Limon Restaurant: Value Turkish Cuisine

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A taste of Turkey on Wimbledon Hill

The Limon Shish and Mezze restaurant on Wimbledon Hill Road promotes some great offers on its window which you almost can't fail to miss, but are they worth trying? We went to test it out.

The offers at this modern Turkish restaurant (below) include a Sunday-Wednesday evening special of £12.90 for a starter, main course and wine or beer. There are also lunchtime deals.

But my dining partner opted for their "Your Menu 2" bundle, which came with any three of their 14 mezze starter dishes and a main course choice of either lamb kofte, chicken kofte, vegi mix, sardine or falafal wrap. All this cost £13.40.

Mezze are explained on the menu as: "Little starters, served hot or cold, designed to complement a beverage, tease the tastebuds and encourage diners to linger around a table for good conversation".

My companion selected two cold and one hot mezze: the humus, which he said was delicious and fresh, much better than a tub you'd buy in a supermarket; the bayildi he said was also very tasty, comprising aubergine, tomato and chickpeas; and the borek - fried filopastry filled with cheese and parsley, which was said to be nice and crumbly, with some zing from the cheese.

I went for the a la carte option for my meal and had two mezze to start: biber (£4), which consisted of delicious smoked sweet red peppers, with yoghurt and olive oil; and patlican (£4.75), a puree of smoked aubergines, with tahini, olive oil and lemon juice. Both were tasty combinations and unlike anything I'd really tried elsewhere.

For the main course, my friend had the chicken kofte, marinated grilled chicken with rice and salad. He said the chicken was moist and tasty - and went down very well, along with the Turkish white wine we both decided we had to try (£16.25 for the bottle of Villa Duloco).

Although it was summer, I liked the sound of the veggi casserole (£7.50) for my main course. This came with rice and consisted of mushrooms, potatoes, chickpeas, cooked with tomato sauce and herbs. It was a generous portion which I couldn't quite finish (I should only have had one mezze!) and it definitely had a lovely, aromatic, flavour.

We couldn't manage a dessert, but the menu included traditional baklava, as well kayisi - boiled apricot stuffed with almond, pistachio and cream. However, we did round off our meal with an authentic Turkish coffee.

The setting and the ambience helped make it a perfect lunchtime dining spot, along with its relaxed and friendly service. The lone diner on the next-door table had a quick chat when he noticed we were appreciating the Turkish wine. He hailed from Turkey and said the country produces lots of good wines.

For evening meals, it may not seem quite as upmarket as some of its dining rivals up the hill. But the value and the authenticity cannot be knocked and I will be back for a return visit. Our final bill, including service and two soft drinks, came to £60.17.

Sue Choularton

November 4, 2010