Star Rating

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Kemer Restaurant and Meze Bar 

154 High Street

Walthamstow   

London, E17 7JS   map

Tel : 0208 521 1546

Posted January 2009

Kemer do a lunch time special, £5.95 for three courses, we tried it on Saturday lunch time & it is unbelievable value, very nice food and very nicely presented. The waiter is so friendly and even though I did not want a dessert, he brought me up "a little surprise", which was a miniature version of one of their desserts.

S

The owners of Kemer decided that the Market needed something different and just before Christmas 2008 turned Bunters café and grill (which had been established for over 30 years) into a smartly decorated Turkish restaurant.
When e17foodanddrink visited the restaurant it was very quiet. The waiter was friendly, enthusiastic and helpful. First impressions were good and we were hopeful, although while reading the menu we became aware of some irritating 70s lift music which didn't stop until it became irritating 70s bouzouki music.
Complimentary pida (Turkish flat bread) was presented with a very tasty mint yogurt dip and olives. (More pida was promised with the main course - this never materialised).
We ordered by giving the waiter the relevant numbers on the menu as requested, beginning with a starter of Turkish cheese in filo pastry (number 17) which was acceptable but not particularly exciting. Main courses were ordered and we waited with breath bated for a vegetarian meal consisting of courgettes, carrots and rice (number 35) along with the sea bream with sauté potatoes and salad (number 38)... The waiter approached... ''Sorry but number 35 is off''. We wondered whether it was courgette, carrot or rice they had run out of and why, but were far too polite to ask. The order was changed to number 33 - a vegetarian moussaka recommended by the waiter.
Our drinks were a glass of house white wine which was palatable and Efes beer which, as we were not presented with the bottle, I assume came from a tin. No evidence of a tap at the bar along with fact that it tasted tinned meant that we didn't need Inspector Morse on this one.
Main course arrived... Seeing as we were the only people in the restaurant I couldn't really understand why the fish had been overcooked with it's skin presumably still on the griddle. Sauté potatoes were boiled with no evidence of being fried but tasted quite nice if a little over-seasoned. Salad consisted of parsley, cucumber, parsley, tomato and parsley.
The vegetarian moussaka was 'good standard cafe' and the rice with pine nuts was in fact rice with chick peas but was pleasant enough.
The whole feel of the food and atmosphere (although not particularly the decor) was very 1974. After refusing the sweet menu we were given a complimentary Turkish Delight (nothing 70s about that).
Kemer has invested a lot of money in going up-market (no pun intended) and hopefully the food will move forward from café to restaurant to justify the extra cost. The market is a busy place during the day when people have lunch in cafés, but by night it rests.
To be fair, Kemer's speciality is grilled meat and therefore our criticisms of the food could be a little harsh.
The total bill was £30.This included two Efes beers, one glass of wine and a (plastic) bottle of Evian mineral water.

Editor January 2009

Link to Top Table review:

www.toptable.co.uk/venues/restaurants/?id=10613