Efes is part of a chain of restaurants and there are few of them based in the city of London, this particular one is managed by Cemal Akku’s, son of legendary Chef Kazim Usta, whom was the first to establish Efes in 1974.
Efes is a Turkish restaurant situated in the heart of Dartford, in the north-west of the county of Kent, England., which is 18 miles (29 kilometers) south-east of Central London. Efes is located in the centre of town and just five minutes away from the town train station.
On an idyllic autumn’s evening and as the sun started to sink into the sky, I and a friend went to Dartford to get dinner travelling from London. It took less than an hour to get to Dartford by train. Although Efes is part of a chain of restaurants and there are few of them based in the city of London, this particular one is managed by Cemal Akku’s, son of legendary Chef Kazim Usta, whom was the first to establish Efes in 1974. He has brought Turkish cuisine flavours to England and made people love the taste of Turkish food ever since.
Efes is a pretty wonderful place to enjoy extraordinarily good food and an exemplary service. As you come in, the setting stands out. The mix of antique stones and the modern setting with green lights in a spacious dining room make it a cosy restaurant. There is a wonderful view from any table or from the kitchen bar, where you can see the chefs and barman preparing the food and drinks. For those who haven’t booked a table and are waiting, there is a cozy lounge area with amazing pictures of football players, artists, musicians and well-known political figures displayed on the walls.
The menu offers a wide variety of mouth-watering starters. I had the white asparagus accompanied by a sujuk, halloumi and tomatoes, while my friend tried the fish chips served with sundries tomatoes and a mozzarella strudel. They were exquisite. The main course consisted in a mix-kebab; lamb and chicken, shish kebab’ chicken shish’ lamb kofte and grilled tomatoes with green peppers which really thrilled us. We then had a delicious Sutlac served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.
All the products were fresh, and the dishes had the warmth of home-made food. The chefs at Efes take great care in selecting the best quality ingredients. The restaurant also caters for all tastes by providing a large selection of the best regional wines, which can be costly but worth sampling.
We noticed however that the service failed the restaurant’s dishes, it was hard to get a smile out of the waitresses. Thankfully the owner and hostess, a middle-aged charming man, is always around willing to exchange some kind words with all his customers.
Despite the price of the food and the not so attentive waiters´ service, we had a pleasant dining experience with delicious food. For this reason, I highly recommend going to Efes.
