Our taste of Turkey on the Childwall Fiveways; Taste Test Jade Wright tries a the Turkish grill menu at Elif in Childwall.

Byline: Jade Wright

THEY say property is all about location, location, location. I'd say choosing a restaurant to eat in is the same.

Elif, the Turkish grill restaurant, is one of Lark Lane's most popular eateries.

But I'll be honest - I avoid Lark Lane wherever I can. It always feels a bit too trendy and pleased with itself - a bit, dare I say, like London. I don't find it anywhere near as friendly as other parts of Liverpool, and as a result I rarely go there.

So, when I found out that an Elif had opened on the Childwall Fiveways I was delighted.

That junction has an altogether different feel to Lark Lane. Where the latter is narrow and bustling, the former is a busy road junction, where you have to take your life in your hands if you want to cross the road.

My friend Michelle and I called in at about 7.30 on a Wednesday night expecting to have our pick of the tables.

But clearly Elif 's reputation has spread - the restaurant was packed, but our friendly waiter managed to find us a table for two. There were couples old and young, groups of friends, and even families, all tucking in to delicious-looking feasts of grilled meat and veg.

The staff at Elif couldn't do enough to help. Despite the restaurant being busy they fussed over us, helping us choose our dishes and checking on us regularly.

The menu centres around the impressive grill. And what a grill it is. It keeps its grillmaster busy all night long whipping skewers of meat and veg on and off the white-hot coals.

We couldn't decide on our starters so chose a variety of mezze dishes to share - hummus (PS3.95), pathican tarator (PS3.95) and haloumi (PS4.15).

We ordered a Diet Coke (PS1.40), a bottle of sparkling water (PS1.30), a glass of rose (PS3.50) and a glass of red wine (PS3.50) to have with it.

We didn''t have to wait long - our waiter quickly brought over a bowl of tasty chargrilled flatbreads, with the pathican tarator and hummus. The hummus was excellent - deliciously garlicky and homemade. The pathican tarator was a similar treat - smoked aubergine puree with yoghurt, garlic and olive oil.

The haloumi was the star dish - nutty and chewy without being rubbery, it was divine.

It was a tasty starter ahead of our feast, which soon blasted its way off the grill and onto our table.

Michelle had chosen the fish dish of the day - chargrilled seabass (PS13.95), while I'd opted for sebze guvec (PS10.75), an oven baked dish of potatoes, tomatoes, okra, aubergine, pepper and herbs, topped with feta cheese.

Grilled meat may be Elif 's main selling point, but vegetarians are very well catered for.

There's no fancy presentation. Our dishes came piled high with mounds of rice and huge dishes of beautifully fresh salad in the middle of the table, with lettuce, red cabbage, cucumber, tomato and all manner of veg.

There was also a dish of roasted onions in what we took to be a red wine sauce. It was delicious - another little treat that had arrived unexpectedly.

Michelle's seabass was huge - a big chargrilled juicy fish. She enjoyed every mouthful, even though she was very full by the end.

Similarly I tried to eat all of the tasty sebze guvec, which reminded me a little of Moussaka, but I too was defeated.

Foodie The waiters looked concerned - as we started to flag, all three of them came over to check our food was OK. It was great, but we'd eaten too much of the delicious Venue: Elif, 138 Liverpool L15 6XX Tel: 0151-722 2201 Website: www.Service: Friendly Value: PS49.85 for glasses of wine - portions Disabled access: chargrilled bread so we couldn't manage all of our mains.

We were so full that we couldn't face dessert, even with tasty options such as the classic Baklava on offer.

Facts Childwall Fiveways Instead we ordered coffees to perk us up for the journey home.

larklane.com and helpful two with two good value with big The waiter asked if we'd like Turkish coffees. I asked if I could Yes have mine with milk. He laughed and said no, that wasn't how they did it, but if I didn't like his traditional coffee he'd give me a milky normal one on the house.

When he returned with two little espresso-like cups he'd changed his mind - they were his treat, he said.

They were great - rich and dark without being bitter. The only downside was the muddy residue in the bottom of the cup.

All in all, it had been an excellent meal. It took a while to attract our waiters' attention when we wanted the bill - they clearly couldn't bear to see us leave - but we'd had a fantastic meal with friendly service. Next time I'll book our table - Elif is popular, and it's easy to see why.

CAPTION(S):

TURKISH DELIGHT: The Elif at Childwall Fiveways

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Title Annotation:	Features
Publication:	Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England)
Date:	Apr 5, 2013
Words:	841
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