Reviews Yeni

I CAN STILL TASTE IT … Our last meal in London was one of the best.  What a perfect choice Yeni was. And we found it completely by accident. Wandering the Soho streets on our last afternoon we spied the wide open window & happy guests.  Curious, we took a quick peak at a menu decided to be adventurous. So glad we did. Yeni is the inspiration of chef-owner Civan Er showcasing modern Turkish cuisine using open fire cooking & the finest ingredients. The menu is designed for sharing & that is exactly how we like it so we chose dishes that were not familiar but intriguing.  Every single dish was delicious, the flavours complex & unusual & as we thought a dish couldn’t get better than the previous … it did! Tava bread two ways - spicy carrot and walnut tarator (think tahini) & 2nd with smoked butter. Mad skills in making something as simple as smoked butter so delicious you want to smear it all over is something … Mammole artichoke, fava beans, chili, coriander, mint, sesame - such a perfect way to serve artichoke and the spread was so fresh. Eating it with full leaves of mint was perfect. Orkney Scallops, spicy almond muhammara, salty fingers, burnt butter. Scallops fired perfectly & a wonderful spread somewhat like hummus & the cutest little green fingers also called sea jellybeans!! Yeni Manti dried aubergine, double fermented yoghurt - this was the most beautiful dish I’ve ever had put in front of me & the flavours were so perfectly balanced making for a rich, but not too rich sauce & the perfect Turkish eggplant dumplings. Nigel enjoyed a green apple ginger tonic & east London gin & I had a lovely Turkish rosé. Later we discovered that Yeni is in the Michelin Guide! “Anatolian-inspired cooking from experienced chef-owner Civan Er, who made his name at acclaimed sister restaurant Yeni Lokanta in his home city of Istanbul. Daily changing menu of vibrant, gutsy, flavoursome sharing plates; techniques are rooted in tradition, with dishes cooked over oak in the Josper oven.” Any description should emphasis wonderful, delicious, healthy & intoxicating food with gracious service. I know we will be back!

A lovely evening, perfect for a date night or catch up with friends. We sat upstairs by the window, which was ideal and less noisy than downstairs. We started with the adana cocktails (if you like a spicy mezcal, I do recommend), and enjoyed a raki each with dinner (on a hot day, two ice, 1/2 water). The price point was reasonable for the quality, although if you're familiar with Turkish cuisine, some will be less stand-out than others. Stand-outs were the beetroot with sour cherries & hazelnut, excellently balanced & quite unique, thoroughly recommend. The iriskit-fermented lamb was also delicious and paired fabulously with the bulgar fritter salad. Definitely get extra tava bread to mop up the juices with the beef, which was delicious. The börek was also divine, simple but a crowd pleaser. Somewhat underwhelming was the smoked aubergine from the grill, and the fried kelle was ok but presentation felt like leftover reheated spring rolls. I would also not recommend the wine. Service is great. Service charge is not included do ensure to tip. Overall, a solid restaurant with fantastic service, good atmosphere, and good food.

Delightful lunch meal at Yeni. We had the artichokes with fava beans, smoked grilled aubergine, prawn and vine leaves tempura, Yeni manti dumplings with beef, scallops and lamb shoulder with samphire and chilli. The highlight of the meal were the dumplings, the fermented yoghurt sauce was divine, followed by the scallops perfectly cooked and lamb shoulder, very tender. The service was friendly and generally attentive. The restaurant itself was spacious and welcoming. Really enjoyed our meal here and would definitely come back to try new items on the menu in the future. The restaurant does require a credit card to secure the booking, but they don't add service charge to the bill automatically. A gem of a place to have a meal.

I have visited this place during one of my trips to London. It was a true gastro experience. The food was incredible. I liked the atmosphere as well. Simple and elegant. However what I experience was that the price of the drinks were relatively expensive compared to food especially raki. It would have been a better experience with more fair beverage prices.

What a discovery! In the heart of Soho we found this little place which ended being a gem. Turkish cuisine on a different level! Best dish was the veg dumpling ( just like in the pic) can't go wrong! Lovey service and the staff was very kind and helpful.

Our first night in London we were wandering about Soho looking for a place to dine. We stumbled across Yeni and had a world class meal!! We knew nothing about the restaurant prior to dining there so were not expecting such a gastronomic delight. Everything was incredible—the cuisine was amazing, service was impeccable, and the vibe was upbeat and fun. Loved it and can’t recommend it highly enough! Lorri M. Hanalei, Hawaii

Where do I even begin. This place is so amazing. Turkish foods prepared to perfection! Each dish was great in its own right and together they were very complementary. The beef manti (think tortellini or dumplings) had an amazing sauce and served as a great starter. The shrimp and the lamb go very well with each other... My only regret is that I didn't get any desserts but then the food was so good I don't think I had much room. Thanks so much to the chef and the kind staff. Highly recommended!

Good service, and very decent quality of ingredients. Food was tasty but the portions are very small, we literally had to share 10 dishes between 3 people and were left hungry. I think they either need to increase the size of portions or lower the price.

Upstairs service can be better and more attentive. Also one of the dishes came about 10 minutes after we had finished the rest of the mains. Ordered the grilled eggplant in yogurt and chili oil which was rich, creamy and bright. The fermented lamb was also excellent and balanced the parsley, walnut sour cherries mixture underneath it. The highlight was the fried cheese and the rice pudding dessert. The sauce under the fried cheese was smokey and peppery while the rice pudding was light, not overly sweet had a nice crunch from the hazelnuts. The only disappointment was the squid which could have been left out.