19 Numara Bos Cirrik III in Hackney

five of us went here for a pre-concert meal. As regular visitors to Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants in London and in their countries of origin, we are very familiar with the range of dishes and qualities. Yesterday's experience was marred on the qualitative front - our mains of chicken and lamb a bit dry and our baklava dessert a real disappointment. On the plus side, our starters were very tasty. So, overall, an OK meal. Nothing more, nothing less.

I'm not a huge fan of Turkish food but I think if you go for the right things (BBQ Meat) then you'll be pleasantly surprised. The meat dishes were really, really tasty here and I would very much recommend it for that. We also had the hot meze starters and were a bit disappointed with those - everything, including the haloumi, was deep fried and dripping in grease... not nice. Go for the meat though and you're really onto a winner! Service was a bit crap - not enough staff for how busy it was and we were a bit ignored by the waitress. Dont let that put you off too much it was more a minor gripe.

Appearances are deceptive and this USED to be a great place with great staff but now it's terrible. Our falafel had the consistency of barely warm baby food as did our courgette fritters. The 'carrot salad' was indescribably terrible and the service was awful. We sent back the falafel, a new order never reappeared and neither did our waitress. Grumpy, reluctant and unfriendly. Wow. There are no redeeming features about the Cirrik in Hackney other than the once grand building it occupies. Don't go. Bad.

Per mangiare i piatti della cucina turca se vi trovate davanti ad un Cirrik entrate senza esitazione, la tradizione di gusto e genuinità viene sempre rispettata. Questo ristorante si trova propria attaccato ad Hackney Central Station e davanti la fermata dell'autobus. Facilmente raggiungibile da mezza Londra. Buona la moussaka e buono l'Imam Bayildi anche se annegato in troppa salsa di pomodoro mentre le kofte di agnello era meno saporite di quanto sperassi. Molto buono l'ayran fresco servito dalla brocca. Un buon posto dove eventualmente tornare.

This is the second time I've been to this restaurant and the quality is consistant and good. Even though it was a busy Friday evening, and we arrived without a booking at 8pm, we were found a table and enjoyed excellent service. Our fear was that typically Turkish restaurants don't have much 'veggie' options (one of our party is veggie) but we were very pleased to find a good range of vegitarian options. A feast of food that would not fit on the table for £69.14 and that included a fair 10% service charge. I think that's good value. (Try the Falafel.....mmmmh).

We had the set lunch menu, which was great value at £6.95 including a drink and bread made on the premises. The restaurant was full. Not the best Turkish food I ever ate, but very acceptable at the price.

My first visit to a Turkish restaurant. Cirrik was busy, warm and the atmosphere was nice. Some of the food was a bit cold though and my sea bass came with head and tail intact, which was a bit tricky! Still, it's good to try somewhere new... =D