Ottoman Kitchen Southampton has been named as the Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in the UK at the 2023 Asian Restaurant Awards in London.Beating off stiff competition from restaurants around the UK including Limon Restaurant, Sofra Mayfair, Tas Bloomsbury and The Palomar.
The trophy was Awarded in front of over 1000 restauranteurs, the London Mayor, MPs and celebrities at the ceremony on Sunday night.
The night began at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane with an introductory speech from guest of honour, The London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who also presented awards to the winners.
Opened in 2019, Ottoman Kitchen is a family-run restaurant, led by restaurateur Niyazi Kaya. Quickly establishing a reputation for traditional Turkish cooking, cocktails and music nights. Popular with groups and birthday celebrations at the weekend and those looking for a more intimate night out during the week. The menu’s based on traditional Turkish family recipes, handed down through the generations. Featuring hot and cold meze, and traditional Turkish grills cooked over a Charcoal grill, and of course freshly baked Baklava.
Owner Niyazi Kaya said: “This is testament to the hard work the chefs and team have put in. It’s a great honour to be bringing the best restaurant award back to Southampton. We hope many people will come and try our restaurant experience as it is a little bit different from the usual restaurants in Southampton. We are a restaurant where people come to have fun and this should be a great thing for the City of Southampton.”
The Restaurant Award judges noted: “Ottoman Kitchen is a modern Turkish restaurant, where the food is expertly cooked, the dishes that really stand out are the traditional dishes cooked over the giant charcoal managal which dominates the restaurant, the Baklava dessert has also been greatly improved to match. Inside the large 19th century building previously used as a bank, the colourful decor makes this an impressive Southampton venue.”
To celebrate the best restaurant award Ottoman Kitchen will hold a special celebratory 3-course gourmet dinner accompanied by Turkish entertainment on Wednesday 13th December.
