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FEATURES
Advertorial Feature
Wednesday November 29 | 2017
A good grilling It’s been a busy few months at Zorba Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells. If you want to eat there, you may need to book in advance. Here, Hannah Patterson meets with owner, Sedat Zorba, to find out what has made his establishment the toast of the town… I seem to never see your restaurant empty. Have you been enjoying your first few months here?
It’s been a dream running a Turkish restaurant with my family, and business is going well. I have only one complaint, which isn’t really a complaint – initially everyone mistook us for a Greek restaurant because of the name. The name Zorba is our family name so, although people often think we are a Greek restaurant, it’s great to have our name on the door here in Tunbridge Wells.
How did this dream become a reality?
restaurant, especially since, on the first day we were open, we found out my wife was pregnant again.
Tell us about your menu – how did you develop it?
We sat down with the chefs and thought about what we could do that really suited the people of Tunbridge Wells. It’s common knowledge that those who live here are very clued-up when it comes to food, and very conscious of where their food comes from and what they are putting into their bodies. With that in mind, we decided to offer both hot and cold mezes, as well as a Mangal section, which includes yoghurt, sauces and a variety of trimmings. As well as having a wide variety of options, we also ensure that our meat is of the best quality, and that everything we cook here is completely fresh.
My brother has a Turkish restaurant on the Isle of Sheppey that is takeaway only, so hospitality is in the family. We wanted to move to Kent, and when we asked the locals where the best place in Kent was, they told us about Tunbridge Wells. After we moved here, we ran a little café for years. But we wanted a restaurant – somewhere we could truly showcase some of the best of Turkish cuisine. The restaurant’s location on Upper Grosvenor Road is ideal, so when the previous owner was happy to see to us, we snapped up the chance. It was not a small job opening up. We ripped everything out and completely redecorated. That was around six months ago. The goal was always to find a nice place in Kent and for my wife and I to work together – this ZORBA THE TURK: Many is what we always wanted. think Zorba is Greek, but We really are a family it’s Sedat’s family name
Do you use local suppliers for your meat?
Forge Farm provide all our meat. We are very particular about the meat we use – the middle neck, which is a cut of 4 per cent of the lamb, and you only get one portion per lamb. It’s a very fine meat, and that’s what makes it so special. You need to strip the meat from the bone and marinate it within half an hour to get it just right. Once that’s done, it marinates for two days before being ready to cook.
THE RESTAURANT In Upper Grosvenor Road Vacuum-packed meat just isn’t the same – we are serving meat of the highest standard.
What is the most popular dish?
Chicken is always popular, especially in such a health-conscious town. Other than that, the starters are a particularly favourite. The Babaganoush, a smoked aubergine puree with garlic and olive oil, is ordered a lot as well as mezes such as calamari, falafel and halloumi. The Cacik has been recently growing in popularity, too – it’s a mix of goats’ milk yoghurt, finely chopped cucumber, dill, fresh mint and garlic. The Adana very popular from the main menu – a traditional dish from Adana, which is where my wife is from. If a Turkish restaurant doesn’t have Adana on the menu, it isn’t Turkish.
Are you looking to develop your menu further, or do you believe you’ve got it just right? We are looking to expand our menu to include a few extras that we think will go down really well in Tunbridge Wells, such as scallops. You can expect to see these changes in the next couple of weeks. We won’t be getting rid of the favourites, though, don’t worry.