Often, discussions about Mangal II, the famous Turkish restaurant in Dalston, lead to inquiries about what happened to Mangal I. Mangal II is named as it is the second ocakbaşı restaurant established by Turkish chef Ali Dirik. After relocating from Turkey to London in 1987, Dirik opened the first Mangal Ocakbaşı in Dalston, introducing the Turkish charcoal cooking technique that had previously been uncommon in the UK. He launched Mangal Ocakbaşı II in 1994 and subsequently stepped away from the original restaurant.
The establishment was later taken over by his sons, Ferhat and Sertac, who embraced a more ingredient-driven and adventurous take on Turkish cuisine, influenced partly by Sertac’s culinary experiences in Copenhagen. Their changes garnered positive attention, with Mangal II being recognized as the 35th best restaurant in the UK by the National Restaurant Awards in 2022.
Toward the end of last year, Sertac announced his departure, but before his exit, the brothers collaborated on Mangal II Stories and Recipes, their inaugural cookbook detailing their father’s restaurant’s legacy and its evolution under their stewardship.
Despite the restaurant’s rich heritage, the brothers adopted a restrained storytelling approach, dedicating much of the book’s 220+ pages to recipes. These recipes are categorized into ‘old school’ dishes from their father’s time, the post-2020 ‘transformation’ in response to the influx of similar Turkish establishments, and ‘inspiration’ recipes drawn from their personal experiences and heritage.
The restaurant’s history is highlighted through an interview between Ferhat and their father, with individual narratives from the brothers interspersed. The recipes also reflect the restaurant’s more recent history, including its reopening after lockdown and the varied customer responses to the new direction, illustrated with an amusing critique of raki from Ferhat and the confusion expressed by some Turkish patrons regarding its absence from the menu.
The recipes encompass a wide range of traditional Ocakbaşı dishes, such as Albanian-style livers, aubergine yogurt, adana-style lamb skewers, chicken shish, and beyti. However, the most compelling offerings may be those that emerged post-transformation, considered a genuine expression of the brothers’ culinary perspectives rather than a mere repetition of their father’s work.
Noteworthy dishes from these sections feature courgette fritters with sucuk mayonnaise, lamb heart pide, leek, tulum and caraway borek, brown crab and rice sarma with shellfish emulsion, spiced quail, and a raki baba.
Regarding Sertac’s exit, the book addresses this conclusion, with him stating that he left the restaurant in a stable condition to discover his own culinary identity.
While another Mangal II cookbook may not be in the cards, this might not be the last we hear from the Diriks.
Mangal II Stories and Recipes
Ferhat and Sertac Dirik
Number of pages: 247
Standout dish: brown crab and rice sarma with shellfish emulsion
Publisher and price: Phaidon, £34.95
