Turkish and all that jazz

Setting up stall in a relatively isolated spot close to one of London's most popular and vibrant of streets is a brave move so the recently opened Dolma is pulling out all the stops to tempt customers away from the culinary delights of Brick Lane.

They've started the ball rolling with a lunchtime offer of a starter and main course for £7.70 but from June there'll be the added pull of live music acts including Frank Sinatra impersonator Louis Hoover from The Rat Pack Live. Whether Louis will have them queuing down the block remains to be seen but the only distraction on our visit was the food.

The dishes on offer are varied enough to suit most tastes and the Mediterranean and Turkish-influenced menu ranges from borek and shish kebabs to rump steak and spaghetti bolognese.

Service is swift and a bowl of large green olives, tasty cucumber and mint dip with a generous helping of warm fresh bread appeared on our table before we had time to glance at the starters.

Our choice of calamari was slightly overly chewy but had a nice crisp coating and was complimented well by the nutty walnut dip. The falafels and hummus - a good indicator of the standard of food to come in any Turkish restaurant - were generous in portion size and had a delicate, though not particularly distinctive, flavour.

For the main courses, the Ispanaki Patates was a well-flavoured but unexceptional blend of potatoes, spinach, onions and peppers while the nicely marinated chicken shish with baby corn, red peppers and courgettes was slightly dry and needed the addition of a side-serving of a spicy chilli sauce to bring it to life.

For dessert, the Baklava - another Turkish must - satisfied the sugar cravings with its thick, moist layer of pistachio, walnuts and honey and light flaky pastry but avoided being cloyingly sweet.

We took issue with our second choice however, which was described as being an oven-baked pear dessert but which arrived seemingly fresh from the fridge and showing no signs of having been near an oven in the last 24 hours. It was only the addition of a sprinkling of cinnamon and cream that saved it from being completely bland.

With good prices, a varied menu and decent house wine, Dolma has a lot to offer but at the moment it lacks the warmth and character you'd expect from a Turkish restaurant. The tables are crisply decorated and service is slick but a little less formality would go a long way to appealing to the sort of clientele they need to lure from the nearby Brick Lane curry houses.

Perhaps the addition of musical acts will liven the place up but in the meantime they should be making more of a song and dance about jazzing-up food.

Dolma
157 Commercial Street, E1 6BJ