Food: Kazan

I guess I was tempting fate by complaining about the flooding of Turkish food options on the London Muslim's menu during my last post - I suppose it's no coincidence that my second meeting with a Muslim crowd landed me in yet another Turkish place this week. But as Efes showed, one can still be surprised even in the middle of ubiquity, so I did manage to go in to Kazan with a relatively open mind.

I think the immediate impression given by Kazan was one of a more "posh" Turkish place. This was reflected in the decor and clientele; this is a place that would appear very out of sorts in the middle of Whitechapel, say. The menu was also pretty difference too; yes, the mezze's were pretty standard, but the mains consisted of various gourmet platters and even a naked burger. Interesting and somewhat refreshing stuff then.

I went for the naked burger (and will admit that I was both surprised and embarrassed when it arrived without any sign of a bun), and it was more than just pretty good. It was perfectly portioned, tasted great and went down well - and looking at the platters received by others at the table it seemed that this assessment was to be pretty common across the board.

Atmosphere was decent but not the best - it wasn't quite the place to go for a quiet and intimate meal, but it was perfect for the medium group catching up like we were. The bill came to just over 30 per person including drinks; not surprising but still a bit on the pricey side for what we actually got.

So Kazan ends up being an interesting proposition, perhaps for those already in the area, but falls short of a total recommendation - but only because there are already so many other options in London that just about pip it to the post.

EDIT: So it turns out that I had already been to Kazan, albeit a fer number of years ago. Review here.