16 Jun The Turkish Pide Has Come To Cambridge review
The home of the Pide – A few weeks ago I noticed a lot of activity in East Road. Last week I decided to pop in and catch up with the new owners of Merhaba. Actually the word new doesn’t apply here as the team behind here is a well-known Cambridge crowd. This is their third restaurant in Cambridge. The other two are Efes restaurant in King Street and Agora at the Copper Kettle on Kings Parade.
When they were working on the new restaurant, I wasn’t sure what to expect as when you look through the window it looks like a Kebab shop. However, I was intrigued as I had the feeling there was more to it. When I parked my bike and walked through the door, a huge surprise was awaiting me. A nice light restaurant, where the open backdoor created a nice breeze on a hot day in Cambridge.
Chatting to the staff I soon found out, that Merhaba is quite unique as the Turkish Pide has come to Cambridge. It’s the first Pide house in Cambridge and beyond. Otherwise, the nearest is London. For those who don’t know what Pide is, it’s a type of Turkish pizza. They decided to introduce this rustic traditional dish to Cambridge by popular demand of the Turkish community and that was obvious when I visited it on Friday night. I expected it to be quiet as who would know about this hidden gem? How naive could I be? It was packed with people in the know.
Merharba
Pide is a traditional dish that is made from dough and a selection of fillings, they can vary from cheese and minced lamb, cheese with spicy beef sausage and egg, cheese with small tender lamb pieces and the vegetarian option cheese and mixed vegetables. Of course, I had to sample this and it was delicious!
And the mastermind behind all of this? The owner of the very popular Efes restaurant and Agora at the Copper Kettle, Mahmut Atay! They are well known for their mouthwatering shish kebabs and a very tasty variety of Meze starters, which they also serve here. The other day I popped in with a group of 17 guests to show them the new edition to Cambridge and as we walked out, we were called back. We couldn’t possibly leave without having sampled their kebab. I’m glad we did as we all agreed, this was rather nice and had a bit of a kick.
So wondering where to head off to for your next pizza or delicious Turkish food? Try Merhaba on East road, the home of the Pide in Cambridge.
Gerla
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