Sini

I picked up a Groupon for Sini as I thought it would be a great way to try out this relatively new Turkish restaurant in Hove. Tucked away on Hove Street, Just up from the Ginger Pig, it’s not the kind of place that is going to attract a lot of walk-​by trade, it’s going to have to survive on reputation and word of mouth alone.
The restaurant itself looks a little tacky from the outside, but the inside is like Aladdin’s cave — heavy wooden beams, lanterns lighting the restaurant and exotic eastern music all make for gorgeous surroundings.
The wait staff are all really friendly and helpful. I was especially pleased to be sat next to the radiator on a cold Friday evening. The place was pretty busy which is a good sign, I hope they can keep it up.
The Groupon deal was a selection of meze — six hot and six cold. Some of my favourite dishes included the lamb cop, borek, saksuka and humus. The cold meze were served in little pastry dishes — you can’t beat edible tableware. There was plenty of food for the two of us and we were completely stuffed by the end.
Bread was served as an accompaniment, however the initial portion was quite small. We requested extra and what arrived was a much superior portion, both in size and quality. I was convinced that they would add this to the bill and was very pleasantly surprised to find it had been emitted.
To finish we had a Turkish tea and coffee and a Turkish delight which were also included in the deal. The Turkish red wine we had to accompany the meal was interesting and very drinkable, and also reasonably priced.
This is a great little find and I really hope that they manage to survive in their out-​of-​the-​way location. I will definitely be back for more meze and also to try some main meals from the full menu. A great first impression.