Babaji

Amazing food, good interior design and good/​quick service. I enjoyed it very much and the food is fresh and is great for sharing.

I absolutely adore this restaurant. I went there for Valentine’s with my partner. We both loved the food. The prices were good, the service was brilliant, the décor was exquisite and the food was divine. I highly recommend the bread that comes to you steaming from being just out of the oven and the whitebait which are fried in fans.
If I could I would go here pretty much all the time!

I think the food there is good! but as a newbie to turkish food, it would be nice to have pics along with the menu. I looked at other tables’ food and they look more interesting than what me and my mates ordered! DAmMIT! Anyways, food is average.

This place did just fine. Some might have their knickers in a twist that the great Alan Yau has let them down with his latest venture, but come on, this place is slap-​bang in the middle of theatre town tourist central — you were never going to feel like you were actually in Istanbul.
Having said that the restaurant interior is just gorgeous where we were sat on the upper level. I loved all the vibrant blue and gold tiling that gave it quite a rich and contemporary look (and gave me some new bathroom décor ideas!), whilst the crockery and glassware all fitted the ottoman theme nicely.
The food is largely unpronounceable for foreign tongues but tastes nice enough, and I love a good sharing session to try a variety of things. That’s exactly what we did, mixing starters, mains and sides, and pausing between pieces of bread just long enough to keep our girly natterings flowing. The hits for me included the chicken ‘beyti’ which were basically very nicely spiced chicken koftas, as well as the minced lamb pide (I learned it’s pee-​deh by the way). The rest, including the humus, was quite average.
The let-​down for me though was the service. It all started encouragingly enough with the waitress apologising for being out of breath as she gave us menus having ‘been running up and down the stairs all day’. It soon became clear though that they do have some kind of service bottleneck, as everything was slow to arrive and the staff were either breathless from the stairs or seemed exasperated at being asked to bring something over. The ‘accompanying’ bread didn’t come until 15 mins after the rest, and humus isn’t very fun to eat with a fork. I think they perhaps don’t have big/​speedy enough food lifts to bring stuff up from the ground floor kitchen which then causes the staff to run up and down trying to keep the dishes flowing. Whatever the issue is they need to get it sorted.
I don’t think I’ll be rushing back given how much choice there is at this price point. I did expect the portions to be a bit bigger for those prices, especially on the drinks front too, but then I guess that’s how they afford the super-​prime rent!

The atmosphere was great, the tables are set in a very narrow place, so whoever is sitting next to the passing isle will have a difficulty being comfortable.
But the food was good, service was nice. Would go again for the Topkapi Chicken.

When I heard Alan Yau opened up a new restaurant, I was very excited! We came here on a Monday night for an early dinner, and it was surprisingly crowded for the day/​hour but we didn’t have to wait long.
The ambiance is fantastic. The upstairs has large windows which overlook Shaftesbury Ave. The service was pretty good as well.
We ordered the minced lamb pide. This was pretty much the only dish worth writing home about. It was crispy, hot, savory, and perfectly seasoned. If I return, this may be the only thing I order! We ordered the Coban salad which was just a bowl of onion, tomato, and cucumber chunks and the filo pastry filled with spinach and cheese which was cold when it came out unfortunately.
Babaji is good, but there is probably better Turkish food in London.

Istanbul is hot. Not sunny hot. Well yes, sunny hot, but that’s not the hot I mean. Hot as in everybody’s talking about it hot and Madonna goes there for her weekend breaks hot. I’ve been lucky enough to go a few times recently for work and it is all it’s cracked up to be. A mental mix of three thousand year history and the coolest club/​bar culture going. East meets west and all that and, provided you survive the taxi drive from the airport you’re in for a treat. As for the food, you can’t move for expertly seasoned and grilled meats, delicious fresh salads and zingy hummous-​like pulses with warm, fresh flatbreads.
If you can’t get over there then Babaji represents a decent taste of what you’re missing. A proper warm welcome and small, simply tasty dishes served quickly and cheaply in smart surroundings.
We sat on the ground floor. The room is a little narrow but it’s nice to have the chefs cooking in the island that dominates the middle.
The menu has lots of small starters at reasonable prices. Our fava bean purée was a real winner. Great texture, great flavour and dressed with a tasty olive oil and pomegranate. Mopped up with fresh baked 70p flatbread. 70p. Gotta love that. The shrimp dish was also a tasty nibble, the tomatoes giving it a fresh, zingy feel.
They obviously take pride in their pide because you can read a load of bumpf on it in the menu, so we ordered one of those and it didn’t disappoint. Minced beef and lamb on a chewy (in a good way) base. Good size. Not too big but you certainly don’t feel cheated. And the Topkapi chicked was delightful. A chicken breast bashed out then stuffed with rice and sultanas, rolled and baked. A real taste of Turkey. Again, a nice portion.
We were in and out in an hour and the bill was not much more than £30. We left full of energy rather than needing a good lie down. The whole thing was really refreshing. Quick, cheap, simply, tasty, friendly. Can’t say fairer than that. Alan Yau does it again. Not as smart as Hakasaan or Yauatcha but nowhere near as pricey either and a similar friendly, buzzy vibe and sharesies food.