Neco Tantuni ve Künefe Salonu

Every order is cooked in front of the room on an enormous convex iron plate, which is the piece of kit tantuni is built around and the reason Mersin tantuni does not taste like a kebab (Enfield Dispatch, 2026).

Why go

The family came from Mersin, on Turkey's southern coast, which is where tantuni comes from. They took a greasy spoon on Brick Lane in Enfield, the EN3 one rather than the famous one, and turned it into a 20-seat salonu. In December 2025 Jonathan Nunn placed it fourth in The Vittles 99, his ranked list of the best restaurants in London, above Michelin-starred rooms including The Ledbury, Ikoyi and The Ritz (The Guardian, 2025). Meat goes onto the hot plate with fat and spice and is worked down until it is somewhere between braised and fried, then wrapped. "Neco" means everlasting. The room still has its cafe bones and it is open until midnight, which is the other half of why people come.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the yogurtlu tantuni, the version served over yogurt. Jonathan Nunn called it "one of London's few perfect, no-notes dishes." Then künefe, which the Enfield Dispatch describes as the house signature, "made with spun pastry dough and syrup." Drink ayran with it.
• Avoid: going to the wrong Brick Lane. This one is in Enfield EN3, about eleven miles north of the Tower Hamlets street of the same name. Also do not turn up before 2pm, do not turn up without cash, and do not expect wine, because the place is unlicensed.

What locals & experts say

• Jonathan Nunn, Vittles (2025): placed Neco Tantuni fourth of 99 in The Vittles 99, published 12 December 2025 and ranked by how much he wants to eat there. His line on the signature is that the yogurtlu tantuni is "one of London's few perfect, no-notes dishes." The list is paywalled past the low ranks, so that quote reaches here through reporting of it. ref
• The Guardian (2025): ran the story on 13 December 2025 under the headline "'Every chef should train here': Turkish restaurant ranks fourth on list of London's top food spots," and reported that Eren Kaya of the family was shocked at where they had landed. The speaker behind that headline quote is not established. ref
• Neil Littman, Enfield Dispatch (2026): the borough paper's April 2026 write-up is the practical record. It confirms the Mersin origin, the former greasy spoon, the 2pm to midnight hours, the cash-only rule, and the convex iron hotplate everything is cooked on. ref
• Local rec: from Jeff's own list, filed as the end point of a Vittles crawl, and specifically for late night (his note below).

Good to know

• Timing: every day, 2pm to midnight. The late hours are the point.
• Booking: none. About 20 seats.
• Payment: cash only, and there is no alcohol licence.
• Price: around GBP 15 a head.
• Getting there: 4 Brick Lane, Enfield EN3 5BA. Zone 5, and not the Brick Lane your phone will suggest first.
• Dietary: the ciğ köfte is named by the Enfield Dispatch as the vegan option, made with fine bulgur and tomato and pepper paste. Nothing is published about gluten or cross-contamination, and the tantuni comes in a wrap.
• Hygiene: FSA rating 3, generally satisfactory, Enfield, inspected 10 December 2025. Hygienic food handling scored 10, cleanliness and condition of structure 5, confidence in management 10. That inspection landed two days before the Vittles list that put this room fourth in London (ref).

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: "Vittles crawl to end up at. Late night." REAL.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

must-visit — Jonathan Nunn put this family's shop fourth out of 99 in his December 2025 ranking of London restaurants, above Michelin-starred rooms including The Ledbury, Ikoyi and The Ritz, and called the yogurtlu tantuni 'one of London's few perfect, no-notes dishes'. The family came from Mersin, which is where tantuni comes from, and they cook every order in front of you on a huge convex iron plate, which is the piece of equipment the dish is built around. It is a former greasy spoon with about 20 seats, open until midnight, cash only, and about GBP 15 a head. There is no second version of this in London, and the case rests on the cooking rather than on scarcity.