The ocakbasi at Mangal 2 is a charcoal trench set into the counter, and at least one part of every dish crosses it. Ali Dirik came over from Istanbul in 1987 and opened what his family says was London's first. His son Sertac now grills cull yaw and forty-day dairy beef over the same fire. The other benchmark is on Green Lanes, where Umut 2000 chops its ezme to order rather than scooping it out of plastic, and six London chefs put that plate on the New York Times list of the city's essential dishes.
Turkish ocakbasi.
DeeperThe ocakbasi grill →
The rooms, best first
- Yeni Umut 2000 Dalstonverified
A long charcoal grill runs down the back wall, and Smoking Goat's cooks eat here after service.
- Mangal 2 Restaurantverified
The charcoal trench sits in the counter and at least one part of every dish crosses it.
- Umut 2000 Harringayverified
Lamb ribs come off the ocakbasi with the fat still sizzling and the meat pink.
- Diyarbakir Kitchenverified
A Green Lanes charcoal grill house whose lahmacun comes off blistered and cracker-thin at the rim.
- 19 Numara Bos Cirrik IIverified
The Infatuation calls it a straightforward, old-school ocakbasi, with the charcoal grill sitting in the room.