Sitting serenely in the frenetic, bustling financial heart of the city…
…you’ll now find a Leydi of leisure.
It’s a stunningly pretty Turkish spot that’s just opened its doors in the smartly refurbished Hyde Hotel, which from the outside looks a bit like Disneyland’s Haunted House… but which reveals itself on the inside to be an elegant bohemian bolthole. You’ll find Leydi on the ground floor, occupying an expansive plot decked out in blushing shades and nods to art nouveau. There are Bentwood chairs pulled up to tables with crisp white cloths, a colourful selection of contemporary artwork splashed all over the walls, and scalloped archways separating the restaurant into separate, more intimate dining areas. Even the bathrooms are pretty, with zebra-print walls and basins fashioned like cut-crystal punch bowls.
The big draw here, however, is the figure at the helm of the open kitchen: Oklava founder Selin Kiazim, who’s making her return to the London dining scene after she sadly had to close her Shoreditch restaurant in early 2023. Her plan here is to capture some of the vibrancy of Istanbul’s dining culture, with a menu referencing the city’s lokanta (neighbourhood restaurants), its street food scene, and its meyhanes (late-night tavernas).
That translates to a vibrant all day menu that starts with bountiful Turkish breakfast mezze, and transitions into a sharing set-up as the day goes on. There are set menu options to save yourself the decision-making, or you can build your own banquet of snacks, larger plates, and dishes hot off the mangal.
Bread and dips frame the meal, with a basket of pide, somun and sourdough bread to sweep through pools of muhammara, a sweet and nutty red pepper dip, and cacik, which is like your typical tzatziki on steroids – all thick coils of cucumber, shredded mint and a whack of garlic.
Then you might try the gently smoked chicken shish or bone-in lamb cutlets, given ample time over the coals of the mangal and served up with dripping pide and a pepper & onion salad. There’s a lovely flaky börek, sliced up tableside, whose crispy layers give way to a sweet filling of leek, feta and truffle honey. And larger dishes are a roll call of Turkish classics: lamb köfte sitting in a puddle of tomato & yoghurt; iskender (lamb & beef döner served with smoky grilled pide); and gorgeously silky slow-cooked aubergine stuffed with peppers, onion & tomato.
Dessert is fun – order the ‘ice cream service’, and you’ll get to pick out your favourite toppings from a grand silver tray – and you can get fragrant pistachio-stuffed künefe pastries, with an orange blossom syrup. On our visit, some of the textures were a little hit-and-miss – the ice cream a little too icy, the biscuits not quite melt-in-the-mouth – but it’s still early days. For now, we’d recommend going harder on the mains, without holding back too much space for pudding. After all, this is a place to dine with a big group of friends or colleagues, trying a bit of as much as you can…
…and taking it all at your leisure.
NOTE: Leydi is open now – you can find out more and book a table here.
Leydi | 15 Old Bailey, London EC4M 7EF
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