Yemek

Four Eyes

Had a nosey in Yemek last night (ex Miso).

It looks like a brighter and even less intimate Miso with an elephant's leg kebab turning in the corner.

Menu very expensive for what it is. I for one wont' be going in and will stay loyal to Petek.

I'll give them 9 months max before they close. I'm saying 9 because I had to eat my had when I gave Dudley's 6 months and was proved wrong.

Anyone been?

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Arkady

Have you spent much time in gents' toilets?

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graeme

Haven't been past it but if it's a mediterranean restaurant kitted out like a gents toileg it must surely meet the same fate as Symposium. 1

poxy

Curiosity got the better of me today and I called in at Yemek for a take-away lunch: two chicken kebabs - one shish, one yogurtlu - and a side of chips.

I had high hopes - having seen the boxes - of huge portions. Opening the boxes was the first disappointment. Mostly empty. The food itself was dull and uninspiring. The chicken was dry and over-cooked, the salad a bit meh and the less said about the paltry portion of chips the better. £20 very ill-spent.

I'll play safe next time and head to Petek.

R&J

Went past it on Saturday night at about 9pm and it didn't have a single customer. Not a good start

As for Petek, I went there a few months ago and thought it was very ordinary

Kaz

Yemek looks so univiting with the sterile decor and the panes on the windows. If you just walked past, you wouldn't even know it was open! At least with Miso you could look inside. It also seems a bit lazy to me not to change the interior slightly and create more of an identity for the restaurant. Doubt I'll try it in a hurry.

Jenowl

Perhaps they don't have much money to do it up, and they're doing a 'soft launch' for the time being.

Sevlow

6 months tops

Kaz

Perhaps, but soft launches are generally about staff learning the ropes and checking everything is running well in terms of kitchen and service.

It doesn't make sense to do a refurb after opening, unless it's years down the line.

poxy

I doubt very much that it's a soft launch or indeed any lack of money. The owner of Yemek is the brother of the owner of the Miso chain. I chatted with him briefly while waiting for my food.

kreuzkav

This evening at about 7.30 on my way back from work there was someone handing out menu leaflets outside. I'm curious to know what their falafel is like as it's only £3 compared to £4 at greasy Kings. Everything else seems pricey for a place with such stark lighting and bad general ambience (judging from outside).

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therattle

Oh, has Dudley's closed? Took longer than expected.

Sevlow

What does a Turkish Mangal restaurant mean?

The girl giving out the flyers didn't have a clue

ADGS

Dudley's was being measured up when I went past just now, so I think we can expect a new tenant sooner rather than later.

Reg

Ate at Yemek last night. I have to say that we thought the food was really good, lots of it and not bad value at all (compared to Petek). However, it was dead and at one point we were the only ones in there. The fit-out is far from appropriate for this area. They have really mis-judged it. You might be able to get away with it in central London, or even in Zone 6 (where all the Greeks went after "Fishbury Pa-k"), but not here and against the competition they have. On the way there we passed Porchetta and PapaGs (both heaving) and all the pubs were busy (we went to 4 on the way - hic). It's just not exactly the comfortable environment that would get me off the sofa on a regular basis so I hope they get on to that. However, they are nice Turkish Cypriot guys and the food deserves to be tried out.

Mirandola

If you (dear Stroud green.org-er) were running Yemek, what would you do to save it? Paint the walls a warmer colour, put some pictures up, put some tchotchkes on the tables to make it look less clinical, and what else?

miss annie

Turn the lighting down. Have mismatched wooden tables and chairs and have loads of stuff hanging from the ceiling. Make it more like Mem and Laz. At the moment it looks completely characterless.

Sevlow

I'd cut my losses and turn it into a barbers

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miss annie

Oh, like Nambucca you mean?

Eliz

As Misscara said earlier the prospect of having to push past the smokers who seem to be permanently hanging around must be putting off a lot of potential customers.

theworkhouse

Ate at Zemek last week. Lovely food friendly service. Didn't smell or look like a toilet. Pertek is dark and found the service unfriendly, so give Yemek a chance I certainly will...yum yum. Its not pricey (£18 quid ahead for 4 mates, including starters, wine, 4 beers and 4 mains). What do people want, its meant to look unlike a traditional turkish resturant.

Ali

Obviously not what is on offer

Four Eyes

I don't like to see local businesses fail but really have no sympathy with the owners of Yemek who obviously don't have the slightest bit of business sense. Had they done the tiniest bit of research before opening they would have realised:

1) People do not want to eat in a restaurant with the ambiance of an operating theatre and with the same old fast-food/noodle bar furniture as Miso.

2) A couple of hundred yards down the road there is a wonderful established Turkish restaurant which is always packed out every night (Petek obviously)

3) A minute or so up the road there is another Turkish restaurant/Mezze bar (Sugar Lounge)

4) Between these 2 restaurants there are numerous cheap kebab shops with a similar offering to some of their menu

5) Most people are a bit strapped for cash at the moment and will probably only be prepared to shell out for something pretty unique or exceptional.

I get the feeling that the Mexican place that is about to open should do well, having researched what people would like/what is missing in the area. This will probably highlight even further the failure of Yemek.

I have to agree with Misscara when she says 'burn it down and claim on the insurance'...

sincers

There does appear to be an anticipatory buzz about the Mexican, thats assuming the interior doesn't resemble Yemek or, dare I say, Porchetta.

Papa

Yemek needs to lose the frosted bits on the glass - people like to be able to see into places.

Turn the lights down, stick some flowers on the tables and around the place, something to soften it up.

I think Porchetta's new interior is fine and it's grown into it, especially now they don't turn the tv on.

It might be a bit generic restaurant trying to look nice, but it's a vast improvement on the old bare breeze blocks and peeling walls.

Personally, I'd have gone old school Italian, check table clothes, red and green decor, wine bottles with candles, all that guff, that would have been more fun.

sincers

Yes to be fair I would have been refering to their old interior, but I can't say I've been tempted in with their refurb.

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