An award-winning Turkish restaurant is opening a second bigger venue with the promise of live music nights inspired by Istanbul’s Meyhane culture.
Alim-Et will welcome customers to its new dining spot in Maidstone town centre next month.
Its restaurant and takeway in London Road, Larkfield, is popular with customers and now the family-run business has snapped up the chance to expand after Sunley House in Middle Row became available in 2020.
The owners have purchased the whole four-storey building but say only the ground floor and basement will be used for the food venue and bar, while the other three floors will remain as office space.
KentOnline reported in 2022 how the restaurant was set to open the following year, but this was pushed back due to high costs, planning permission and internal work delays.
At the end of last year, plans were submitted to Maidstone council to erect signs outside the building. They were approved last week.
To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.
Now, an end is in sight for the owners with customers able to dine from next month.
Co-owner Mezlana Carbcabuk said: “There are going to be Turkish pastries and cakes during the day and there is going to be a more extensive menu than what we have here [in Larkfield] offering more Turkish oven and traditional dishes.
“It’s going to be bigger – we are trying to introduce the real Turkish kitchen.
“Whenever you ask someone in England ‘what’s Turkish food?’ they just say kebab but there’s a lot more than that.”
Mezlana says they also plan to bring live music nights inspired by Istanbul’s Meyhane culture which brings traditional tunes, mezzes and alcohol together.
An exact opening date has yet to be confirmed but a goal of sometime in March has been set.
Most recently home to sports bar Bar 6, the building in Maidstone was originally built as a regional head office for Barclays Bank, and opened in 1960, until the bank left the premises in the mid-1990s.
Since then the ground floor has been home to a succession of bars including Bar Coast, V Bar, Breeze Bar, Players Coyotes, Bar Delicious, and Oxygen.
Alim-Et in Larkfield was established in 2017 and has two kitchens, one for its takeaway and the other for its restaurant specialising in Turkish meze and grilled delicacies.
It was named best takeaway in the regional category of the British Kebab Awards for two years running in 2019 and 2020.
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