Gezi Park’s Turkish grill in Wanstead was all charcoal

By Ali Shams

Award-winning (of the local kind) Turkish/Kurdish restaurant, Gezi Park, which was awarded by the Guardian Food Awards back in 2014 , has kept the decor the same since its inception.

In all honesty, the place actually looks like an upmarket old people’s home!

Having said that though, it did have a homely and relaxed feel to it.

And with not many, if any, Halal options available in Wanstead, this was a desperate find.

I was quickly welcomed in on my arrival, politely seated, and attended to curtly.

Complementary starter

Judging a restaurant by their complementary bites is often a good way of judging whether you’ve made a good choice or not. Thankfully the above were amazing for a freebee.

Good bread with home made sauces and pickled olives; as good as a paid starter in my opinion.

Genuine charcoal grill with lots of charcoal!

Having come for a quick bite, when a person sees an open kitchen right there at the front door before seeing all that meat being cooked on 100% coal, it’s difficult not to go for the mixed grill, quick bite or not.

Gezi Park Wanstead halal turkish mixed grill meat Mixed Kebab - Adana, Lamb Shish Chicken

Gezi Special 1: Adana, Lamb Shish, Chicken Wings & Chicken Shish £25

The mixed grill came with rice and salad… salad with pomegranates in it that is.

The meat was well cooked, with good charring, and not dry.

I don’t know how or if it was marinated beforehand, but let’s just say it had little flavour other than the taste of charcoal, which was quite disappointing really. And the same was true of the adana, which was equally tasteless.

What made this dish better than it was, however, is the complementary sauces that came with it.

The vinegar-pomegranate sauce (below) with onions was splendid for using as a dip for all that meat.