Restaurant review: HISAR MEZE BAR (Orpington)

I took my friend Joy here last month for her 26th as a birthday present, before we watched La La Land together. I'm glad to say the restaurant was significantly better than the movie, which epitomises the song, 'Is that all there is?'

The waiter kindly let us partake in a (technically lapsed) deal where we could have 'tasting portions' of two starters each, as well as a regular portion of a selection of main meals. As is the way with these kind of deals, there were some foods (e.g. the seafood and steak dishes) that you had to pay a few quid more for, but I expect that, and have no beef with such a policy. We also had a glass of fizzy Prosecco with our dinner, and I'm happy to report it was actually Prosecco, as opposed to that piss-coloured rubbish they served in The Wine Stores.

There were five starters that you could choose from, and as there were two of us, we thought it made sense to have two 'starter portions' each and then try a bit of each others'. All four things are pictured above; as you can see, they weren't joking when they alluded to the portion sizes being small, but they did taste very good, and we enjoyed the variety, whilst having our appetite whetted for the main meal.

Being an avid carnivore, I didn't hesitate in choosing the mixed grill for my main. It was completely delicious and I gobbled it all up. I realise, in the stark lighting of my Samsung camera, the individual meat pieces don't look like much but they went down a treat and rice was just the right level of spicy. I even had the majority of my salad, as it looked and tasted fresh.

Also pictured in the photo above is a small pot of one of the house sauces, a home-made tangy sauce, and if you visit Hisar Meze Bar, I strongly recommend you order it. It tasted amazing, giving some extra flavour to the sauce and salad as well as complementing the meat, and furthermore, was completely free!

To drink, Joy and I shared a lovely pitcher of Sex on the Beach. Despite the unusual colour which took us by surprise (I'm used to seeing it a little more crimson in colour), it tasted absolutely fabulous and we were completely sloshed by the end of our meal. As I was getting the bill, the waiter gave us a shot each of limoncello on the house, which further fuelled our good spirits! 

I can see why the restaurant goes by the name of 'Hisar Meze Bar', as the cocktail served here was genuinely bar-quality, as opposed to in most restaurants, where the home-made beverages are disappointingly somewhat of an afterthought to the food. The pitcher we had was both high in alcohol content and was enjoyable to devour, win-win.

Orpington is generally regarded as the less illustrious younger brother of Bromley, but slowly, the town is trying to change that perception, such as by installing a fancy new Odeon cinema, one of the few in the UK that has ISENSE. This low-key but innately well-run and fairly priced Turkish restaurant also goes some way to putting us on the map, for the right reasons. I will definitely be visiting again!

Grade: A

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I absolutely adore food, and enjoy reporting back on various restaurants I've been to. The compendium of my reviews can be found here. If you wish for me to review your restaurant, drop me a line at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com