Tag Archives: Turkish

Great Turkish food in North London – and it’s cheap!

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turkish food Palmers Green

Aksular in Green Lanes

For many years Palmers Green and Southgate in North London have been the centre of the Turkish community. Turks, who started off in areas such as Dalston in Hackney, got richer and moved northwards. Many of the more affluent ones ended up in the area around Southgate and Palmers Green. All of which means that this is now a great place for cheap Turkish meals.

Anyone who has travelled through Turkey will know that the country is huge and that the roads are punctuated by gigantic service stations with huge restaurants, where you can buy excellent food at rock bottom prices.

The new restaurants around Southgate are very similar. They have lots of tables, fast service and they are very cheap. It’s not the place for a romantic first date, but if you have a hungry family, you’ll get a very good meal.

Aksular is on the Green Lanes. It’s so popular that the restaurant has recently doubled in size and they’ve opened another branch in Enfield Town. The restaurant is a bit like the road houses that you find in Turkey. It is cheap, clean and functional and is full of families. It has lines and lines of tables and the service is friendly and brisk. As soon as you’re seated, you are given salads, hummus and aubergine dish imam biyaldi. These are free! If you want, you can order other starters but you have to pay for them– I chose a chicken soup which had lots of shredded chicken;. My son had some prawns, nicely grilled with garlic..

eating Turkish food in Palmers green

My daughter tucking into the starters

The main courses are basic but very good. I had grilled chops, my brother had a mixed shish kebab (with cubes of lamb, chops and meatballs) and my mother had chicken kebab. My son had some sort of donner kebab which was served in bread with a sauce on it. And my wife had fillets of sea bass. The dishes came with rice or potatoes. There’s very little to say about the food. It is good, plentiful and very tasty. And it’s all cooked in the traditional method over a long tray of charcoal.

The staff are delightful. After the meal, a couple of us ordered Turkish coffee. The waitress insisted on giving everyone else a glass of Turkish tea – free of charge. We also got pieces of baklava – the traditional pastry with syrup and nuts. Again, this was free.

We didn’t have any alcoholic drinks -although the place sells a reasonable range of beers and wines. But we’d effectively had a three course meal and for six of us the price was £72. I’d describe it as a bloody bargain!

On similar lines, a restaurant called Kervan Sofrasi has opened about half a mile away in Southgate. It occupies a building which used to be a large pub called ‘The Waggon and Horses’ in the main road, Chase Side. Again lots of tables, big crowds, simple food and lots of it. It’s very popular with the local Turkish community and with anyone else who enjoys good food with lots of flavour and not too much

Kervan Sofasi in Palmers Green

Kervan Sofasi in Palmers Green

embellishment. Again, there are other branches of the same restaurant – including one in nearby Edmonton. Kervan Sofrasi is slightly different to the Aksular because it tends to cater to parties of slightly younger people – including office workers and birthday parties. But there are still plenty of families enjoying a meal together. And again it’s cheap. I went out with four friends and we had a huge pile of charcoal grilled lamb, chicken, meatballs and even a quail. There were salads and dips to start and we all had beers and coffee. The price including service was £100 – again extremely good value.

Turkish Designer Bora Aksu Launches London Fashion Week

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“NAZAR”

Spring/Summer 2014

Celebrating 10 years at London Fashion Week this year has spurred Bora Aksu to look back to his Turkish homeland and its rich, colourful and diverse culture. His spring/summer 2014 collection has been inspired by his childhood memories of there, memories that have had such a big influence on him.

Bora Aksu, London fashion week, fashion, SS14

Although Bora’s childhood memories of Turkey are still as magical today as when they were first played out, as Bora spent more and more time in London and travelled the world their uniqueness and richness has become more valuable to him. The long, hot summer days spent on the Aegean coast are the most prominent recollections that Bora draws on for this season’s inspiration. Long stretches of white sand, bobbing fishing boats, sun-faded houses with lush gardens and hidden village markets are the happy times that give his spring/summer collection a less melancholic feel than has been his signature to date.

Bora Aksu explains: “When I realised that this would be my tenth year at London Fashion Week, it struck me how long it has been since I left Turkey to come to study in the UK. It propelled me to reminisce and look back at my roots. I felt that I wanted to re-ignite the passion coming from the rich culture and traditional artistry of Turkey that had inspired me in the first place.”

Bora Aksu says of his new collection: ‘I’m delighted to have worked with the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism as official sponsor for this London Fashion Week show. After 10 years showing in London it’s been great to go back to my roots and be inspired by the rich culture and traditional artistry of Turkey. I hope the show will inspire people to explore Turkey and discover the amazing gems it has to offer.’

The patterns and textures of the Iznik tiles that adorn the show invite have been re-created using traditional handwoven Turkish textiles incorporated into pencil skirts, dresses, cropped jackets and boleros.

Layering continues to be key, with geometric laces over silk tulles and chiffons or used as sheer panels against quilted cotton for added texture in skirts and dresses. Hand crochets produced in Izmir create accents across the collection.

Classic shapes have been contrasted with summer shorts and knitted tees while plastinated cottons update the traditional feel.

The colour palette for the collection began with the traditional ‘nazar boncuk’ or ‘evil eye bead’. Worn in Turkey to ward off evil, legend says that if one should break it is a sign that you have been saved from a great misfortune. Traditionally made from a disc of blue glass, it is this protective colour of the evil eye that dominates the collection. Off-whites also play a key role keeping the collection light before bold injections of bright yellows and fuchsia are introduced, reminding Bora of the long hot summers that he so enjoyed.

“This collection has been incredibly personal for me” Bora Aksu says “It’s been fantastic to have the support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and to take this first step in highlighting a land I am so passionate about and connected to. I hope the show will inspire people to explore the rich culture and traditional artistry that Turkey has to offer.”

Enjoy The Small Luxeries in Life With Decadent Bath Towels

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6_zpsbc9b2b01It is always the small things in life that make big differences. At ShopNineSpace.com you will find all the small luxuries like Fouta towels that make life more enjoyable. So often it is the small pleasures in life that make the biggest difference and ShopNineSpace has a great selection of small luxuries that provide a big wallop of comfort and style. Foutas are towels that originate from the Mediterranean where they where valued for their softness and incredible level of absorbency. They where used not only as towels but as tablecloths, aprons and blankets as well due to their great properties of drying quickly and extreme softness.

Made entirely of pure premium Turkish cotton, the moment you lay hands of these towels you will see why they have always been so prized. Now you can enjoy the simple joys they have to offer by ordering these towels in one of the many stylish versions they come in. They come in beautiful tie dyes perfect for a leisurely day at the beach or more traditional stripes and solids of all sorts of colors for use in the home. Foutas can be used for much more that a luxurious wrap when you come out of the shower. They make great tablecloths and the are quite lovely draped on furniture. They are available in standard and oversize versions so you can find one to suit your needs.

Another great option from ShopNineSpace is bamboo towels. These fluffy, soft, and absorbent towels are not only sinfully comfy, they are also an Eco-friendly option and you can find more selection here. Bamboo has become a popular material to make items for the home out of because of the fact that it is one of the most green materials to make things from. It grows quickly and uses few natural resources to produce. It is an extremely versatile material that has been used to make everything from the big fluffy towels discussed here to home flooring that rivals the beauty of hardwood.

You can enjoy the luxury of decadent towels made of bamboo guilt free because you will know you are doing something good for the earth every time you wrap yourself up in one. It just doesn’t get much better then environmentally friendly decadence that you can enjoy without guilt. If you enjoy the creature comforts of life, but care about the impact your consumption makes on the world around you, then these are the perfect choice for those who want the best of both worlds.