A food blogger documents his search for a hidden Turkish restaurant in London, Kismet. Once inside, he interviews the head chef about the restaurant's concept and signature dishes, including a spicy yogurt dip, charcoal-grilled kebabs, and traditional köfte, while tasting and providing his reactions to each one.
Post caption
@kismet.ldn is bringing the magic of Istanbul’s meyhane culture to London. Slow smoked kebabs, long chats and generous feasting.
Oh and yes it’s in Bridgett Jones’ old flat.
Chef Keiran, who’s been integral to many of the greats; BiBi, Harwood Arms, Rambutan, Chez Bruce has partnered with the people’s favourite Dom Hamdy off of Bistro Freddie, Bar Crispin, Canal to bring us Kismet - the Turkish drinking hole we didn’t know we needed.
📍 Kismet, 8 Bedale St, London, SE1 9AL
Transcript
There's a new hidden Turkish restaurant here in London that is so hard to find. It's somewhere here. It's not there. This is the pub. This is the Globe Tavern, best we're looking for Kismet. No. It's really tier pub. Ask them through the pub. Around tier. First sign. Kevin. Kismet is bringing the legendary Turkish Mahan culture to London. What are the three best dishes at Kismet? So atam, which is a strained yogurt with a foaming hot chili butter all over the top. The fact that it's drizzled with the chili butter rather than chili oil gives it this crazy creamy silkiness. You can hear the crunch. Then we've got the kebab section, chicken shish, lamb shish, and chef dalise. Cypriot kebab. Beef, lamb, lamb fat, onions, parsley, coated in more fat, grilled over charcoal, smokes out the restaurant, but is worth it. And we serve all our kebab on really dirty bread. Slather it in meat juice and olive oil. Oh, there's the dirty bread. Oh. Oh. The way that chicken's best better marinated and smoked like it's a delicate meat. The cocktail has quite a flaky texture. Herbaceous, fatty. The whole point of a mejana table is that it's full. Damn. I want all of that. Design the menu around being able to order as much as possible, without feeling like overdone it. I grew up eating these. If we were going to my nan's house, we would speak on the phone before I'd go up, and I would say to her, are you making bulgared cliche there? And she good say, maybe. And then when I get there, they would always be there. Taste good. Would you ever put any of this on there? Absolutely not. Wow. I love the venom in your voice. It's absolutely fucking not. On the menu, these won't be called holiday chips, but I advise you to ask for holiday chips because this is what you'll get. Double cooked chips, salted, oregano. It just tastes like you're not in London. I'll drink it plain white. And this is a Dom Handy restaurant, that lovely man that brought you things like Best Freddy and Crispin. And that man knows deliciousness.
