Antepliler

Description: Turkish restaurant in North London, specialising in pide, lahmacun, tava and kebabs

Location: 46 Grand Parade, Green Lanes, Haringey N4 1AG

Nearest tube:  Manor House (exit station, turn right and walk straight for approximately 10 minutes) 

Offer: This isn’t an expensive restaurant but there were no offers that I could see

Best seat in the house: Sit down and share one of the long tables and you’ll find yourself recommending dishes to your neighbours and discussing how nice the toilets are (a definite quality mark, no?)

Tip: If you and your party are prepared to wait 45 minutes, why not try the house speciality tava stews?

Antepliler is my favourite restaurant in London. I know this because I keep recommending it to people, the same people, over and over again (apparently). This Turkish delight in Green Lanes, North London, ticks all of the boxes: the menu is littered with tempting treats, the atmosphere is sociable and unpretentious, the waiters are charming and the price is right.

This is what I call a third date restaurant – a great little place to take someone somewhere they won’t have been to before and will love, allowing you to prove your cool London insight and excellent taste. (This is not, however, a first date restaurant – if you both love the venue but hate each other, there’s potential for future awkwardness that is best avoided).

The food at Antepliler is enjoyable in every way; during a visit you will discover new, tasty and generous dishes, such as the ‘Cig Kofte’, a starter of bulgar wheat and spiced raw lamb (I know, but see past it!), finely diced and served with a fresh tomato and onion salad and lettuce leaves, in which to roll the filling. I will never go to Antepliler and not order this dish - it’s great to share with a suspicious but ultimately receptive table of newbies. Just watch, they’ll all be in there. The ‘Lahmacun’, a thin pizza shaped dough topped with mixed lamb, parsley, onion and tomato, is a tasty and exotic alternative to bread. It’s great to share and is a very reasonably priced side dish.

The main courses, for me, are less exciting than the starters, but certainly the kebabs have a nice, full flavour and are very filling (but I just prefer starts generally, so maybe I’m biased). I went for a ‘Fistik Kebab’, a lamb kebab with cheese and pistachio – it was hearty and enjoyable, but by no means the most exciting thing on the menu. With a bottle of beer costing a very reasonable £2.50, starters ranging from £1.50 to £4.50, and main courses coming in at around £9, the whole experience can be a cheap one.

There is something about this restaurant that makes you want to come back and bring the people you like most in the world with you. With the pretty tiled surroundings, collegiate shared tables and vast igloo-shaped terracotta oven welcoming you at the door, Antepliler offers a sincere and authentic dining experience. Visit Antepliler and you will be planning your next visit before you’ve even finished your current one.                  Now I’m gushing.