Outside on Hanover St. |
MJ’s Verdict
Tuna and lentils in the background |
Cold meze |
Mushrooms |
Baklava |
Blythe’s Verdict
With MJ due to make her first trip to Istanbul, later this week, what could be more perfect than a Turkish meal on Hanover Street, to acquaint her tastebuds with some of the flavours they’ll be exposed to in the city where east meets west.
Nargile was flooded with winter sunshine, today, showing off its simple layout to excellent advantage. I had a brilliant Christmas lunch here, where they brought us the entire menu, in a series of small, meze courses. It was tremendous! Since then, it has changed hands, I believe to the original owners, but remains largely the same set-up.
Today we were taking advantage of a Groupon deal for ‘meze and baklava for two’, so once more no ordering was required.
Upon arrival, my coat was taken and drink order quickly taken. I’d arrived a few minutes ahead of the ever prompt MJ, but soon she appeared resplendent in excellent shades.
Once seated, our waitress asked if we had any particular dietary items to avoid or allergies, so our array of meze could be tailored accordingly. We had nothing to declare.
First out for our delectation were cold meze, served with hot pitta.
Chicken salad, up close |
How’s my memory doing? Lentils with cumin, tuna with dill and chick peas, zingy tomato salad, chicken salad, hummus, goat’s cheese with mint, aubergine and courgette with garlic yoghurt. I think that’s it, but maybe I’ve forgotten one.
All were full of flavour, although the tuna could have used a little olive oil to make it more moist. I think the lentils were the standout item for me, as they were packed with earthy cumin goodness.
The hot meze soon followed, as we continued to pick through the small dishes. As MJ eschews the fried goods, I had a plate of calamari, chicken wings with yoghurt, spinach borek, and sucuk, largely to myself.
Hot Meze |
Again, the dishes were high on flavour, with the calamari really nicely prepared.
Large mushrooms stuffed with spinach were good, also.
We made a pretty good effort at cleaning the majority of our little plates. I think it’s fair to say that it was a very generous amount of food for two, in total. I’m not 100% clear whether it matches to the ‘vezir’ (extended meze platter) on their regular menu – it was described as an extended version of their standard ‘meze’, so I suspect it was tailored to the particular Groupon deal.
A simple, elegant looking plate of baklava followed, with which we chose to drink plain Turkish coffee. Again, MJ isn’t the sweet-tooth, so I flying dessert solo. She did chase her chocolatey piece round the plate, much as I tend to chase noodles round the bowl, but she couldn’t get it to reach an aesthetic angle for further photographing.
Overall, Nargile served us a lovely range of dishes, and provided MJ with a gentle introduction to the cuisine she’ll be immersed in, next week. I envy her greatly, as I could use a week gazing at the Bosphorus, eating manti and supping Efes. If the longing gets to painful, I’ll happily pop back to Nargile for a little taste of Turkey in the New Town.
Scores
Blythe scores Nargile:
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
3/5 for setting
Giving an overall 14/20
MJ scores Nargile:
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
3/5 for setting
Giving an overall 15/20
Today’s Lunch Questers were: MJ, Blythe
We ate: assorted hot and cold meze (detailed above), baklava
We drank: sparkly water, Turkish coffee
We wore: the broad smile of a lady who’s just handed in her PhD thesis (YAY!), the reciprocal smile of a highly impressed gentleman
Total bill: £12 Groupon voucher, plus £8 for drinks
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