Yeni Umut 2000 Dalston — Restaurant in London

For years, I had been eager to visit this place, drawn by tales of their delicious ribs and the cozy, down-to-earth vibe at the hole-in-the-wall known as Umut 2000. Its funky name and reputation for tasty Turkish dishes added to its allure. Unfortunately, my experience left me disappointed and dispelled the myth I had cherished. As they say, never meet your heroes; you might be let down, and that certainly rang true for me.

My disillusionment began when I ordered the platter for four. The portion size was so small that the "2000" in the restaurant's name seemed to stand more for the calorie count of a single meal. It felt like we were distributing food as sparingly as the Red Cross, not enjoying a hearty meal out. For a hefty £70, I expected more than the scant offering served, especially the bulgur, which was so minimal it seemed like decorative garnish rather than part of the meal.

Additionally, the restaurant's cash-only policy was a significant inconvenience. While I’d like to think this stance is a critique of our tap-and-go culture and the pervasive spread of technology, it felt more suspect than principled. Searching for a cash machine to settle my bill felt as desperate as a crackhead on the hunt for the next fix, ironically burning off more calories than those contained in my meal. This might explain the "2000" in their name—it's a warning of what to expect. The only upside? I ended up in a calorie deficit, handy with summer on the horizon.

Lastly, the restaurant is so small and tightly packed close to the charcoal grill that there’s a fine line between waiting for your meal and becoming your meal. I won’t be falling for...

One of the best Turkish restaurants in London!

This restaurant is not about glamour or sophistication, it is simply about incredible tasting meat!! (Red meat in particular)

Mezza’s are nothing special here And not really worth ordering! They come as cold starters, hoummous, beans, taramasalata and a few others.

The place is extremely busy and popular meaning the service is to the point if that makes sense.

Most meals come with a fresh salad, and onion salad. The salads are very tasty and infused with a range of herbs. If you like spice, Ezme salad which is tomatoes coriander and chillis finely chopped up with herbs is refreshing.

The bread at Umuts is unreal and goes down a treat with the salads or mint yoghurt (jajiki). The bread is cooked over the meat on the bbq. It is succulent, tasty and satisfying.

In regards to the best meats the top picks for me are:

Lamb ribs Lamb kofta and Heart

These three options are immense in there flavour, texture and overall taste. Once you taste it a sense of euphoria overtakes you, the taste is that incredible and satisfying.

Heart isn’t always available, they run out of it later on in the day.

In addition the liver is very good, I am not really a liver fan as it has a certain organ taste to it, however at Umuts it doesn’t have this organ taste and is very edible.

Meat comes served with rice.

Weekend are nightmare as the place gets packed, but well worth the wait!

Unfortunately this place is pricey, however the finer things in life are worth spending on...

Visited Umut 2000 for takeaway. It took 5 minutes for anyone to acknowledge me. they had seated the 2 people standing in front of me straight away. Even Though 2 different staff members locked eyes with me. When a female staff member finally spoke with me I asked how long it would take for takeaway and she responded with 20 minutes. I agreed to wait even though I was already hungry. I sat at a table and waited 20 minutes and stood up for 5 minutes waiting again for someone to acknowledge me. During this time I noticed the two people who had been seated were eating their food. Once the same staff member spoke with me and I asked about my food she turned to her staff and spoke in a different language and then walked away from me. 30 minutes went by and still nothing and I got the attention of that staff member again. She said she’d asked them to hurry up with my order. Finally at 50 minutes they gave me my order. No apologies and very bad communication. If I had known it would take that long I would not have ordered from there.

Excited about the food as reviews were good. I took the food home only to find it average and expensive. Don’t rate this place at all. There are better quality and cheaper Turkish...