Sheesh

Over the weekend my family went back to Sheesh in Chigwell, Essex. Sheesh is a Turkish restaurant set in a grand Tudor building and is lavishly fitted with lots of black leather and gold modern furnishings. If you are local, it is well worth the visit. While the menu is tempting, take note of the gargantuan portions they serve.

Lots of lamb!

We had a variety of mezze to start which included a variety of pickles, several dips most notably the hummus, and the pinkest taramasalata that I've ever had! The dips were all beautifully seasoned and went really well with the accompanying freshly baked flatbread. In addition, we ordered Calamari, which was nice and crispy, and Sigara Boregi, which are crispy rolled pastries that were stuffed with cheese and spinach. I must say the Sigara Boregi were the stars of the starters. The contrast in texture between the soft cheese and spinach filling and the crispy flaky pastry was spot on and the flavours were delicious.

For my main course I had the Adana Kofte, one of the recommended dishes, which is a minced lamb kebab and it was served with a salad. The first thing that I noticed was the huge portion! It was actually rather overwhelming. The meat was nicely seasoned but there was just far too much to eat!

My sister had the Levrek, which was a grilled seasbass that was served whole. I had a taste and thought that the fish was fresh, flakey and well seasoned. Once again, whilst she enjoyed the dish, the portion was far to big for one to finish.

Hannah had the Tavuk Beyti, which was a minced chicken lamb kebab. I tried it and although it was very similar to my dish, I thought that mine was better seasoned as I felt that the chicken was a little too salty.

All of the mains we ordered were served with a large salad, with a variety of well seasoned components. These salads were a welcomed addition, as they helped break up the large portions of meat and helped reduce the heaviness of the meal.

Tavuk Beyti

By the time we were ready for desserts we were all very full, so we opted to share two. One of which was the Tatli, a selection of Turkish pastries served with vanilla ice cream. The pastries were warm and included baklava. I love Turkish pastries, but find them incredibly sweet, so I was happy to have shared the pudding and to have the ice cream to offset the sweetness.

Tatli

We also had some mini-doughnuts that were served with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream. The doughnuts were light, freshly baked with a crisp exterior, whilst the maple syrup was not sickly sweet. Pistachio added texture and the cinnamon added warmth to the dish. Overall this was a greatly enjoyable dessert and my favourite of the two.

Donoughts

We all rolled out of the restaurant, stuffed after a scrumptious meal. There is so much meat on offer, but there are also some really lovely vegetarian dishes that I have tried on previous visits. I will definitely return taking care to order with the portion sizes in mind.

Sheesh - 020 8559 1155 - www.sheeshrestaurant.co.uk
Ye Olde Kings Head, High Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6QA