Kilikya’s (Turkish) – St Katherine Docks, London

Kilikya’s sits alongside a number of privileged shops, cafes and restaurants that proudly make up the iconic setting of St. Katherine Docks.

As London’s premier yachting destination, this elegant marina not only provides people the chance of watching the daily ‘locking in’ procedure from the tidal Thames, but also makes available a variety of cuisines, including this Turkish restaurant.

Opened in 2011, Kilikya’s is a cosy little eatery that can accommodate around 65-75 people. For those who enjoy both the hustle and bustle of the marina front, while marvelling over the many luxury vessels moored at the docks, outdoor seating is also available.

With gold being the colour of choice for its interior decor, the cream upholstered seating matches up well against a large, prominent golden pillar and the touches of gold across the ceiling.

While there is an alcohol bar immediately to the right upon entering, this may, given the limited space, loom larger for some if seated nearer the back of the restaurant.

Raspberry Dream, Cranberry Squeeze, Strawberry Delight – £4.99 each

Elegantly presented no doubt; but, despite the obvious freshness, these juices were all rather subtle in taste.

In spite of a good stir failing to awaken the Strawberry Delight, while the cranberry in the Cranberry Squeeze was barely discernible, the Raspberry Dream was, in comparison, the strongest of the trio.

Fried Courgette (V) – A courgette fritter made with herbs, spices, mixed with feta cheese and served with our yoghurt sauce, £7.95

These delicately spiced Fried Courgette fritters were light and fluffy on the inside, with the carrots providing a slight sweetness, and crispy on the out.

The accompanying yoghurt was deliciously creamy, and whose sour note was well tempered by the cucumber dominated side salad.

Hot Meze Platter – Mücver (Fried courgette-zucchini), garlic sausage, halloumi and falafel served with hummus in the middle, £16.95

Not a bad platter this in terms of variety. The fried courgettes are those had above; the falafel was fragrant with the herbs and ultra-crunchy on the outside; the lightly charred halloumi had that familiar springiness to it; the hummus topped with your standard olives was slightly on the grainy side, though decent enough re taste; and the sliced garlic sausage, despite being a touch rubbery, was well flavoured with a light, tangy edge to it.

But for what it was, it was a fairly pricey platter at £16.95.

Mixed Iskender Kebab – Marinated grilled chicken and lamb minced presented on a bed of thin bread and served with grilled tomato, peppers and herbs, £16.95

This Mixed Iskender Kebab was an unusual dish vis-à-vis its composition, but one which managed, consequently, to maintain our collective interest.

Comprising of three layers, the bottom was made up of a layer of bread seemingly soaked in tomato sauce, which itself was covered by a layer of tart yoghurt, and then topped by a gently spiced minced lamb patty, and a thinly pounded and lightly grilled fillet of chicken breast.

Although it took time for us to find our feet with this one, once we did, we appreciated the marriage between the sweet tomato-infused bread base, and the sour yoghurt with the lightly spiced meats.

Lamb Steak £16.95

These thin skewers of lamb steak were delicious and so full of that meaty cum ever-so-lightly marinated flavour.

Pink on the inside and as succulent as you’d like, we thoroughly enjoyed their soft, chewy texture with just the right level of give.

With the accompanying salad dressed in that familiar Turkish pomegranate sauce, we enjoyed the interplay between the natural sweetness of the meat and the sour tanginess of said sauce.

Stuffed Aubergine (V) – Smoked aubergine with seasonal vegetables and served with rice and mixed salad, £13.45

While the mushy texture of this stuffed aubergine was much to be desired, the soft onions, earthy red peppers, sweet chewy sultanas, slithers of carrots, and soft tomatoes, sitting in a light, orange coloured oily marination, all played their part in ensuring some decent flavours.

Although it went nicely with the well cooked rice, we couldn’t quite pick up on any of the alleged smokiness of the aubergine.

And for vegetarian dish, this, again, seemed quite dear to us at £13.45.

Harem’s Baklava – 3 pieces, 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream, £5.95

The restaurant swore by their in-house made Baklavas. And for good reason too as it transpired, for this dish turned out to be the best of the lot!

Just look at the number of layers lining that pastry! Nothing like the dense and stodgy premade, shop bought versions, saturated as they almost always are in that overly sweet and sickly sugar syrup. Instead, these were light, with a crispy and positively flaky pastry top, and a perfectly balanced, chewy baklava bottom.

The ice cream was an interesting touch, though didn’t quite work in our opinion, and the pistachio crumb garnish was more show than anything else.

Traditional Turkish Coffee with Turkish Delight (lokum), £2.75

This beautifully presented traditional Turkish coffee was frothy and, we were told, thrice baked. As such, it was fairly thick and creamy, and extremely strong, though not in an unpleasantly bitter sense. We appreciated, for instance, the way in which the soft, sweet cubes of Turkish Delight helped dissipate, to some extent, its intense richness.

In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to have this with the sweet, sticky baklavas.

We were also told a humorous anecdote which apparently has it that, according to Turkish tradition, a potential spouse is not considered worthy if s/he fails in making said coffee with a frothy foam top.