When you order a mixed grill from a Turkish restaurant, your hopes are very simple....gimme meat, hot and yummy, with a few things on the side to mop it up and tart it up with. Gloriously Opuz Kitchen facilitated this with gusto!
(It's worth noting Opuz does have good veggie options, but this review is alllll about the meat, sorry veggies).
It was one of those "can't be bothered to cook" nights and we fancied something filling, hearty and simple. A few of you lovely readers recommended Opuz Kitchen so we decided to give it a go. Worth noting here that we tried their Hemel branch (they another branch in Watford). I have to be honest, usually grilled meat, shish and kebabs is my drunk food of choice. It harks back to the days of my youth getting the night bus home from Clapham with a kebab on my lap and mascara clumping in the corners of my eyes (RIP youth). But as I've aged, meat, carbs and some salad and dips is actually a pretty good go-to meal. Especially if it's done right.
Anyone can grill meat. The minute the temperature is over 15°C in the UK every guy whips off his top and decides he is a barbecuing God. Very few are. Grilling meat well is an art; and it's one that Opuz seems to excel at!
The "Just the two of us" sharing platter comes with spicy lamb skewer, chicken & lamb shish, chicken wings, chicken fillet, lamb ribs and chops, salad, rice, bread, spiced bulgar wheat, sour cream dip and a spicy red pepper dip. We also ordered some hummus too because you can tell a lot about somewhere by it's hummus, says I.
The food arrived piping hot only 25 minutes after we ordered. First impressions were how good value it seemed in terms of the quantity. There was so much meat! If the a la carte menu is slightly pricey, the platter is great value - it had enough food to comfortably feed both of us and leave enough for leftovers the next day.
I'm always a bit wary of Turkish meat - The British have given kebabs a bad name, slamming cheap meat on a grill and sticking a metal rod through it makes it a shish apparently. You need not worry. The meat was exceptional. It was marinated and cooked to perfection. The critical thing when you grill meat is not drying it out - it's very easy to do, but this was absolutely not the case here. All the meat was succulent, with a nice char and flavour from the coals. It's all about the flavour - the meat is marinated so well, that each bite feels like real love has gone into the prep. You can see where your money is going by the quality of the meat and the spices. This meat has been watched and taken off the grill at the perfect moment. These guys know their stuff!
The sides were good too - J was obsessed by a spicy red pepper sauce, which was too fiery for me to do much more than taste for review purposes! It was really flavoursome, robust and tangy with a wonderful mellow, sweet freshness. The bread was fluffy, light and tasty (perfect for dunking in aforementioned sauce) and the rice and bulgar wheat were fine, although the bulgar tasted a bit "stock cube + Uncle Ben's" if I'm being picky! The hummus was super fresh, creamy and mild with a lingering garlic and lemon note. But the real magic here is for the GENIUS who thought to themselves........."lets put a flatbread underneath the freshly grilled meats and veggies so that #1 it mops up all the juices so the grease and liquids aren't unattractively swimming at the bottom of the foil container, and #2 we trap all that juicy, tasty goodness". That, my friends, is a ruddy genius idea! That moist-maker was squabbled over between me and J like it was the last red wine gum in the packet!
So, yes, I can confidently say that Opuz Kitchen truly delivered above and beyond expectations. It was so simple but so perfectly executed. I can't wait until they are open for dine in; the menu boasts some exciting dishes which sadly aren't currently available such as Grilled Seabass, Iskendar and Mousakka. But for now, I will certainly order this again and would recommend you do the same.
Service:
Piping hot and speedy delivery. Sadly not all dishes available, but if that means they can focus and deliver perfection then I'm ok with that.
Quality:
Top flippin' notch. This is good meat and fresh sides prepared with great skill.
Value and Price:
The platter was great value at £30. The a la carte looks more pricey for individual dishes but again, I'd say it's worth it.
Overall:
EXCELLENT- Banging Turkish grill. The meat is exceptional, with some good sides as well... You're not going to be disappointed.
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