Green Lanes evokes some wonderfully romantic and bucolic images. In times of yore, drovers would bring their animals to slaughter in town along this route which connected a series of greens reaching into central London. Today, it is a road that combines the gritty and the suburban. It’s somehow appropriate that much of Green Lanes now comprises restaurants – slaughtered animals find their way onto diners’ plates. Your reviewer visited recently and loved it.
Although Gourmand Gunno is happily familiar with the culinary delights of the Edgware Road, Green Lanes offers a novel take on Middle Eastern cooking. The stretch from Manor House immediately north contains one of London’s largest Turkish communities. Their influence is evident, both from the 24-hour supermarkets to the plethora of restaurants. Antepliler – a recommendation from a friend and your reviewer’s dining comrade for the evening – is one of the area’s stalwarts. Such has been its success that Antepliler now commands not just its original restaurant, but also neighbouring outlets offering kebabs and baked goods.
On our recent midweek visit, Antepliler was buzzing. The crowd built in the time we were there, presumably drawn in not just by the venue’s reputation, but also the food and vibe. Have no doubt, Antepliler is not a place you would necessarily choose for an intimate date night. It’s large, even cavernous, but what it may lose in size, it makes up for in terms of ambience. Closely spaced tables create atmosphere and work for large family groups. There’s frenetic music on the sound system and the spectrum of decorative colours is wide, albeit with an emphasis on red.
Food-wise, there’s something for everyone. The menu is extensive if predictable (at least to a diner accustomed to this broad style of cuisine). In the interests of sampling widely, we began with a meze sharing platter. Priced competitively at £25, there would be enough food here for four, although the two of us made solid inroads. Your reviewer is very familiar with both humus and muhammara but appreciated the fact that Antepliler’s take on these popular dishes expressed perhaps a greater subtlety than comparable iterations on the Edgware Road. What the plates may have lost in terms of relative flavour intensity, they more than made up for in terms of texture. Mucver – a courgette, feta, parsley and dill fritter – was a novel and flavoursome delight from the meze selection, although the borek (filo parcels) did fall somewhat wide of the mark, a little too greasy and heavy on salt. For our main, I deferred to my more knowledgeable comrade and we shared a large adana kebab. Take minced lamb, add red pepper and parsley to the meat and then wrap in some bread – which is endless and comes as part of the package at Antepliler – and your reviewer was left very happy. Although loathe to rate places using either stars or numbers, Antepliler scored distinctly closer to an eight rather than six out of ten. It’s a top Green Lanes tip for sure.