AS weeks go, it couldn’t have been a much busier one in our house.

One daughter was about to get married, the other finishing off her uni dissertation, and we were busy with organising details, so lunch out seemed like a good break for everyone.

And once we discovered that Karma was offering 50 percent off the food bill on weekday lunchtimes our choice of venue was made.

We’ve eyed the menu a few times since it opened, always planning to try it, and we were glad we finally did.

It’s a little bit of the Mediterranean in Poole High Street and great for bringing sunshine to a chilly day. The decor is Turkish with colourful glass lamps and wall hangings everywhere.

And the food is delicious.

If you’ve ever been to Turkey or Greece it’s instantly recognisable and the only disappointment is that you have to pay quite a bit more than you would for the same dishes in those countries. Drinks also aren’t cheap at £3.95 for a bottle of beer and £6.75 for a large glass of merlot.

But that’s where the lunch deal really helps. There were only three dishes on the huge menu not available in the half-price deal so the six of us were spoiled for choice.

Starters are a huge variety of mezze, little dishes just made for communal dipping into. We opted for the mezze platter, which is advertised for two but is plenty for more to share.

There was hummus, tzatziki, tabule, potato salad, stuffed vine leaves, falafel and borek – little cheese pies – all accompanied with fluffy Turkish bread.

Two of us had ordered the mezze as a main course, and the cold components of that were also brought out to start with – more hummus, tzatziki, potato salad, herby green tabule, more bread – plus a delicious aubergine ratatouille.

It was almost enough of a feast on its own, but we had to save some room for the main courses.

Falafel with hummus and grilled vegetables was a huge plateful served with pitta, and salmon stew, despite the pedestrian name, was a large fillet of salmon in a tomato sauce with vegetables served on potato puree.

The moussaka was pronounced very tasty, and the 22 High Street Delight turned out to be pieces of grilled lamb on a bed of smoked aubergine puree with tomato sauce and served with rice.

A slight hiccup occured when the next part of the main course mezze contained meat when we had asked for the veggie version, but that was soon rectified and we had a plate of falafel and halloumi, and crispy borek. Instead of the meat version’s chicken casserole and lamb casserole we had vegetarian moussaka. There was a bowl of rice too which was untouched as it didn’t really go with the veggie choices. I’m not sure I would have felt the mezze was good value for money at £33.90 for two people, so the half-price offer made all the difference.

It was all extremely flavoursome and great sunshine food. We left feeling full, relaxed – and more than ready for our holiday to Turkey in a couple of months’ time.

 

The bill
Starter mezze £12.95
Mixed mezze as main x2  £33.90
Falafel with hummus and grilled vegetables £14.95
Moussaka  £14.75
22 High Street Delight  £16.95
Salmon stew £14.95
Drinks, including two bottles of Efes beer, three glasses of wine and soft drinks £30.20
Total   £82.63 including 50 per cent off food

Ratings board

Location 4
Atmosphere 4
Value for Money 3
Quality of Food 4
Service 3
Comfort 4
Family Friendly 4
Menu Choice 4
Overall Rating 4
Recommend to a friend? Yes!