Grilled Onion Grilled Onion
Dem Turkish Mezze Grill

Dem Turkish Mezze Grill

11 Central Hill, London I-SE19 1BG, United Kingdom

Turkish • Barbecue • Vegetarian • Mediterranean


"Situated in a almost passable street in Crystal Palace, fronted by a humble restaurant sign, is this little Turkish restaurant. At least, it looks little from the outside. Walk in, and you 're presented with a rather large venue, with seating for many patrons. There is no maître d ' or equivalent to check our booking or offer us seating. It took a few minutes of trying get someone 's attention to even get noticed, another five minutes or so for a table to be setup, and once seated and given menus, it took over 15 minutes to order some drinks. I believe this service issue is an exception as it was Father 's day, and the restaurant was exceptionally busy, therefore the serving staff were stretched. I suspect a normal day would be better. I didn 't expect much at this stage, however, this venue turned out to be a hidden gem! Forget location, ambience or service. If your goal is to try some incredible Turkish food, this is the place to go! My mum and dad love Turkish food, and we 're no strangers to it. Although all Turkish restaurants tend to have a very similar menu, each has it 's own variation on their standard recipes. This is where Dem stands out from the crowd, the bread was seasoned with a unique blend of spices (I suspect paprika and celery salt?? , and similarly, the meats were seasoned and flavoursome. There won 't be enough bread served for the meze, so you will need to order more. Also, the salad and bread that gets delivered to the table when you sit down is all you 'll be given with your entire mains (which are served simply as meat and rice . So don 't over do it and finish these off before your mains arrive! I do recommend this restaurant for the food look forward to going there on a non-special occasion so that I may experience it in a fairer setting for the service staff."

A La Turka

A La Turka

15 St Dunstans St, CT2 8AF, Canterbury, United Kingdom

Kebab • Pizza • Cafés • Mexican


"I 've been going to A La Turk Westgate for a few years now and have always loved it there, but I was incredibly disappointed today with the service. The waitress, Tara, spoke to me and my friends in the foulest manner. She was so horrible to us. I 've never been spoken to like that in my life. My friend wanted to order the lamb shank, to which Tara basically shouted, IF YOU CANT FIND IT, THEN ITS NOT ON THE MENU, IS IT?? I was genuinely shocked that she spoke to my friend like this. Normally, if customers are trying to find an item on the menu but don’t remember the exact name of the dish, one would assume the waitress would help and guide the customer. But no – instead, Tara was getting frustrated that we were taking our time to order. In the end, we realised the lamb shank is called Kleftico on the menu, which honestly I think the average person would call a lamb shank. (I’ll post a photo and you be the judge). Like sorry we didn’t know the exact terminology English isn’t our first language, but we shouldn’t be spoken to like that regardless. On numerous occasions, Tara spoke to us like we were a burden. We felt like we were a bother and became scared to even ask for anything because of how aggressively she spoke to us. Maybe she was having a bad day, but at your job you have a duty to be professional with your customers. I actually lost my appetite entirely because of how we were spoken to. It ruined my evening completely. I didn’t end up eating my meal, that’s how much her behaviour impacted all of our night. It was so painful to watch the waitress Tara speak to my friend like this – there was absolutely no reason to belittle someone like this. I’m not even exaggerating at all. I asked Tara if we had offended her or done something wrong, as I was trying to understand why she was treating us so badly. She responded, No, you didn’t offend me, I’m just very hot, it’s been a hot day. Tara didn’t apologise at all. Tara then came back, and we thought maybe she would come to apologise. But no – she just explained that her role is essentially to ask if we want anything extra, food or drink, and that is the process, and whatever is on the menu is on the menu. I saw her treating the new waitress so badly, it’s only an observation but I’m genuinely concerned she may be bullying her. The new waitress was so sweet to us and was the only reason we didn’t walk out. The new waitress was kind, smiley, and professional she has fabulous customer service. It was honestly the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant. I have to be honest, though, the food is still amazing; the quality of the food is great. The kitchen is definitely doing something right, but I’ll have to boycott this place as they clearly do not value customer service as highly as their food."