Pivaz, Essex *

Turkish food seems to be the big thing in Essex right now, and we’ve been to try quite a few, so we know where our favourites are and where not to dine out. But there’s a new contender for our favourite, Pivaz in Epping.

Pivaz have all of their chefs ceom from Turkey so they know the drill. They know the perfect ways to marinade meat and how important food is to the Turkish culture.

The restaurant is about a 20 minutes drive from where we live and we were so pleasantly surprised when we arrived.

Pivaz is about a 20 minutes drive from where we live and we were so pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The decor was so lush and so interior goals for me! I’m a sucker for dark colours and big lights.

The drinks menu was very thorough and the bar team kindly made up their Pornstar Martini without the alcohol which was divine as I’m still not drinking before the London Marathon. It was even presented like a proper cocktail which I loved!

So onto the food, our starters!

I went for the prawn and avocado salad which was great and something I’m thinking of recreating at home as it was such a great combination. Something I hadn’t experienced before and will certainly be making part of my life!

Mike went in for prawns too…

Those are the garlic king prawns and Mike demolished them. The sauce was so dippable that I may have had to dip bread into on more than on occasion.

For me, I always get the same meal when I go out for Turkish, then I know how good it is! Well, that’s my theory anyways!

Oh yes, chicken shish! I actually swapped my rice in with chips as I can’t eat white rice which was super nice of them! With my meal, I got two little cups of sauces, a yogurt and chilli sauce which were both amazing, but the chicken was flavoursome in it’s own marinade that I barely used them!

Mike went for the Sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce and mash; he devoured all of it. Well, I got a few of the mushrooms and they were really good!

The service was fantastic, and I felt very at home with the lush decor. The food was a total winner too, so we’re booking up to take our parents on our next Hubert-Squibb family outing!