An ocakbasi is a long charcoal grill set in the dining room, and the cook works it in front of you. Ali Dirik arrived from Istanbul in 1987 and his family's account is that he opened London's first on a Dalston back street; the form now runs the length of Green Lanes and out to Edmonton.
The ocakbasi grill.
how it is eaten · Dalston, Stoke Newington, Harringay's Green Lanes, Edmonton and Enfield
What it is
An ocakbasi is a charcoal grill built into the dining room. At Umut 2000 in
Dalston it runs along the back wall of the room
with the tables around it;
at 19 Numara Bos Cirrik II in Stoke Newington it sits by the door, and
Chris Pople's note on the consequence is that the air stays "thick with
charcoal smoke and steam".
4
11
The New York Times panel defines one as a "simple Turkish restaurant devoted
to grilled meats".
1
Why it matters here
Jonathan Nunn's claim for the city is flat: "unless you come from Turkey or Berlin, you won't find another city with this many great Turkish and Kurdish restaurants". 7 Claire Ptak says what that meant for the rest of the city's cooking. The chefs who moved east in the early 2000s "lived on Turkish food, and the quality and the culinary history informed all of us". 1 Turkish cooking in London, Ben McCormack writes, "has long meant the ocakbaşı grill houses of the north-east of the capital". 3
How it is done
The grill sets the pace. Order a sea bream at Yeni Umut 2000 Dalston and
you are told to expect half an hour, "because they'll chargrill the thing
properly".
4 Döner is built
rather than bought: at Mangal 2 Restaurant it is seasoned lamb shoulder on
the stick, grilled and falling off the razor-sharp knife used to slice it
.
5 The
table is set before you ask for anything, and Rianne Shlebak lists what
arrives: "some salad, fresh warm flatbread, and grilled onion swimming in
pomegranate molasses will arrive wordlessly".
6
The ezme is where you can tell. At most rooms it sits in a display as "a
mushy, overworked paste"; at Umut 2000 Harringay it is chopped to order from
tomatoes, parsley, onion, pepper flakes, sumac and chile, dressed with olive
oil, salt and pomegranate molasses.
1
Who does it
Ali Dirik cooked in Istanbul and moved to London in 1987, and his own family's
account is that within four years he opened "the first Mangal Ocakbaşı on the
back streets of Dalston".
2 He opened a second in 1994 and later left
the first.
2 His sons have the room now. Sertaç Dirik "grew up in
one", and he and his brother Ferhat turned Mangal 2 Restaurant into a
National Restaurant Awards Top 50 fixture.
3
James Lowe eats at both Umuts and can tell them apart from the salad: the
Harringay room feels more old-school
, and it always makes the ezme with
chile, where Yeni Umut 2000 Dalston asks you first.
1
On the list
best version at
Umut 2000 HarringayThe New York Times panel picked this Green Lanes room out for its lamb ribs and an ezme made to order.
“Ocakbasi, simple Turkish restaurants devoted to grilled meats, can now be found all over the city, but Umut 2000, which has locations in Dalston and Harringay (now under separate ownership) is a favorite among the food-obsessed, known for its exceptional lamb ribs and unusually fresh ezme.”
The New York Times T Magazine, 16 September 2025 [1]
best version at
Yeni Umut 2000 DalstonThe Dalston half trades under separate ownership, and it asks whether you want the ezme spicy.
“The Harringay Umut feels more old-school than the Dalston one. But they’re both big centers of the Turkish community. The ezme salad is better than any other I’ve had. The one in Dalston gives you a choice — spicy or not spicy — but at the one in Harringay, it’s always made with chile.”
James Lowe, quoted in The New York Times T Magazine, 16 September 2025 [1]
best version at
Mangal 2 RestaurantAli Dirik opened this second room and his sons run it now, with the rule that something on every plate has been over the coals.
“takes pride in making sure at least one part of every dish has been blessed by the ocakbasi, which you can admire in action thanks to an open-kitchen”
The Nudge, Rupert Hohwieler, 29 January 2023 [10]
best version at
19 Numara Bos Cirrik IIThe grill sits by the door, and the room takes the smoke with it.
“the focal point of the room - a huge grill near the door - kept the air thick with charcoal smoke and steam”
Cheese and Biscuits, Chris Pople, October 2008 [11]
best version at
Neco Tantuni ve Künefe SalonuThere is no charcoal here at all. The meat is steamed, then finished on a hotplate under bread that soaks up what comes off it.
“The meat (lamb or chicken) is steamed to maintain a moist, juicy texture before being tossed into a massive pan with spices and oil, which are added in slowly. When the meaty mixture bubbles up, the homemade lavaş (a thin, flexible bread) are slapped on top to soak in all the flavours.”
The Guardian, Sammy Gecsoyler, 13 December 2025 [12]
Where to get it
Green Lanes is the long version and Jake Missing's description of the walk is the honest one: "The smoking ocakbasis, the glistening döners, the gözleme made from muscle memory." 9 Nunn's advice is to treat it as a crawl rather than a booking. 7 He also thinks the centre of gravity has moved: "Edmonton is the current epicentre of good Turkish food in London". 7 And the fire is not always charcoal. At Neco Tantuni ve Künefe Salonu in Enfield there is no grill at all: the lamb is steamed first, then tossed in a pan with spices and oil, and the lavaş goes on top of the bubbling meat "to soak in all the flavours". 12
The story
A decade ago the Green Lanes restaurants "used to all look like village lokantas; mosaics, rusticism and Once Upon A Time in Anatolia nostalgia were in". 8 Jonathan Nunn names who changed that, and it is not the newcomers: "Green Lanes isn't changing because of newcomers, rather the old communities that abut it have new desires." 8
Sources & mentions
- [1]The New York Times T Magazine, 16 September 2025, on the ezme
“The latter, a traditional chopped salad, is an afterthought at many other ocakbasi, showing up as a mushy, overworked paste sitting behind a plastic display. At Umut, the dish is made to order, a mix of tomatoes, parsley, onion, red pepper flakes, sumac, and chile, with a dressing of olive oil, salt and pomegranate molasses.”
“All the chefs who moved to East London in the early 2000s to start restaurants, we lived on Turkish food, and the quality and the culinary history informed all of us.”
- [2]Mangal 2, own site
“After working as a young and aspiring chef in Istanbul, Ali Dirik moved to London in 1987. Within 4 years he opened the first Mangal Ocakbaşı on the back streets of Dalston.”
“The innovative 'ocakbaşı' restaurant, with its charcoal cooking method was the first of its kind in London and soon gained a cult following, with numerous press reviews and awards.”
“By 1994, Ali opened Mangal Ocakbaşı II and later ended his involvement with the first Mangal Ocakbaşı.”
- [3]Wallpaper*, Ben McCormack, 29 April 2024
“Turkish cooking in London has long meant the ocakbaşı grill houses of the north-east of the capital.”
“Sertaç Dirik grew up in one – his father’s Mangal II, which he and his brother Ferhat reinvented into a National Restaurant Awards Top 50 fixture”
- [4]Time Out London, Kitty Drake, 4 October 2017, on the room
“A long silver grill sizzles along the back wall of the room, and around it customers sit at simple wooden tables, savouring the scent.”
“This is the kind of place where if you order the sea bream you are politely told to expect to wait half an hour, because they’ll chargrill the thing properly.”
- [5]Foodism, Mike Gibson, 4 April 2018, on the döner
“Döner here takes the form of seasoned lamb shoulder, garnished with olive oil, grilled and falling off the razor-sharp knife used to slice it from the stick”
- [6]The Infatuation London, Rianne Shlebak, 27 March 2024, on what arrives unasked
“Like any traditional Turkish restaurant worth its salt, some salad, fresh warm flatbread, and grilled onion swimming in pomegranate molasses will arrive wordlessly.”
- [7]Vittles, Jonathan Nunn, 29 April 2022
“You can’t leave London without going to a traditional Brıtish ocakbasi. There are so many options that you may as well turn it into a whole crawl: unless you come from Turkey or Berlin, you won’t find another city with this many great Turkish and Kurdish restaurants.”
“Edmonton is the current epicentre of good Turkish food in London”
- [8]Vittles Reviews, Jonathan Nunn, 25 August 2023, on what Green Lanes used to look like
“Ten years ago the Turkish and Kurdish restaurants on this culinarily dense stretch of North London pavement used to all look like village lokantas; mosaics, rusticism and Once Upon A Time in Anatolia nostalgia were in.”
“But Green Lanes isn’t changing because of newcomers, rather the old communities that abut it have new desires.”
- [9]The Infatuation London, Jake Missing, 13 September 2022, on Harringay
“The smoking ocakbasis, the glistening döners, the gözleme made from muscle memory. All are synonymous with a road that makes it, quite literally, impossible to depart hungry from.”
- [10]
- [11]
- [12]