Olive & Earth

Kebabs will never be the same again!

It's nice to eat, even nicer if it's something that is often regarded as fast food but which is cooked in a much healthier fashion and served in a nice, classier venue. As stated, kebab will never be the same gain.

Welcome to Olive & Earth. The restaurant is set over two floors,lower-ground level and upstairs and, overall, it's stunningly designed. The interior is bright with white walls that are punctuated with flashes of bright colour. The focal point is the root of an olive tree which takes up an entire wall, beginning on the wall of the lower ground and rising into the upstairs area.

The lighting is discreet and you have the choice of sitting in chairs or comfy booths facing one another. Everything bar the flooring is very white, giving an air of cleanliness (which the place is, actually) and you just itch to take the colourful, 'sink-into-them' cushions home with you.

After ordering our drinks, we nibbled crunchy, smoked and spiced nuts that I am sure were designed to ignite our taste buds.

From the two humus's starters we sampled, I adored the peppered one. Just the right texture and amount, it's highly recommended and while the barbecued chicken was not your traditional sticky and sweet one, Olive & Earth like to customise their sauces to make this worthwhile. This one, which was quite spicy and messy, gives you a great excuse to lick your fingers, providing they were clean in the first place! The chicken wings though are worth the mess.

We washed this down with drinks of apple, carrot and apple and lime made fresh on the premises - delicious.

Dinner was a mixed grill of carved and ribbed lamb with marinated, char-grilled chicken and pilaf rice. I found the chicken in the main course a trifle dry until I had a 'light-bulb moment' and dipped it not into the mint yogurt dip provided but the leftover, peppery hummus. Oh my god! This is delicious! Explosive!

As for the ribbed lamb, I wanted to order extra. It was succulent and had the most divine, melt-in-the-mouth taste. The bulgur wheat, hand-cut chips and pilaf rice were a nice touch. Moist and attractively presented, it went down a treat. The sauces at Olive & Earth have a pleasant and distinctive aroma, and taste that is distinctively theirs.

We also had crispy lamb and Mediterranean veg. Who would have thought Kebab meat could be healthy?!

Until... the cheesecake. Yes, we were full to bursting but in no way were we about to turn down this cheesecake. Served on a plate sprinkled with white icing, the height of the cheesecake was majestic. It was topped with diced and poached pumpkin and pomegranate (bizarre but delicious together). It was too rich and lush for me, but my companion nearly licked the plate!

There is an interesting wall hanging detailing the history of the kebab and it's interesting and informative to read. Who would have thought the kebab had been around from 700 BC and came to England in the 1980s?

Olive & Earth is a breath of fresh air. The owner, Yusuf Oral,had always wanted to open a restaurant in London that celebrated Turkish cuisine and, more than anything, the 'humble kebab'. He realised kebab joints in England had a more-or-less 'fast-food, late-at-night-after-the-pub' reputation and wanted to turn this conception on its head. He has successfully done so with Olive & Earth.

Yusuf says "I have lived in London for years but couldn't find anywhere that served authentic, healthy kebabs. I sought to change that with Olive & Earth and, even though I say so myself, I have succeeded. Come and taste for yourself!"

The ethos behind the restaurants is an ethical one. They only use organic/free range meat, freedom fish (RSPCA approved) and their fruit & veg comes from local sources. The restaurant is a million miles away from the stereotypical kebab house with a stack of questionable meat that rotates slowly on a skewer and, once in the bread, is covered with salad and smothered in too much sauce.

In the takeaway section, customers can create their own kebabs with choice of chicken shish, slow-roasted British leg carved straight from the bone or herb falafel.

Apart from the extensive menu, which includes a range of traditional Mediterranean dishes that include Ezme and Meze, what I really like about Olive & Earth is the atmosphere. The venue seems quite family orientated. I could quite easily bring my children here for a leisurely lunch, but I could also see a Friday-night crowd stopping there for a bite before rounding their evening off down the pub.

It's a cosy meeting place for business types or for taking staff out for Christmas dinner, and the music playing in the background is a nice touch.

Olive & Earth
2 Battersea Rise
LONDON
SW11 1ED
Opening times: 5pm-11pm
Tel number: 020 7738 9222
www.oliveandearth.com

By Barbara Campbell