Dinner inspired by the streets of Istanbul at Yosma, London

Turkish Meyhane, Mangal and Raki Bar in Baker Street, London

Cuisine: Traditional Turkish with a modern twist
Style Points: 3/5
Price: ££
Overall: 4/5

London’s Baker Street isn’t traditionally known for its culinary heritage, however Turkish Meyhane, Mangal and Raki Bar Yosma aims to change this perception. 

Yosma is an enormous restaurant, artfully decorated in ceramic wall tiles and with an open kitchen towards the end of the restaurant. Once we were seated by the window with the view of Baker Street, we set about ordering a collection of dishes from the tempting menu.

What’s on the menu?

We started our meal with a few cocktails and ordered a Yosma Martini with Turkish Apple Tea Vodka and a Love Galata with burnt yogurt and coffee raki. Both cocktails were flavourful yet incredibly strong and not the sweet fruity type of cocktails we are used to!

For starters, we ordered a couple of dishes including babaganus and kopoglu, a dip made of aubergine, green pepper, tomato and yogurt. We ate these with moreish clay oven baked flat bread. 

Next we ordered manti, turkish dumplings stuffed with lamb neck and yogurt which were delicious and I could have easily had another helping of it!. We also ordered pan fried hellim (halloumi) with mushrooms and garlic, and as a fan of hallumni I loved this dish!

For our main course we tried kofte made of lamb shoulder and served with steam potatoes and pirzola and lamb chops with lemon and mint. Both lamb dishes were succulent and lush and we finished them very quickly!

To finish our meal we ordered pistachio and mastic ice cream from the dessert menu. We also had Turkish coffee and Turkish tea to end our meal in the traditional Turkish manner. 

Could I afford to dine here again? 

Yosma’s prices are reflective of standard central London prices, and not reminiscent to those in your local Turkish kebab house. 

Our starters were between £5 and £7 and our main course between £10 to £15. This is a good price for the quality and size of the dishes. 

Overall? 

I really enjoyed my meal at Yosma and each of the dishes we tried were well prepared and tasted delicious. Aside from our surprisingly super strong drinks, we had a great time dining at Yosma.
 

Visit Yosma’s website  
Address: 50 Baker St, Marylebone, London W1U 7BT
Tube Station: Baker Street