The stretch south of the Overground station feels a little bereft without much-loved Mora and temporarily-closed Singburi. But these two low-key openings are doing their best to deliver flavoursome food.
First thoughts are that new Indian restaurant Tazgi’s interior, pictured above, is not only deceptively spacious but thoughtfully furnished, its calming blues paired with pops of colour on the walls.
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The chicken or lamb biryani is currently half-price, as advertised in the window, takeaway only – so it seemed crazy not to try it. On a chilly grey lunchtime, I frogmarched my spoils back home and plated in haste, to eat it before the rice cooled.
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And compared to Saffron Spice, which I road-tested here at the same price, this is far superior: Tazgi makes a point of their tender chicken being boneless, and a generous cucumber, lettuce and red onion salad is included for the price, along with chilli sauce and raita sauce.
Thoughts? While not as fragrant or effortlessly flavourful as classic Leyton High Road joint Mobeen, this one was well worth four quid – and piqued my curiosity to explore more of its menu. A word for the BYOB brigade: this one isn’t licensed, and they don’t allow BYOB either. Another quirk: it’s advertised as £3.99, but they charge £4 when you pay. No biggie, but interesting nonetheless. Perhaps it’s the card minimum.
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Oven East closed amidst the chaos of Covid, but its affable owner, Jay, returned earlier this year to launch a new incarnation, Defne. Meaning ‘bay leaf’, he explains, the interior is similar – wooden furniture, tiling, framed images of Istanbul, mosaic lamps – but there are new grills now and fewer tables and chairs, the result a mix between takeaway and small dine-in area.
Jay invited me in to try a couple of dishes: as he pointed out, he hasn’t raised prices since Covid, meaning that a regular chicken shish is just £8.50, with wood-fired pizza a flat-rate £10. You could go and share a few meze, with the likes of sucuk, hummus, cacik and falafel all costing just £4-5.50 each. Or even gozleme, made fresh in-house daily.
I tried the lahmacun (£5) fresh out of the fiery wood-burning oven, singed and moreish, especially dunked in the homemade garlic and coriander aioli and chilli sauces. A red cabbage, tomato and herb salad proved the perfect foil, also alongside slithers of chicken doner in Hatay sauce – a tomato-y speciality of Turkey’s southernmost province: “There are regional variations on the theme,” he said, “ ours is not spicy but has notes cumin and thyme.”
The menu feels considered rather than unnecessarily comprehensive – but there’s plenty to return to try, including the delish-sounding desserts: baklava and rice pudding, both baked in the wood-fired oven (just £3-3.50). Follow @defnewoodfiredgoodness
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