Mangal Ocakbasi

10 Arcola Street

London

E8 2DJ

Mangal Ocakbasi is located across the street from the Arcola Theatre, where A and I had tickets to see The Line, so it made sense to have dinner there beforehand. When you walk in you're greeted by the sight of a huge charcoal grill, manned by a couple of guys who are moving spits of different kinds of meat to make sure they are all cooked perfectly. Fresh bread was brought to the table immediately and we tore into warm, doughy slices. We ordered lahmacun to start, which is described as Turkish pizza. This came out quickly - four slices of incredibly thin, crispy dough topped with a savory mix of minced lamb, onions and peppers. There was a nice bit of spicy kick to this as well and it was really delicious. I'm declaring it the best 2 quid starter I've ever had. Next up was one mixed kebab to share - there were grilled pieces of lamb, lamb chops, some kind of rolled up lamb thing, minced lamb with spices, and chicken wing. This was all accompanied by an incredibly fresh salad with rocket, carrots, red cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions and some vegetable that might have been jicama? Pity that A and I both hate raw onion, maybe next time we can ask them to leave it out. We were absolutely stuffed after finishing this and it was only made better by the shockingly low bill of 14 quid and the friendly, quick service. They allow you to BYOB with no corkage fee. We will definitely be back!