The Restaurant · Waltham Abbey
A Turkish kitchen on
Market Square
Charcoal-grilled shish and hand-rolled meze, southeastern Turkish specialities and a proper rakı list — served in an 18th-century listed building in the heart of Waltham Abbey.
Charcoal grill
Meze & yoghurt dishes
Rakı, Efes & Anatolian wine
Heated terrace, open year-round
The Kitchen
The charcoal grill is the heart of it
Every cut is marinated in house and grilled over charcoal — chicken shish, köfte, adana, lamb ribs, pirzola, lamb chops — and served with bulgur, the way it is done in Turkey.
Around the grill sits a meze table built the same way. Cacık, ezme, tarama, babaganoush and beetroot tarator, made fresh; sucuk, filo parcels and halloumi with fig jam off the hot side.
Charcoal grill
Meze, made fresh
Served with bulgur
Specialities
Dishes with a hometown
Several of our plates carry the name of the Turkish city or cook they come from. These are the ones to order first.
Adana
Adana, southern Turkey
Seasoned minced lamb pressed onto a flat skewer and grilled over charcoal. Named after the city that made it.
Ali Nazik
Gaziantep
Lamb shish, chicken shish or adana laid over smoked aubergine beaten through yoghurt. A Gaziantep speciality.
Beyti
Istanbul
Chicken or lamb rolled in lavash, sliced, and finished with yoghurt, cheese and tomato butter sauce.
The Maze Ottoman
Çılbır, at breakfast
Poached eggs on sourdough over garlic yoghurt and spinach, drizzled with chilli butter. Turkish breakfast, properly done.
Wine & Cocktails
Something to drink, chosen well
A long table of meze and grills deserves a glass that keeps pace with it. The list is built to be drunk slowly across a meal — wine by the glass and the bottle, cocktails made properly, and nothing rushed.
Selected Wines
Reds, whites and rosés from Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Chile, Argentina and Australia, by the 175ml, the 250ml and the bottle — including a Kalecik Karası red and a Narince white from Sevilen, made with indigenous Turkish grapes.
Signature Cocktails
The Molotov Cocktail — gin, St-Germain, elderflower, lime and cinnamon — and the Rosé Blis, alongside the classics and a full mocktail list.
Prefer something traditional? Rakı is poured by the glass and the bottle, Efes is on draught, and the full list is on the drinks menu.
At the Bar
Everything else, poured well
Cocktails
Two signatures of our own — the Molotov Cocktail, with gin, St-Germain, elderflower, lime and cinnamon, and the Rosé Blis — alongside the classics and a full mocktail list.
Wine
Reds, whites and rosés from Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Chile, Argentina and Australia, by the 175ml, the 250ml and the bottle. Champagne and prosecco throughout.
Spirits & beer
Whiskies from Jack Daniel’s through to Macallan 12 and Yamazaki, a deep gin shelf, and Efes, Madrí, Cobra and Peroni on draught or by the bottle.
The Venue
Inside and out
The Dining Room
Period features and high ceilings, low lighting and tables set far enough apart to talk. The windows look straight out onto Market Square.
The Garden Terrace
Heated and covered, open in every season, and dog-friendly throughout. The full à la carte is served outside.
More about the terrace Reservations
Come and eat with us
Book online for tables of up to nine guests, or call us for larger groups and private events.
or call 01992 941874