The Mantl, a refined Turkish restaurant, has launches in the heart of London's Knightsbridge.
Founded by Serdar Demir, who has a string of successful restaurants under his bow including Skewd in North London, The Mantl aims to introduce a wealth of culinary experience through traditional cooking over hot coals to create modern Turkish dishes to share with family and friends.
The 74-cover restaurant is located on Brompton Road and the menu focuses on the fireplace, with many of the dishes being cooked over an open coal pit. The sleek and modern interior design highlights its Turkish heritage with gypsum carvings on the walls and leather booths and wooden tables perfect for larger groups.
The menu has been carefully curated by Demir to showcase some of the lesser known Turkish dishes. All to be enjoyed as sharing dishes, cold starters include Smoked Sheep’s Yoghurt with Glazed figs, dried oak cured beef, grape molasses and pistachios and Smoked Eggplant with Kapia peppers, walnuts, garlic, honey and tarhana crisps.
Hot starters include the traditional dish for Feraye, crispy lamb beef manti served with tomato sauce, smoked yoghurt and mint butter and Chargrilled Octopus with mung beans, kapia peppers, dill and golden apple.
Dishes cooked over charcoal fire feature the house specialty of Lamb Shish which is rested on the bone for two days and then marinated for another two days creating some of the most tender and delicious meat guests will taste. Along with the Chicken Shish, they are finished on the fire. A stand out dish on the menu is Pistachio Lamb Chops served with shallot pomme puree, asparagus and pomegranate molasses.
Vegetarians can also enjoy the Vegetable Skewers with pomegranate molasses, turnip juice, olive oil, sumac and pomegranate seeds. Side dishes include Mantl Salad, a fragrant dish of mixed leaves, barberry, cranberry, crushed walnuts, Erzincan Tulum, pomegranate molasses and caramelized plum and Pilav with Baldo noodle rice.
Not to be outdone, the dessert menu at The Mantl is a tour de force of classic Turkish sweet treats but they have created interested rifts and twists too. These include the traditional Kadayif, milk based sweet noodle pudding, Mantl’s take on Baklava consisting of delicate layers of filo pastry with a pistachio ganache filling and Chocolate Delights the restaurants take on Turkish Delight, delicate square of chocolate flavoured with rose water and with nuts and sweet fruits inside.
The drinks list has been created by a team of dedicated mixologists and cocktails includes the Bosphorus Breeze, with rum, Mastika Liqueur and bitters and the Anatolian Queen with gin, pear liqueur, almond syrup, lime juice and bitters. They also serve the traditional Dibek coffee served with Turkish delight.
