticeable because of it). The interior’s really pleasing (patterned shadows from lamp shades cast on walls, light and airy with open windows) and the food we had for this GBM dinner was an absolute treat.

Having enjoyed the lamb selection so much, I’m keen to return to try the Sunday Feast.

Restaurant info:
– Lardbutty rating: 4.5 / 5
– Type: Turkish
– Address: 74 Luke St, London
– Postcode: EC2A 4PY
– Nearest stations: Old Street, Liverpool Street, or Shoreditch (overground)
– Website + menus: Oklava website
– Photos on flickr: Oklava food photos
– Location: Oklava map