Tas Pide — Restaurant in London

I spotted a set lunch menu for £11.50 (+ 12.5% service) which seems a good price for this part of town. The place looks elegant from the outside but on entering the tables are in rows that reminded of a school cafeteria. The front of house staff were very respectful and they seated and served me quickly. The other clientele appeared to be mostly older than me with a few younger, middle aged people in suits. As the tables were so close together in an open room there was no privacy for others and I couldn't help but overhear their conversations. A few of these commented on how good they thought the food was. As someone who has lived in the Eastern Mediterranean and to have eaten many truly authentic Turkish dishes in the past, I have to express my disappointment with the food quality. It appears that the positive reviews must be from those who no longer have working taste buds or only have the Turkish cultural experience of staying in an all inclusive resort where the slop is mass produced and has lots of salt added to get you buy drinks. This assumption is due to all the positive reviews and the reactions of those around me where I feel that their positive comments were because they have read the previous positive reviews and think that this must be the real deal; tasting by proxy rather than by taste. The food was extremely salty and I could not eat it all due to that. I can only assume that the other dishes on the menu which are more expensive are much nicer. Spending money does not equate to buying good taste; in this case, it really doesn't. Nonetheless I was going to give three stars as the staff were very polite and I may just have arrived on a bad day but then on leaving I walk around the corner and see a lunch meal advert outside of the Real Greek promoted for £8.50 and, although I haven't eaten there yet, if I find myself nearby and hungry at lunch time then I don't think the food quality could be much worse. I appreciate Turkish and Greek aren't identical cuisines but the majority of the set lunch menu at this place could be found (under a different name/slight variation) in Greek cuisine. I don't think the owner was there on the day I visited as, from reading their feedback, I feel that they would also have been disappointed with the food that was being served under their name as it appears that once upon a time they were serving great authentic dishes that they were proud of and for whatever reason this was no longer the case. My suggestion to the owner is to review the food quality of the set menu as if I was more satisfied I would have no quarm in returning for an evening meal. I appreciate the set menu appears to offer value for food in the area but due to this experience has lost my...

CONSISTENTLY GOOD FOR OVER 15 YEARS

It's difficult to describe the joy of finding a restaurant that you've always relied on still standing and stills serving the same quality of food in London.

Ten years ago, pretty much everywhere you'd go, would have been in existence 10 years or more. Nowadays you'll be lucky to find a place that's lasted a year.

Check my reviews of some of the new openings in Soho and you'll discover many of them are no more, and the ever reliable establishments long since past.

So when a guest and I were returning from a walk in the City (having hoped to have tried the newly opened Ned Hotel on Poultry, which we'd be informed were in soft-launch by staff at Hubbard & Bell, but wasn't) and about to pass the Globe Theatre, I was filled with mild trepidation that the restaurant that I'd just been raving about, maybe no more.

But as we turned the corner, I witnessed the seats outside and breathed a large sigh of relief. I'd be using this as a regular food spot for years. Fabulous for pre or post a performance at the Globe or Sam Wannamaker's Theatres and significantly off the beaten track if just wandering up the river for a walk to avoid the chainey tourist offering just around the corner.

Ironically, Tas is itself a chain, But each restaurant is so unique in terms of it's food offering, decor and ambience, it would be an insult to call it such (It's also entirely London based).

My next fear, was the quality of the Pide, that was always exceptionally good, was not going to be as good, but that was dismissed instantly upon its arrival. Wonderfully light bread base with wonderfully fresh ingredients topping it

This is such a great place to sit outside have a drink and grab a bite in the summer months and sit and watch the wood buring oven inside in the Winter, it really should last forever.

They even have authentic Turkish musicians playing live for your entertainment.

It's exceptional value for money too, even now, with a Pide (Authentic Turkish Pizza) coming in at between £9.55 - £11.55 (my favourites, the Kimalyi or Sucuklu both best served with an egg on top).

Hopefully, this venue will be around for another 50 years, it deserves to.

A definite must if you're...

My friends and I visited this restaurant for iftar this evening, and we ordered a range of dishes including soup, pide and some mains. I’ve two reasons why I gave it a low rating: firstly, except the mercimek soup which was amazing, all the other dishes were not great. The mixed grill was very dry, so was the rice. Also, for a restaurant that specialises in pide, the pides weren’t great, nothing compared to pides you can get anywhere in green lanes/wood green. The second reason is personal and it’s regarding the treatment I received by the staff member who was serving us. He asked us where we were from, I told him I was Iraqi, and my other friends said they were Turkish. Naturally, he welcomed them in Turkish and had a short conversation with them. However, throughout the meal, he came over to our table many times (to get our orders or have a quick chat) and he spoke only in Turkish, only addressing my friends. He barely addressed me, not even when taking my meals. I happen to speak Turkish as well so the experience wasn’t entirely unpleasant, however, he didn’t know that. He must’ve realised at some point I also spoke the language when my friends spoke Turkish with me as well, yet this did not change his attitude towards me at all. It’s understandable and lovely of him to connect with people of his nationality, yet to be dismissive to another customer on the same table is downright rude and unacceptable. I’ve been to Turkish restaurants all over london, and I’ve never felt this unwelcome before. I really did not enjoy my time here, both food and service, and we don’t plan on visiting this...