Diyarbakir Kitchen
On a street where every second window advertises lahmacun, The Infatuation's Jake Missing says this one
actually tastes of lamb, and tells you to eat it straight, without salads or sauces2.
Why go
Green Lanes is one of the two places in London where the ocakbasi tradition actually lives, and Missing files this among "the smouldering competition of Green Lanes' ocakbasi grills" while scoring it 8.1. The dough is the reason: charred and blistered, cracker-thin at the edges, carrying an oozing smoky mince that has not been stretched out with filler. The lamb ribs and the adana kofte hold up the rest of the order. The room is big, shiny and loud, with families on round tables and groups in every banquette, which is exactly what a Green Lanes grill house should be. The name comes from Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's Kurdish southeast, though its own copy calls the food Turkish and Mediterranean and makes no claim beyond that. It is a family business and it says so.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the lahmacun first, undressed. Then lamb ribs and adana kofte, and a mixed grill if the table is big. Takeaway is a real operation here, not an afterthought.
- Avoid: loading the lahmacun with salad and sauce, which buries the thing you came for. And do not book it for a quiet conversation.
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation (13 April 2021), Jake Missing, 8.1:
Lamb ribs and carefully spiced adana kofte are excellent while their lahmacuns, charred and blistered on the outside with an oozing smoky mince mixture in the middle, are brilliant handheld delicacies. If you're overwhelmed by choice, confused or, worst of all, hungry on Green Lanes, then Diyarbakir is a guaranteed winner for groups big and small.
1 - The Infatuation (20 April 2021), Jake Missing again, on the lahmacun alone:
its Diyarbakir that might just edge the top spot. The dough is charred and blistered, thin and cracker-like at the edges... Unlike many lahmacuns, Diyarbakir's lahmacun actually tastes of lamb, especially when eaten straight, without salads or sauces.
The guide put it in its Best Lahmacun In North London list.2 - The venue on itself:
one of London's best Turkish charcoal grill restaurants. At the heart of Haringey well-known Green Lanes Turkish community.
A family business, in its own words.3 - No industry pick. All 621 rows of London's chef-vote file were checked on 30 July 2026 and no chef or bartender names this room. On a street where chefs do name Umut 2000, that absence is worth stating.
Good to know
- Where: 52-53 Grand Parade, Green Lanes N4 1AG, the Harringay Ladder stretch. Harringay Green Lanes or Manor House for the train.
- Timing: no hours are published on any reachable source, and the venue site carries none. The Infatuation includes it in its guide to eating well in London after midnight, so it runs late.
- Booking: walk-in, and the guide tags it for last-minute group dinners.
- Price: cheapest band. Takeaway and delivery are a serious part of the operation.
- Diet: The Infatuation tags the restaurant halal. The venue publishes no dietary statement of its own, so that is the basis.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5, very good, from a Haringey inspection on 1 February 2025, with a clean sweep on all three component scores (record).
- Sites: one. The food-hygiene register holds no sibling anywhere in England. Diyarbakir Sofrasi on the Edgware Road is a different business, and namematch scores the two names 0.70, close enough to be flagged branch-ambiguous, so they were separated on address.
Verdict
should-visit — Order the lahmacun and eat it with nothing on it. Green Lanes has a dozen charcoal grills and The Infatuation's Jake Missing, who scored this room 8.1, says Diyarbakir's lahmacun might edge the top of them: the dough charred and blistered, cracker-thin at the rim, the mince oozing, and, unlike most versions in London, it actually tastes of lamb. Have it straight, without the salad or sauce, which is his instruction and the right one. Around that sit lamb ribs and adana kofte he calls carefully spiced, in a big loud room with families at round tables and groups in every banquette, open past midnight, cheap, walk-in, and flagged halal by the guide. Haringey inspected it in February 2025 and gave it a clean sweep on every component. It holds at should-visit because one writer at one outlet is the whole critical record, and on a street this competitive a second voice would settle whether it is the best of them or one of the best.