I was lucky to visit new Beverley restaurant Olive Lounge on the first night it opened.
Located in Wednesday Market, the restaurant says its mission is to “bring the rich flavours of authentic Turkish cuisine to the heart of Beverley“. You will find it on the first floor, but I admit to finding it quite difficult to work out where the stairs were.
If you walk as if you are entering Chamas on the ground floor, you will find the staircase taking you up to the beautiful space on the upper level which has stylish decor and a sunny aspect.
Despite it being opening night, everything felt well-organised and the service was excellent. My group were shown to a pleasant table and given a drinks menu.
We ended up selecting a Turkish white wine, Kavaklidere Cankaya, which tasted crisp and light but packed a moderate punch at 13%. Efes Pilsener from the beer menu also proved to be refreshing and highly drinkable.
(Image: Hull Live)
From the main menu, we picked Kofte Adana, seasoned minced lamb with spiced red pepper and parsley, cooked in a skewer on a charcoal grill.
We also got some hot meze, with pan-fried special Turkish beef sausage and homemade deep-fried Falafel, made from chickpeas, broad beans, flour, onions, peppers, celery, coriander carrots and parsley, served with a hummus dip.
I also went for two cold meze: Saksuka and Baba Ganoush. The Saksuka was fried aubergine, green and red pepper, topped with fresh garlic and tomato sauce.
(Image: Hull Live)
Baba Ganoush, possibly my favourite dish on this earth, is a mixture of chargrilled aubergine and tahini with olive oil, topped with a classic finish of lemon juice and olive oil.
The Kofte Adana was definitely the highlight: the meat was juicy and had that irresistible, smoky chargrilled flavour. Meanwhile, the falafel made us feel like we’d been transported to the Mediterranean coastline.
(Image: Hull Live)
For desserts, we had Baklava and rice pudding. Good Baklava is one of the most gorgeous desserts money can buy and these little parcels of filo heaven were fresh and delectable.
The rice pudding was a lot fancier than expected and every bite was a spoonful of luxury, a bit like a crème brûlée. Needless to say, the desserts topped off what was a fantastic night.