Cappadocia — Restaurant in Elmbridge

This restaurant opened last year as the second venue in what may well end up being a chain of Cappadocia venues.Having heard many good reviews, I booked a table of four on a Saturday night. Upon arrival, we were duly checked off the list, and we found the place to be busy, with a nice atmosphere. We were shown to our table in the brightly lit, clean dining area. The waitress was friendly and happy as she delivered menus and took drinks orders. This was my first time at a Turkish restaurant, and so I had a lot to read on the menu! All the dishes were adequately explained on the menu, without being verbose. All dishes are clearly marked with many dietary warnings which will be very helpful to those needing to avoid certain food types.

For my starter, I went for Filibe Kofte (Rump of lamb specially blended with fresh herbs, charcoal grilled and served with sweet red onion.) This arrived as several small patties of lamb with a side salad. This was very tasty, although I did feel that some kind of relish accompanying the dish would have been welcome. Portion size was good to generous for a starter. (Recommended.) The other starters ordered were Lentil soup, Falafel & Sigara Borek (Goat's cheese in filo pastry) All of these dishes were ample in quantity and were served well presented.

For my main course, I was drawn to the Chef's special - Testi. This is described as 'Diced fillet of Scottish beef cooked in red wine and port wine (optional) in a clay hot pot with fresh herbs, mushrooms, shallots & parsnips served with rice, flamed at your table' There is the warning of a 15-20 minute waiting time for this dish, but it arrived with all the other mains quickly enough. What a surprise! I was given my plate, upon which was the rice. The waiter had a clay jug covered in foil sitting on a bad of flames. Once opened, he swilled it around, and the sauce could be heard sizzling inside the jug. This is then poured onto your dish in front of you. I really enjoyed this dish. The beef was beautifully tender, and the taste combination was superb. If I had to criticise at all, it would be a slight lack of colour. Maybe a few string beans at the side of the plate would help, but then I appreciate that this would not be traditional.

The other mains we had were Organic Fillet Of Salmon, a Mixed Grill & Grilled Fillet Of Wild Seabass All of these dishes were of high standard and were enjoyed. The Mixed Grill is definitely one for the healthier appetite!

I finished with Baklava (Layers of filo pastry in honey syrup and pistachio) which is familiar to me as a Greek dish. Indeed, there are several parallels between Turkish and Greek dishes on the menu - unsurprising considering their close geographical locations.

When the bill arrived, there was no nasty shock. For three courses and drinks, £30-35 a head is very reasonable for the quality of the food served.

In summary, I would thoroughly recommend a visit. From the great food, 5-Rated hygiene certificate, to the friendly staff, lovely ambience and immaculate wash-rooms, I can find very little to say which isn't positive.

Thank you Cappadocia....

I am so disappointed to have to write a bad review about this restaurant. It is my favourite place. I was in here two evening in a row. Saturday and Sunday. On the saturday the food was amazing as usual but the service was shocking! It was very busy so we didnt mention it to the staff and quite rightly everyone is entitled to a bad evening.

We returned on the Sunday with friends who we had invited. We told them how nice the food was and everyone was excited to eat.

From the off the service was terrible again (it was much quieter tonight) We ordered several starters we were told after about 15 minutes most of the things we ordered were out of stock. So we recorded. Much later we received the starters. 2 of them had to go back as they were in edible the prawns looked like they had been re heated several times.

We ordered more drinks only to be told they had run out of draft beer. Not a major problem we had bottled beer but would of preferred the draft.

We ordered our main meals and after about 20 minutes the waiter came over and told us they didnt have the food we ordered so most of us had to reorder again.

The main meals came out after a while one had to go back immediately as it was freezing cold. The rest of the party ate the food but was not impressed at all the steaks were very salty ( this is not normally the case) usually very nice.

We ate our dinner and waited for more drinks which was slow again

I mentioned to the waiter I was not happy with the meal and the service. To his credit he sorted out a discount for the meal which was appreciated at the time.

Regrettably later on that evening two of my dinner guest were violently ill and had food poisoning. They were in bed for two days and have only just recovered.

This is completely unacceptable and unfortunately we will not be returning to the restaurant. They seem to of taken there eye of the ball with the restaurant and seem more interested in the take away...

We visited on 11/2/23 Saturday late lunch 14:20 ish. There was a very warm welcome and a choice of seating for us and plenty more. The volume of customers was just right not too many and not empty despite the lateness of the time. I chose the Organic fillet of Salmon. Organic Salmon fillet pan fried in unsalted butter with crushed fresh herbs and white wine (optional), topped with roasted almond flakes served with sautéed spinach and roasted sweet potatoes. I didn’t recognise the sweet potatoes because they were white tasted just as good. It all tasted just as expected and I loved the sauce although I would have liked a little more. The salad had a lot of dressing so I would ask for no dressing next time. As we didn’t order a starter, we were offered some olives to keep us going as all the food is freshly cooked. My husband chose Adana Shoulder of lamb minced, blended with spices and herbs, char-grilled and served on lavash bread with bulgur, salad and sliced red onions. This was tasty but very spicy so he asked for a yogurt dip which made all the difference. (I don’t know it’s proper name). He also ordered chips which arrived (thermally) very hot. My only comment is that the plates could’ve been warm to keep the food warmer for longer. We don’t eat very quickly. The food came in good time. We didn’t have pudding as it was already a late lunch. A lovely complimentary square of sponge, soaked in something delicious like honey, arrived while we were waiting to pay. We had a lovely conversation with the waitress who was from Ukraine, and had been in the country several years. The menu is very extensive and each dish has a picture which is always helpful with such innovative...