After a day at the Spa, the last thing either myself or The Man wanted to do was cook! We scratched our heads as to whether to get food delivered, order pick-up takeaway or just bite the bullet and go out to eat; guess what? We went out.
It’s been ages since we visited Roka Turkish Kitchen restaurant in Ripley, and we were hoping to have a catch up with our friend (and owner of Roka) Metin, but he’s away on holiday – oh well, we’ll grab him next time. The restaurant was in good hands, though, and the team were working brilliantly together, whether out on the floor or in the kitchen. It was fantastic to see the place so busy as well; the success is well deserved. Since our last visit, Roka has gained its alcohol license, so I ordered a large glass of Turkish white wine, Cankaya, (£7.90) and His Nibs had a bottle of Efes Turkish Lager (£3.90). Setting the tone for a wonderful evening, one of the lovely young servers popped a pot of pickles on the table for us to graze at whilst we glanced at the menu.
Both the hot and cold starters are served with bread, and we opted for the Mixed Meze, our choice of four of the cold items, priced at £16. We went for Potato Salad, Humus, Cacik, and Acili Ezme, and the four dishes were accompanied by a large basket of warm flatbread that had been ready-cut for ease.
Whenever I make Potato Salad, it always goes down well with the fam, but Roka Turkish Kitchen’s interpretation is much lighter and tastier. Instead of Mayo, this minx has a drizzle of Olive Oil to provide the ‘slip’ and there was a super amount of finely chopped Parsley and Onion mixed with the cubed Potato to create a gorgeously flavoursome dish. His Nibs loves this (being a self-confessed spudaholic), so I let him have the lions’ share of this whilst I scoffed the majority of the creamy Cacik: Cucumber, Yoghurt and Garlic.
I was thrilled to discover that the Humus at Roka is still lovely and thick; no way this would be falling off any cutlery! The mild taste of smashed Chickpeas combined beautifully with the nutty hint of Tahini, and was brightened with a squeeze of Lemon for a citrus tang and some punchy Garlic. If you want a walk on the (Chilli) wild side, the Acili Ezme will tick all the boxes for you. Fresh Chillies, Tomatoes, Peppers and Parsley are all finely chopped and mixed with super-finely chopped Chillies to produce a moderately lip-tingling treat. Best of all, Roka Turkish Kitchen give you more than enough bread to scoop all the meze up with; nothing worse than being the greedy guts who has to ask for more, eh??!!!
We were pretty full already, and there were still our mains to come – best gird our loins then! Sometimes there is such a thing as too much choice; it had taken us both an absolute age to decide on what we wanted, thanks to lots of options on the specials, barbeque and combinations menu sections. In the end, I went for the Ali Nazik Lamb (£20.50) and The Man had the Chicken Beyti (£16), both from the special’s selection. All of the special’s dishes come with Salad, Rice and Bread, so no faffing about with extra sides.
The salad was served in a large, shallow bowl and looked exactly what it was: an edible rainbow. Crunchy Red Cabbage, spice-pimped shredded Carrot, and sliced Red Onion all mingled with Cucumber, Tomato, and White Cabbage to provide a veritable smorgasbord of deliciousness. Even His Nibs was impressed, and you all know what a salad dodging swine he can be! One thing that the Turkish folks do really well is rice: there are many regional interpretations of this simple dish, but they all have butter in, which elevates the fluffy grains into something rather moreish. At Roka, the rice is fashioned into perfect domes and garnished with fresh herbs and it tastes amazing.
His Nibs had chosen the Chicken Beyti as his main, and has had this before elsewhere so he knows that he likes it. Never before, though, has it been presented quite so fancily and, boy, did it look great. The minced Chicken is BBQ’d to give it an extra blast of taste and is then [at Roka] rolled into a tortilla, cut into sectional slices and arranged into a star-shape on top of creamy, Garlicky Yoghurt. The whole arrangement is then bathed in a rich, unctuous Tomato sauce and garnished with herbs. A whole symphony of flavour burst in The Mans’ mouth, exploding over the palate and making him grin in joy. It doesn’t look particularly challenging in terms of a dish that could be fully eaten, but it actually took some doing! Eventually, the whole lot did get demolished and a clean plate was the only evidence that the food had ever existed at our table.
I hadn’t really known what to expect with my dish, other than that I knew I liked all the component elements of it. For those that like their meat, you’ll be pleased to hear that you certainly get your moneys’ worth with the Lamb here: there must’ve easily been a good half-pound of cubed Lamb on my plate – I kid you not. Even better, the Lamb (still pink in the middle) was beautifully tender and chock-full of taste, with a gentle char at the periphery of its flavour profile. Soft, roasted Aubergine flesh was topped with a mountain of creamy, garlic-zhuzhed Yoghurt and carpeted with chopped fresh herbs. As tasty as this Lamb was (and trust me, it was magnificent), and with every intention of chowing every last piece of it, even my gluttony couldn’t rise to the challenge! I tapped out with about a third of the Lamb left, hanging my head in defeat; however, there was no way it was getting wasted, so I requested that it be wrapped up to bring home.
Our servers had been total superstars throughout our time in Roka Turkish Kitchen, making sure that we were enjoying our food and that we were never without a drink. Nothing had been too much trouble, and the atmosphere was excellent thanks to the bubble of chatter and laughter that rippled around the open-plan space. Hot Wings happily awarded again to this terrific Ripley eaterie.
Roka Turkish Kitchen is closed Monday, open Tues-Sat Noon-10.30pm, and Sunday Noon-10pm for eating in. The delivery times are just slightly different: closed Monday still, but Tues-Thurs Noon-10pm, Fri and Sat Noon-10.30pm, and Sunday Noon-10pm. To book a table or order takeout, ring 01773 475814; alternatively, visit www.rokaturkishkitchen.co.uk and hit the ‘order delivery’ or ‘order collection’ button as applicable.
