Please note, Pomegranate is now closed. Time Out Food & Drink Editors, May 2017.
Looking for Turkish delight at the ‘wrong’ end of Richmond requires some effort, but Pomegranate could be the refuge you’ve been looking for. Take a seat at one of the tables outside for shisha-smokers and you can smell the garlicky aromas . The menu covers the full gamut of Turkish restaurant dishes, with mixed grills, all kinds of kebabs, grilled quail, stews and salads. Falafel and kalamar starters were both pleasingly light, and the house houmous was nutty, oily and heavily spiced. Chicken beyti was delicious: hot, thin fine flatbread wrapped around cumin-scented, mildly spicy chicken pieces, with rice, tomato sauce and yoghurt neatly arranged around them. A second main of lamb ezme came with side dishes of salad, olives, pomegranate and chilli onion, but the dish itself was a rather gloopy stew – tasty but heavy on tomato. Two waiters attended us with efficiency and friendliness, and promptly brought some pitta bread to help us mop up the ezme. We chose hot fruit and mint teas instead of booze, but there are also trad drinks such as yoghurt-based ayran and salgam (a veg and garlic drink), plus a decent wine list. Come evening some of the kebabs are in the £14-£15 bracket, which is steep compared to other establishments.