A Turkish grill menu can run to thirty kebabs, and most of them look similar in one line of text. The difference is rarely the meat. It is the spice level, the cut, the fat content and what sits underneath the skewer when it reaches the table. Once you know the four or five families, ordering stops being guesswork.
Our Turkish menu is built around the charcoal grill, and it is worth walking through it properly.
Adana and Urfa: the same kebab, two temperaments
These two are the anchors of any Turkish grill, and they are the pair people most often confuse. Both are minced lamb, hand-pressed onto a wide flat skewer and cooked over charcoal. The difference is heat. Adana carries red pepper and arrives with a warm, lingering spice. Urfa is the mild one, seasoned without the chilli, so the lamb and the smoke do the talking.
If you are ordering for a table that cannot agree on spice, order one of each. That single decision solves most group dinners.
The skewers built on texture
Beyond the two classics, a Turkish menu separates itself through texture rather than heat:
- Pistachio and nut kebabs fold crushed nuts into the minced meat, which gives a sweeter finish and a coarser bite.
- Kibbeh skewers and grilled kibbeh bring bulgur into the mix, so the outside crisps while the inside stays soft.
- Kofta esgara is the flatter, wider style, grilled until the edges catch.
- Shish taouk is the chicken option, and the version served with yogurt turns it into a fuller plate rather than a skewer on its own.
- Lamb chops sit apart from the minced kebabs entirely, for anyone who wants the cut whole.
Ali Nazik, the dish to order once and remember
If you try one thing that is not a plain skewer, make it Ali Nazik. Smoked aubergine is blended with yogurt into a base, and the grilled meat goes on top. The smoke from the aubergine meets the smoke from the charcoal, and the yogurt cools everything down. It eats like a main course and a mezze at the same time.
Toshka works on a similar principle, with the filling pressed into bread and grilled until the outside is crisp. It is the dish most people reach for first when it lands in the middle of a shared table.
How to build a table for four
Turkish food is designed for sharing, so the mixed grill exists for a reason. A table of four orders well when it covers three bases:
- One spiced skewer and one mild one, so nobody is negotiating.
- One dish with a base under it, such as Ali Nazik, to break the run of plain grilled meat.
- One chicken option, because there is always somebody who prefers it.
Order the mixed grill only if the table genuinely wants variety over quantity of any single thing. It is a sampler, not a shortcut.
Where Japanese fits in
Adam runs a Japanese menu alongside the Turkish grill, which is unusual and occasionally useful. A table that cannot settle between charcoal and something lighter does not have to split up to eat. It is worth knowing before you book, particularly for a group where tastes pull in different directions.
Before you come
Turkish grills reward a slow evening more than a rushed one. Charcoal cooking runs at its own pace, and the food arrives as it is ready rather than all at once. Come hungry, order across the menu rather than down one section, and let the table fill up gradually.
You can reserve a table through the reservation page on this site, or over WhatsApp, and we will hold something for you.
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