Restaurant Turcesc Leeds

I've been here twice and had two very different experiences, so here's a balanced review. Pictured is the first visit. We came about half an hour before closing, and half of the menu items were unavailable. We had the lamb ribs and aubergine kebab, which were not our first choices but we were happy with them. The ribs could be a bit tough for some people's taste, and the köfte meat a bit gristly for some, but for the price and portion size we were satisfied. The chips are nice and fresh and the free bread is a nice touch. The second time, we came much earlier hoping there would be more available, which there was, but there was no rice, so rice dishes were substituted with extra chips, which is not great. No complaints about the chicken shish, and it's a huge portion. However, the iskender kebab was a disgrace. Firstly, iskender is a very specific dish, sometimes considered the most popular dish in Türkiye, which consists of a base of pita bread cut into squares or strips, covered with lamb döner, tomato sauce and finished with melted butter, which is normally poured onto the dish at the table as it is served. There are entire restaurants dedicated to this dish in Türkiye. Well here there is no bread base (the point of it being the base is that it absorbs the meat juice, sauce and butter), and also no butter. So it's not an iskender at all, just a lamb döner with sauce. Now about the döner meat. It is a huge portion BUT the quality is very poor. Full of gristle, I literally had to spit half of it out as it was inedible. Even the cheapest street kebab in Türkiye is 100 times better.

The food was served cold and the meat was totally raw, I told them to do it more well and they did not want, the chef was rude and he told me to leave if I don’t want it, the food was very bad. It was completely inedible, and my family didn’t even eat their meals. For the price we paid, this was a very poor experience and we left disappointed.

I have traveled to enjoy some good Turkish delights for my birthday and I have been disappointed. The lamb was very burned on the outside and uncooked inside. Not to mention the chicken wings were uncooked and in blood . I have asked to cook them a bit more and come back burned and uncooked. On the side I had a mixed kafta which was uncooked as well. I wouldn’t recommend it, a totally waste of money .

Great lamb dish

Honestly one of the best kebabs I've ever had