Harem, E1 6SA
- 224 Brick Lane
Harem was a Turkish restaurant near the top of Brick Lane; it has now closed. As of April 2011 the premises are occupied by another Turkish restaurant called Anatolian photo.
The information below is retained for people who want to know what it used to be like.
Harem is a perfectly good and comparatively relaxed place to eat in a busy part of town, this Turkish restaurant stretches back deep into the building, with a few tables up by the front windows, and plenty more down some stairs behind the open kitchen area where you can see them grilling food.
Service is friendly, if a little shambolic (there only seemed to be one waiter serving the restaurant). However, food arrives fairly promptly and there's no problem ordering tap water.
Our starters of hummous (£4) and grilled aubergine (£4.50) were both excellent, coming with warm Turkish bread. The mains (vegetarian kebab £8.50, and stuffed peppers £8.50) came with a plate of yoghurt for the table to share, as well as Turkish bread again. Both were tasty and very filling and we had trouble finishing them off.