Pasha

The sign outside doesn’t lie: ‘The food is generously served and priced’. Unfortunately, the cooking is not especially good. As Pasha enters its third decade, its kitchen is perhaps showing signs of complacency. Our meal was mediocre at best, terrible at worst. The nadir came early: a portion of dried-out white pitta bread, served on its own without any oil or dips. It tasted as if it had been heated up days ago – a terrible first impression. The stuffed vine leaves were also poor. The menu describes them as homemade, so there’s undoubtedly someone in the kitchen with an uncanny talent for making stuffed vine leaves as uniform, dense and lifeless as those sold in cans – and £4.50 for four is stingy. Imam bayıldı was passable, although the aubergine skin was rather chewy. Lamb and chicken iskender barely passed muster; copious yoghurt couldn’t mask the meat’s lack of flavour. Kapama was the best dish we ate: a duck leg with a generous quantity of walnuts and pomegranate seeds, but again the meat was insipid and characterless, and the gravy overpowering. Yes, the staff are friendly and this remains a pleasant venue in a great location, but the food needs to improve.