Restaurant Review: Meze Mangal

Meze Mangal is officially my local restaurant, only 30/40 meters from my front door and luckily I hit the jackpot. It's a small family run Turkish restaurant that is packed out every Friday and Saturday night. As you enter the left hand wall of the restaurant is filled with a charcoal barbecue (above) and a wood fired oven where all of the food is cooked in front of you.

I went last night for dinner without a booking, but a smile and a little bit of gentle persuasion and they magic a table from the basement or let you sit next to the bbq, which is where we ended up last night. There is a wide selection of meze starters, but there is only one to go for, the mixed meze. Which basically has a bit of everything and comes with sublime freshly baked bread from their wood oven. The main courses are a variety of freshly cooked meats or wood oven fired dishes. I've never had any complaints from the vegetarians I've taken there either, as there is a decent selection on the menu for them too. Last night we had a chicken kebab (it had a much fancier name and taste which I can't remember now) and kleftiko which was unbelievably tender.

I heard a rumour via some friends is Bondi Australia (and former Brockley residents) that Meze Mangal was going to expand into the vacant shop next door to increase it's seating capacity. Here's hoping. Another sign Brockley is on the way up?

The only down side is the wine. I wasn't a fan of Turkey's finest. However the beer is excellent.

Kent Countryside

Yesterday I was very kindly invited to lunch by my old school friend Claire and her husband Ben. I jumped in the car (still on the first tank of petrol three months after buying the car - how's that for environmentalism?) and managed to navigate myself down to Canterbury.

We had a lovely lunch and catch up, followed by a walk down on the beach. There can't be many places in the country where you can see a nuclear power station and offshore wind farm in the same place. Kent has it all!

I always under estimate what getting out of London does for you at the weekend. I find that rolling countryside and country walks really energise me. I must do it more often!

Brockley on the way up?

How do you tell if an area is on the way up? I've lived here for the last 3 years and to be honest haven't seen that many signs of an area visibly on the move. Prices have gone up and you see the odd renovation going on, but where in London is that not the case?

Brockley was tipped on Location, Location, Location about 5 years ago as an area on the move. Is it enough just to be mentioned? Shops still remain empty. There are no estate agents moving in, trendy delis opening and all of the obvious signs you are told to look for. (To be honest I'm quite pleased we don't have Foxtons on the High Street.)

There are a few factors that make me think times are changing. The ripple effect from Greenwich is clearly heading this way. The massively successful development at ONE SE8 at Deptford Bridge has sold out, there is another development in progress next to the DLR station and a major development on Greenwich High Road has just been announced.

There is a licensing application on one of the vacant local shops for Tescos to sell alcohol. It seems they already have the necessary permissions to open and shop fitters are carrying out work. National retailers like Tesco work on identifying areas based on demographics. Has Brockley reached a tipping point?

The Blog is Back: Restaurant Reviews and Gossip

The blog has been a bit quiet for the past couple of weeks. I've been keeping a low profile. Maybe I should have kept posting after the controversy of the BBC blog, oh well..........

Last weekend I went out for my friend Kelly's leaving party before her move to NY. We went for dinner at Spaghetti House and then out to the Loop Bar for a drink and a dance. When I started this blog I had visions of posting regular and exciting restaurant reviews. I didn't quite have chains like the Spaghetti House in mind. The prices were reasonable, the company good and the food was decent as well! Just goes to show that chain restaurants can serve decent unpretentious food when they try. After dinner we went to the Loop Bar which was chav central. There was a minor altercation with a group of Essex girls (one still in her Clarins uniform straight from the make up counter at House of Fraser) who threatened to glass us! Thankfully we all left without incident. I think incidents like this (and witnessing a heated argument on a Night Bus the week before) highlight a worrying under current about British culture that is exposed after people drink.

Last night I went out for dinner with Mike who is moving back to Manchester after a year working dawn south at GSK. We had dinner at the Dim Sum restaurant Ping Pong. We were blinded by choice on the menu. With so much Dim Sum on offer what do you choose? We were a bit indecisive until Luke took over the ordering and we had a good variety of dishes arriving at the table. The last Dim Sum I had in London was at Yauatcha which was absolutely amazing. Ping Pong wasn't quite as good, but then the bill was considerably less as well. Ping Pong had great value dim sum.

I'm venturing into the Kent countryside on the weekend and then going to New York next week so I am sure that there are a few more impending blogs.

In Praise of the BBC

Unfashionable and against the tide of political bloggers (lucky this isn't a political blog), I'm going to stick my neck on the line and say that I like the BBC.

I like television and radio stations without programmes interupted by adverts. I like the unbiased and impartial broadcasts. Radio 4. Test Match Special. The World Service.

Two recent programmes have prompted me to write this post. How We Built Britain and 20th Century Battlefields. Cultural, educational and I doubt that they would have been made in quite the same way by any other channel.

Stereo + New Bike Update

I may have been a bit hasty in my earlier blog in both my praise for Halfords and my mild contempt for Kenwood over my new car stereo. It transpires that Halfords connected some of the wires up incorrectly which meant there was no power going to the stereo when the ignition was turned off, thus resetting the memory every time I drove the car. Halfords were quite cheery and efficient about rectifying the mistake, but errors don't happen with top quality service!

As the for stereo it now has a fair chance to prove itself, although I still think it might be a bit fiddly so I'll withhold fulsome praise for Kenwood until I have had a propper chance to test it.

I'm also thinking of taking advantage of the governments scheme to allow commuters to buy tax free bikes and get a Specialized Globe Comp 2007. If any posters can give me some advice on whether this is a good hybrid bike or not I would be most grateful!

Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh: Oyster

Let me give you some context: I had a work recruitment evening tonight so was in the office interviewing candidates until 10pm. When the recruitment evening ended I called a cab and was told that it would be 20mins. 45mins later and I was still waiting so decided to cut my losses and head for the DLR.

I touched in and headed up to the platform. A train was just arriving when I got a call saying my taxi had arrived. As it was raining and I didn't fancy the walk from the DLR station to my flat I decided to head back down to the taxi. Realising that I was going to be charged unless I touched out I went to speak to the staff at the DLR station. When I asked if there was anything I could do I was told No, you've just lost £6.

Now, I'm pro personal responsibility. Oyster is a much more efficient system than paper tickets and I am prepared to pay a bit more for the convenience. There are also lots of signs reminding you to touch in and touch out. I don't think anyone who just forgets has a leg to stand on. However, I am bit surprised that the staff at stations don't have the ability to reset you card or at least give you a claims form. I think he was a bit surprised when I walked off without saying a word. Staff abuse must be a bit more prevalent than I thought as he was clearly expecting me to react much more.

Kennington Tandoori

Last night I went out for beers and a curry with a group of Uni friends from my Manchester days. It was a classic uni style evening with a few beers in the pub followed by a late curry. There was good banter and a surprisingly heated debate among a group of non-smokers (and one casual smoker) about the smoking ban. The consensus was against for a variety of reasons, pro-choice, civil liberties, letting the market decide etc....... I was a bit surprised, I instinctively feel it is a good thing and hadn't given much thought to the arguments for and against.

Back to the food. Your senses and taste buds are never at their sharpest after a few beers and you are feeling a bit tipsy. The Kennington Tandoori or KT, as it is known locally, has a good reputation. My Tandoori Murgh Bhuna was excellent. Well cooked chicken in a tasty sauce with just enough spice for me (aka not too much). Only citicism was that the portions were a bit small, but that may have been the drunken munchies making me greedy.