Mangal Ocakbasi

Came here for a quick take-​out. When I arrived I asked if they took card and they said no. So I went to the cash point which is a bit of a walk and came back. I ordered, but some of the things I awaited had ran out and it wasn’t even that late. I also swear I then saw someone in the restaurant leaving and paying on card.
I eventually got the food home. Portion size was on the smaller side. Rice etc doesn’t come as standard and you have to add it to your order. It did have a great flavour but I felt it was a bit greasy. (Visit — 30/​07/​2015 Dinner)

Wow! Being in the UK for about a week now. food in the UK is totally different than food in the USA, and after dinning at this restaurant… I felt as I was in the USA. Quality of food was great and very tasty, coupled with great service earned this establishment 5 stars.

This place is an institution in the area and I do love it. But this review is for their new pop up Mangal 1.1 in bedroom bar in Shoreditch.
Launching new at Bedroom Bar is Dalston Turkish institution Mangal 1.1 so had try a little bite of Charcoal grilled goodness dying their soft launch last week.
Lamb shish & Lamb Chops w/​a side of cacik sauce and breads they were both good but I can’t help feel the prices of over £10 for each are bit overthetop. Esp as a frequent regular to a lot of Turkish eateries in green lanes and east London. For same price I could normally get a platter feeding you for 3 days!
So due to pricing not quality I would say it’s good but go to original or one of many on green lanes to get your Turkish fix.

Really good Turkish food! The lamb cubes and ribs are really amazing!

Yes… the hype is warranted.
Unfussy, authentic Turkish food that doesn’t try to be anymore than it is… and I’m grateful for it.
Faves: PATLICAN SALATA, an aubergine plate with peppers and yogurt
KABURGA TARAK, grilled lamb spare ribs served with salad (makes you want to eat the bone itself)
Definitely one of the best, affordable restaurants in East London.

This is not a bad place, and decent value for money, the seating area is a little intimate, the food is nice and good value for money, also you get to walk past the very large charcoal grill on the way in.

Went tonight for the second time this year — one of many visits over the last 15+ years. Standard remains very high with great and still, just, good value standard Turkish meals. Kebabs (Lamb Shish and Adama tonight) remain outstanding and service quick, friendly and efficient; perfect for us before a trip to the Arcola.
This has my first time in the extension which keeps the same atmosphere as the original room.
Overall it remain good (no longer great) value and my favourite of of the mangal places near me. However, if prices creep up any further or there’s any additional change to pander to the increasingly moneyed local populous I can see me changing allegiance.

In Dalston you’re spoilt for choice for Turkish restaurants so picking one was tough, although Unilocal helped and seeing from a few reviews that this place has BYO meant it was a winner!
We tried to book a table in advance but you can’t do we turned up and luckily there was space. It’s a really small area at the back of what may have been just a take away place once upon a time. The tables were crammed in and it was full within 5mins of us being seated.
We checked that it was still BYO and luckily it was so we asked for glasses for our bottle of wine. It seems they do sell beer but are still ok with BYO.
We weren’t hugely hungry and the starters were a little disappointing on the menu so we just went straight for the mains. We ordered the lamb yogurtlu beyti and the tavuksis. They brought out a big basket of bread too. I’m a big fan of Turkish bread and I was so pleased it came out warm. It was a bit doughy and undercooked though, but still perfectly edible.
The salad that came with the chicken was pretty big and really colourful but I was a little disappointed with the food generally. It was ok but we used to live near Green Lanes in Harringey so we’ve been spoilt with excellent Turkish food. The food here was lower quality and the portion sizes were much smaller, whilst being more expensive. I also found a bit of blue latex glove in the middle of the lamb in the yogurtlu beyti.
It wasn’t bad and the fact you can take your own booze is brilliant but I’ve had much better.

Really amazing food! Lovely atmosphere and really great service! Lovely to find somewhere that serves Aryan which is one of my favourite drinks! Really great place! Will be going again!

This place has great Turkish food! They serve you bread with a few different dips, as well as salad to munch on while you’re waiting for your food. I have to be honest – I didn’t love their falafels. They were good, but I’ve had better. However, everything else is great! Their aubergine veggie dishes were yummy!
Casual ambience, friendly, fast service. Go for it if you’re craving Turkish food!

Used to come here most Friday nights a few years ago but for some reason haven’t been in quite a while. Decided that it was high time I reacquainted myself with a decent bit of charcoal grilling
One thing that hadn’t changed since my last visit was the very long queue stretching out of the door of people waiting for tables. Didn’t fancy spending 15 to 20? minutes on a lovely Friday evening waiting in a queue so went for the takeaway menu.
I admit to being fairly hungry so ordered the ‘Mixed Kebab’ at £12. Not cheap by any means but past experience made me think it was £12 well spent.
Jumped straight to the front of the queue and my order was quickly selected from the front fridge display of meats and placed on the grill.
The first disappointment was that the bread wasn’t placed on top of the grilling meat to warm it and soak up some of the meat juices.
The grilled meat was placed in a container along with the dry room temperature bread and a small container of salad.
The first item I tried was the (large) chicken wing. Was O. K but would have liked it to have spent more time on the grill to crisp up the skin. Next was a round piece of lamb. Sorry to say that it was like chewing a piece of rubber. The lamb chop was spot on delicious. The outside crispy and charred yet the meat meltingly tender. 5 or 6 chucks of chicken breast were just plain tasteless. The minced skewer kebab was nice with good but not overpowering seasoning (lots of places over salt) and properly cooked.
As I said the bread about the size of a round dinner plate was stone cold and so gave this odd hot cold thing with the meat.
Salad was appallingly small and had no seasoning apart from a small and rather ‘dry’ wedge of lemon. If it had been twice the size and had some dressing it would have been O. K
Overall hugely disappointing. I guess they won’t be that worried at losing my future custom as they seemed to be hugely busy but I can’t see that continuing unless they raise there game.

Hefty portions, but be prepared to shell out 9 – 12 pounds for a single kebab + salad (lettuce, onion, tomato) main dish. There aren’t any main meat options below that price.
Given the amount of DELICIOUS, WARM bread at the beginning, if you’re a party of two that isn’t particularly ravenous, I might recommend splitting a kebab main and trying out the appetizers. In any case, my boyfriend and I enjoyed the spicy chicken and spicy lamb kebabs respectively.
The place was completely empty so I would’ve expected better service. Although they were very kind, there was never any water brought to our table despite the requests.

BYO BTW so come stocked up.
We turned up on Valentine’s day about 6:30pm. They were busy but we got a table and they were super efficient with their service. We had the mixed grill and it came with loads of salad and meaty deliciousness. Breads and dips were all great and if you like Turkish food you’ll love it here.
At the end of the meal we weren’t rushed into leaving (unlike other BYO places) and the bill was extremely reasonable.

When can I go back? Super delicious, healthy food. Wild atmosphere, nothing fancy but you go for the food. You definitely smell like the grill, but again, go for the food. Recommend to flirt with the waiters for better service. And heck, who doesn’t want to flirt with the waiters anyhow?!!
Try everything, grilled shrimp kabobs were amazing as was a cold eggplant marinated appetizer. Bring a friend or two and enjoy it.
They do take credit cards.

Very good Turkish food in a busy, buzzy restaurant. I love the display of meat in the front glass counter and also the massive BBQ grilling everything. Is it better than the other Turkish places in the area? Not necessarily. We had the mixed meze and grilled lamb. All tasty but nothing stood out as particularly amazing. Portions are huge though. We were stuffed when we left.
They serve beer and wine.

Authentic Turkish Mangal (which means barbecue and explains why there are so many!)
The food is cooked on a massive charcoal grill at the from of the main restaurant. If you’re sat in this area, beware. You will end up smelling of charcoal by the end of your meal. Larger groups are say in a secondary part of the restaurant. Thankfully far enough away from the grill smoke.
The place is super busy and full. There seem to always be people queuing for the tables, so booking is advised for dinner. Prices are quite expensive for Dalston, so there must be something special right?
Well, not really. Here is why. The turkish bread served that is complimentary, is served simply plain. No dip or sauces. None that are included anyway. Plus the mains will set you back £10−20. Not cheap for charcoal grill. Best Mangal I, in West Kensington is cheaper than this, even for the mixed grill. Disappointing.
Secondly, the meat itself. The meat itself is quite small and stingy. No doubt, you won’t leave hungry, given all the bread and free salad, butt the meat is unconvincing in both quality. When you arrive for instance, there are really juicy looking lamb medallions in the display. However with the mixed grill special costing £17.50, you are given a single bony piece of lamb cutlet. However not to be a negative nancy, the meat there did taste great. Nicely charred.
The highlights are that the place does BYOB, so you can get cheap drink from the newsagents nearby before arriving. However, remember that this place is popular, so as soon as you finish your dishes, you’re kicked out because they need the table for another group.
In all honesty, try Best Mangal in West Kensington. Much better bread and meats along with some delicious looking desserts. Plus better value for money.

Mangal will always remain special to me. When I moved to London, Stoke Newington 5 years ago I knew nobody. I spent an afternoon in the londesborough pub and a local recommended Mangal to me. On my first visit I was left gobsmacked at the amazing food and value. These days the food is nearly as good but the prices have gone up a bit. The service has also plummeted.
We waited 30 minutes for a table. We didn’t mind but every table of 4 – 6 behind us got a table before us. The food at mangal is still very good. The patlican salata and bread are a great starter for 2 and I’d recommend the mixed grill to share. The waiter urged us to get two but it really isn’t necessary. One of the big appeals is their BYO policy and everyone comes armed with bags of booze.
What has changed is the atmosphere and
the price. As we finished the last mouthful of our mains the bill was catapulted at our table as there were people waiting who needed our table. At the same time our neighbours (two other guys) were asked to move table mid meal. Mangal has morphed from a local, friendly and relaxed restaurant into a mechanical churn of chargrilled meats. I may not eat there again.

This almost hidden and small Turkish griller and restaurant in Dalston satisfied us but did not left us in awe. Personally I would rate it 3.5 because the food was delicious and comparable to our favourite Tas Firin but I still prefer TF. As usual I had the Adana Kofte and yogurt while my husband had the mix grilled meat. I was happy with my Adana as it was tender and tasteful especially being fresh off the grill. The mixed grilled meat was well seasoned and cooked to perfection. It was neither dry nor undercooked according to my husband’s tastebuds. We also had the mix cold meze which was good but slightly underwhelming. It did not come with the rice and meat wrapped in grapes leaves and the portions were smaller including the side salads that came with our main meal.
As for service, it was mediocre. No frills, straightforward and nothing else. The restaurant area feels a little claustrophobic, dark and lacking an ambiance.
Overall, it was good but there are better ones in the area.

Fantastic Turkish food, really filling and at reasonable prices.
I always opt for humus and/​or ezme then one of the yoghurtlu kebabs — the trouble is not having room for all the meat after snacking on the delicious bread! It is BYO, which is handy. Be warned that they don’t take card payments.

A few London friends told us that Mangal I and Mangal II are the best Turkish restaurants in Dalston. We were not disappointed.
The grilled aubergine + peppers with yogurt + butter sauce (£3) and cucumber + garlic with yogurt sauce (£3) were both absolutely delicious. Bread was provided for dipping.
My grilled quail (£11) was good as well although very messy to eat. It was served with half a grilled tomato and a grilled pepper that had quite the kick to it. The meat entrees all come with a mixed salad.
Mangal I is BYOB, so we picked up beers from a market down the street on our way in.