Page 32 - Raynes Park Vale v Redhill (FA Vase)

EATING OUT
Kapak, Raynes Park

It's fair to say the Raynes Park hasn't been exactly overflowing with dining plac-
es over the years..until now. Over the past 10 years our slice of South London
pie has become the home for a number of excellent eateries - and at 'Into The
Vale' we are determined to try and review for you. It's a tough job - but someone
has to do it!

This week we tried Kapak, a wonderful restaurant specialising in mouthwatering
dishes derived from the Mediterranean region of Turkey. This is a restaurant for
those big family occasions and those cosy tête-a-têtes.. We tried the Patlican
Ezme, Hummus Kavurma, Halloumi and a familiar Calamari just to get us start-
ed. And they were good. No...not just good - wonderful! Two of us were well
versed in Turkish cuisine and they were drooling over these appetisers - and
Kapak's starter menu, alone could sustain an appetite! But, tempted to continue,
we opted for Kapak's wonderful grilled platter of skewers of adana, lamb shish
and ribs, chops, chicken wings and chicken shish all served with rice, bulgur &
salad. While Kapak may not be a vegetarian's dream restaurant there are some
great dishes for all including vegetarian moussakka, vegetarian kebab, imam
bayildi, roasted halloumi and a patlican salad.
With a varied wine list Kapak has your drinking covered but, for our money,
bottles of Efes beer served perfectly ice-cold were the dream accompaniment.
Desserts were all tempting but we went traditional with a sumptuous Kunefe, a
filo pastry of cheese and syrup served with pistachios and ice-cream. All of this
was served in an atmosphere so suffused with a feel for family eating that it may
as well have been in my mum's kitchen!
Eventually we were certifiably stuffed and we staggered out into the street.
This, in case you need to be told, is a restaurant not to miss.

Kapak is at 106 Coombe Lane, Raynes Park, SW20 0AY Tel:020 8255 1000