Kervan Sofrasi (Turkish Kebab House) – Edmonton, London

Kervan Sofrasi is a Turkish Kebab House in Edmonton that boasts an attractively large  and confident shopfront, with the camel being used as part of the restaurant’s theme and logo.

While there’s four branches in North London, including two in Edmonton alone, the one we visited on Hertford Road is the brand’s flagship.

With a wooden-based and warmly lit interior, the place itself is an invitingly cosy one, with the depiction of a caravan (or ‘kervan’ in Turkish) of camels adorning the far wall being an eye-catching feature.

Kervan Sofrasi was nonimated last year for the British Kebab Awards, and has an impeccable 5-star hygiene rating.

It has to be said, Kervan Sofrasi does go the extra mile with its complementaries.

BreadSaladSauces

Turkish bread with herbs

Lightly toasted, soft, and freshly baked bread with herbs.

What more could you ask for?

Salad for 4 people

There’s just too much variety on this plate of fresh salad not to get excited and enjoy.

Jajik (cucumber & yoghurt dip) and Shakshuka (tomato, potato, aubergine)

The shakshuka was superb and amazing, especially when had with the bread.

HumusVine Leaves

Humus – Chickpeas puree with tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic, £6.00

When a Turkish restaurant has humus on the menu, it’s inevitable isn’t it?

This wasn’t quite there, turning out as it did to be grainy, with nothing more to it.

Vine Leaves – Spiced rice, pine kernels, onion, and blackcurrants wrapped in vine leaves, £6.00

What excited us about these otherwise traditional vine leaves was the novel addition of blackcurrents.

However, while these were well put together, we didn’t get any blackcurrant coming through, which was a pity. Otherwise, these had a soft interior, with the gentle sharpness of the vine leaves there or thereabouts.

Tab titleCiger TavaSpicy SausageHomemade Falafel Grilled Halloumi

Börek – filled with feta cheese and parsley, £6.50

These triangular-shaped filo pastries were perfectly executed.

As such, the pastry was lightly crispy and crumbly.

The filling was that of soft feta cheese and parsley, which had that satisfying piquancy one looks for.

In all though, the reason why we enjoyed these so much, is because they came out fresh and piping hot.

Ciger Tava – Salted lamb liver with red onions, parsley, and sumac, £6.00

Chicken liver done well can be such a wonderfully tasty thing.

This, on the other hand, was anything but. Hard with little spice, and luke warm when brought out. Disappointing!

Spicy Sausage – Turkish garlic sausage, £6.50

The spiciness to these thinly sliced Turkish sausages was really good.

The shortcoming here was that they were fairly dry, and thus chewy, as a result of being overcooked.

If you like your sausages, then you might be able to see beyond said fault, since these did taste good.

Homemade Falafel – Mashed chickpeas and broad beans fritter, £6.50

Taste-wise these falafels had that familiar herby flavour. Texture-wise, however, they were peculiar being rather soft all round, both inside and out.

If there is a redeeming factor here, it’s the addition of the aforementioned grainy humus, along with some salad, making this a generous portion.

Grilled Halloumi – Grilled Cyprus cheese, £6.50

Rubbery slices of halloumi that were guiltily overcooked. Nothing more to be said really.

Kiymali Pide – Minced lamb, onions, fresh tomatoes, parsley, and red peppers with or without an egg on top, £10.00

This pide, or Turkish pizza as its often referred to, was absolutely fantastic. In fact, it’s probably one of the best we’ve ever had.

Not only was the pizza chock-a-block full of the minced lamb topping, but extremely well cooked, with a gorgeously crusty circumference (no soggy bottoms to speak of here).

More importantly, the lamb had a good amount of herbs and spice to it, making this a delicioius eat.

And with such a large pide for just a tenner; a cracking price. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is where it’s happening with Kervan Sofrasi though, their charcoal grills.

Seeing such a volume of pre-prepared meats on the ready, indicated to us that this restaurant probably has a high turnover rate.

They really did have an impressive assortment of what looked like quality selection of meats.

And with the kitchen possessing such a long barbecue all stoked and equally on the ready, it has to be said, we were looking forward to seeing what they’d be putting out.

Lamb Chops – Tender lamb chops seasoned and grilled over charcoal. Served with rice and salad, £16.50

Now this is how lamb chops ought to be: four large and attractive looking pieces, presented alongside a portion of plain rice and a portion of gently spiced bulgur, along with a large pickle, a caramelised onion, and half a grilled tomato.

The chops themselves were simply outstanding!

Large and lightly marinated, these were sheer quality, soft and tender, and pink and juicy.

Certainly has to be one of the best lamb chops we’ve had at a Turkish restaurant.

Lamb Ribs – Succulent lamb ribs grilled over charcoal. Served with rice and salad, £14.50

These lamb ribs had the potential of being really good. Sadly, and much to our disappointment, these were so fatty in nature that no amount of barbecuing was going to crisp things up in a hurry.

Having said that, what little meat we did taste, was well seasoned and had taken on a good charcoal flavour. Bit of a let down after the high standards set by their cousins above.

Yogurtlu Chicken Shish – Lean chunks of chicken breast skewered and grilled over charcoal chopped on a bed of bread, topped with tomato sauce, and yoghurt then drizzled with butter, £15.50

While we tried the chicken shish from the specials, this wasn’t very well executed.

This was an amalgamation of pieces of chicken breast, which were tender enough, mixed with loads, and we do mean loads, of fresh, but sickeningly overpowering tomato sauce, all of which was plonked atop the Turkish bread we enjoyed as part of the complementaries.

And although the dual dollops of yoghurt did help dampen the ultra-tanginess of the tomatoes, the texture of this mish-mash of a dish was all wrong.  This is one to avoid!

Sarma Kuzu Beyti – Marinated minced lamb seasoned with garlic and grilled over charcoal, wrapped in bread with cheese, and topped with tomato sauce, then drizzled with butter. Served with yoghurt and bulgur, £14.50

This particular dish takes pride of place on their menu, and you can see why, because it was a nicely presented plate of food.

It’s basically a skewer of well marinated lamb shish, cleverly wrapped in layers of thin naan bread, and cut at an angle into bite-sized mouthfuls.

To make it a meal, there’s a portion of bulgur, a large dollop of fresh yoghurt, two grilled pickles and a tomato, making this Sarma Kuzu Beyti a tasty eat when had altogether.

Ali Nazik – Lean, tender cubes of lamb skewered and grilled over charcoal, chopped on a layer of grilled aubergines, £15.50

Now this rather unassuming dish turned out to be up there with the best dishes had on the day, and something quite expected too.

What we had here were chopped up pieces of lamb on a bed of grilled aubergines and yoghurt – that’s it!

But, it was the smokiness achieved via the grilling process, beautifully offset by the light tangy edge of the yoghurt, that made this such an addictive eat for the four Lions, who devoured this in no time.

Lamb Tagine – Lamb cooked on the bone with vegetables. Served with rice, £14.50

Now it might appear at first glance that they’ve thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at this one, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find some method to this apparent madness.

Granted it isn’t the most attractive dish. However, every element appeared to have a part to play in what turned out to be a really delicious Lamb Tagine, albeit unorthodox.

The sweetness of the raisins and cooked carrots, the crunch of the almonds and walnuts, and the divinely tender meat, which fell off the bone at the merest glance, were smothered in a rich and luscious gravy sauce.

The only shortcoming was the quantity of meat to bone, with far too much of the latter and not enough of the former.

You can have this without the rice though to be honest, and that’s precisely what we did, it was that good.

King Prawns – Pan fried with cherry tomatoes, parsley, garlic, and olive oil sauce. Served with rice and salad, £16.50

Mixed reviews with this rather expensive King Prawn dish.

Hence, while two Lions enjoyed it, the remaining two thought it had a bitter tomato taste to it while also being overly salty.

The fries had no place on this dish; but why prawns would be served in their shells, we have no idea!

Kunefe £4.50

Now this Kunefe was very special!

In spite of the full stomachs all round, nothing stopped any of us from devouring this, quite literally, within a minute.

A surprisingly light dish that comprised of crispy-cum-crunchy rice noodles covered in a sweet, runny syrup, which was nicely balanced by the cheese therein.

Add to that the dollop of cream and a pistachio crumble, and we suspect that this will turn out to be one of the best desserts of the year.

Baklava £3.95

While this homemade baklava had good taste, its texture was all wrong.

What defines a good baklava is its thin, crispy layers of pastry, which, in this case, were entirely absent. What we got instead was a dense mouthful of ultra sweet pastry saturated in honey.

Sutlac £3.95

With its blow torched crispy top, this would be the Turkish equivalence of a crème brulee.

This Sutlac rice pudding was a cold dish and a rather nice one too.

The slight bitterness of the crispy top married well with the light rice underneath, which wasn’t overly sweet.

A good alternative if you’re seeking after something light and simple.

FreshTurkish Coffee

Fresh Orange Juice

They don’t do any special drinks other than freshly squashed orange juice. And this one was smartly presented too.

Turkish Coffee £1.70

Nothing better than a Turkish Coffee at the end of an evening dominated by meat and lots of it.