Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 2 and Version 1 of Mekan, CR8 2AB

Version 2 Version 1
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Mekan was a Turkish restaurant on the High Street in [[Locale Purley|Purley]]. According to Google Street View, by June 2021 it had closed down and been replaced by another Turkish restaurant called Ege.
 Turkish restaurant on the High Street in [[Locale Purley|Purley]].
== Line 2 ==
The information below is retained for historical purposes.

<div class="old_info">
Turkish restaurant on the High Street in [[Locale Purley|Purley]].
== Line 28 == == Line 23 ==
<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]] and [[bob]], January 2016.</div>
</div>
address='2 Purley Parade, Purley High Street, CR8 2AB'
category='Now Closed'
 <div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]] and [[bob]], January 2016. Opening times taken from the Mekan website, January 2016.</div>
address='2 Purley High Street'
category='Cocktails,Kebabs,Mezze,Restaurants,Step-Free Access,Turkish Food'
== Line 34 == == Line 28 ==
formatted_website_text=''
host='2001:8b0:ca94:869f:bcd6:b4e1:cd60:9a98'
hours_text=''
 formatted_website_text='mekanpurley.com'
host='81.187.166.218'
hours_text='noon-11pm Mon-Sun'
latitude='51.338903'
locale='CR8,Purley'
longitude='-0.113234'
== Line 43 == == Line 40 ==
opening_hours_text=''
phone=''
postcode=''
summary='Now closed; was a Turkish restaurant on the High Street in Purley.'
website='' website='http://mekanpurley.com/'		 opening_hours_text='noon-11pm Mon-Sun'
os_x='531409'
os_y='161725'
phone='020 8645 9375'
postcode='CR8 2AB'
website='' summary='Turkish restaurant on the High Street in Purley.'
website='http://mekanpurley.com/'

Turkish restaurant on the High Street in Purley.

Care has been taken over the decor, with patterned tiles on the floor, chandelier-style lighting, and ornate mouldings on the ceiling, walls, and mirrors. Most of the seating is at freestanding tables, but a small dais running along the side of the room holds five padded half-height booths for 4-6 people. Towards the back, the charcoal grill is visible through a glass partition.

Kake and bob visited on a Friday evening in January 2016. There were only five other customers when we arrived a little before 6:30pm, but it was pretty lively by the time we left just over an hour later. Peaceful music was playing quietly when we arrived, also getting more lively with time.

A basket of bread was brought as we sat down, along with a little dish of chilli/olive relish photo. The bread had a decent crust, but aside from that was bland and crumbly. The chilli/olive relish was great though, with a good texture and flavour.

A shared starter of hummus kavurma (hummus with diced lamb; £4.90) photo was OK. The hummous itself was fine, but they'd drizzled a sweet glaze over it which looked pretty but spoiled the flavour somewhat. The lamb was flavourful but a little too chewy.

Kake chose the aubergine and minced meat kebab (£11) photo as a main course. There was a nice contrast of textures between the soft aubergine and the relatively dense meat, and they were also in good proportion to each other. This came covered in a tomato, onion, and red pepper sauce with a hint of chilli heat; the onions and red peppers could have done with longer cooking. The rice was a bit "easy cook", and the salad dressing tasted mainly of sharpness (and not in a good way).

bob's grilled mackerel (£10) photo was served with spinach and saute potatoes, and worked well as a coherent dish. The mackerel was well cooked, with a crispy skin, and the flesh not overdone.

We finished with some decent enough baklava, served with a pistachio-sprinkled scoop of ice cream (£l3.50) photo, and some fresh mint tea (£1.80) photo.

The bill photo was accompanied by complimentary Turkish delight photo, and no service charge was added.

Accessibility: A small step to get in, 1 or 2 inches. No further steps to toilets.

See also:

Last visited by Kake and bob, January 2016. Opening times taken from the Mekan website, January 2016.

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