Review: Babaji, Shaftesbury Avenue

Style Points: 3/5
Price: £££
Overall: 2/5

‘Istanbul Pide Salanu’ is etched in inviting gold lettering across the front of Babaji, and being a fan of Turkish food and especially the city of Istanbul itself I had to give it a try.

This addition to Alan Yau’s food empire is low-key and modest in it's décor, unlike his other ventures such as Hakkasan and Yauatcha. The entrance has a huge pizza oven which spreads across the ground floor with a few tables dotted around it offering a perfect view of the furnace. There is also seating a larger seating space on the first floor, however be warned, the windows don’t open here and as heat rises it can get very warm!

Would I Want Seconds?

Babaji offers many signature Turkish dishes and harks back well to its roots in Istanbul. Out of a good selection on the menu for our starters we ordered from the meze section tried the roasted eggplant with red peppers and yoghurt and saksuka made with aubergines and tomato.

Pide is a must-try at Babaji and we ordered the Birsen Alceler with chargrilled courgette, tomatoes, walnut and goats cheese. This was a heavy and dry dish due to the thickness of the pide, but the toppings were fresh and and complimented each other.

For dessert we tried Kunefe, an interesting dish that borders sweet and savoury. The sweet shredded pastry tops warm cheese, then is baked until and a sprinkling of pistachio is added to the top. By this point we were quite full but couldn’t help but finish with some Turkish tea served in authentic glasses. Babaji also serves wine from an extensive wine list as well as Raki which works well as an accompaniment to a meze meal.

Could I Afford Seconds?

Babaji is a fairly priced restaurant especially compared to some of Alan Yau’s other openings. The meze here  are priced between £5- £7 and the pides are about £8 each.

This is the kind of restaurant where it is best to order many small dishes from different parts of the menu in order to get a feel for the Turkish cuisines offered here, and this can be down without blowing the budget.

Overall:

There is one reason I wouldn't return to Babaji and that was the service from the all Turkish staff. Although it started well, as the restaurant got busier the standards fell as did the speed at which we were served.

Although the food is great, and there is a gap in the market for a top-notch Turkish restaurants in central London, unfortunately Babaji is let down dismally by its service.

Website: www.babaji.com
Address: 53 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6LB
Closest Tube Station: Piccadilly Circus