[Hereford] La'De Kitchen

I love to come across restaurants like this when I’m on holiday in an area I don’t know. Places that exceed expectations and you just want to pack it up and take it home so you can become a regular.

It’s an impressive building – the former post office. It’s listed as being of architectural importance, so there are restrictions in place on what can be done to the exterior, but they don’t apply inside and a bright modern room has been created with a great feeling of space. There’s welcoming and hospitable staff. And a menu of delicious sounding food (mainly Turkish but also taking in dishes from the wider Eastern Mediterranean). And there’s a kitchen that knows how to cook it and serve it up in generous portions.

The hospitality is there from the start, with a couple of freebie dips – a quite spicy tomato one and a garlicky yoghurt one, served with shards of crisped pitta. Fortunately, we’d brought an appetite with us, so were able to demolish that and then move on to the starters we’d already ordered. There was a lovely tabbouleh, mainly parsley, with a very lemony dressing – it may even have been better than the one at our favourite Syrian place at home. If not, then it’s a close run thing. The other dish we shared was barbunya pilaki – beans cooked with carrot, onion and potato in a tasty tomato sauce. Delish! On the basis of never knowingly being underfed, we also had a bowl of olives. And it all comes with house made bread, which was fantastic. A bit like foccacia

For one main course,there was imam bayeldi, - a long cooked aubergine, split open and topped with onions and tomatoes. You’ll see the dish in many Turkish and Middle Eastern places and each seems to have its own take on its preparation. Some good, some not so good. This was very good – rich and unctuous.

Lamb iskender is another Turkish classic. Small pieces of lamb, tossed with cubes of bread and all mixed with a tomato sauce. On the face of it, a simple dish but it takes skill to bring it all together. The manager, who is also the head chef, suggested that, if we came back, we should try the lamb just as a kebab, so we could get its flavour unadorned. Rightly so, he was very proud of the quality of the meat he serves. Alongside, there’s a serving of labneh, which had been warmed in the oven which brings out a tangy, citrusy flavour in the yoghurt.

Unsurprisingly, by this time, we were full and had no room for dessert or coffee. But we had spent a really nice evening there.

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Place has closed, according to a Tripadvisor review. A shame.

Sad to hear. :frowning_face: