Mevlana opened on Horsfield Street in Deane just weeks ago – already welcoming people as far as Winchester – building on Bolton’s growing reputation as a destination for food and drink.
The fully halal Turkish restaurant and coffee house is run by business partners Halil Orhanli and Hamid Jiva, who have been friends for over a decade.
(Image: Leah Collins)
Jiva said: “Me and Halil met more than a decade ago through work, Halil has over 20 years of restaurant experience, so we pooled our skills to start something new as I have always wanted to work in the restaurant industry.
“I’ve had a keen interest in food, I knew what I could bring to Bolton.
“We wanted to bring something authentic to Bolton and offer a space for families and guests to sit down, relax and enjoy authentic cuisine without having to travel to Manchester.”
The interior took nine months to remodel and the design was inspired by traditional Turkish coffee houses.
Jiva said: “We wanted to create a space that was unique and different from other restaurants and cafes to provide guests with a comfortable atmosphere.
The restaurant is decorated with quotes from the thirteenth century poet, Mevlana Rumi, which inspired its name.
(Image: Leah Collins)
Jiva said: “We also have a prayer room upstairs to cater to the needs of the guests.
“As someone born and bred in Bolton, I wanted to bring something special to our high street and help bring business to the local area.
“We have been fortunate to welcome visitors from across the UK, including GB Para badminton player Isaak Dalglish, who gave us incredible feedback.
(Image: Mevlana)
“Within just our first month of opening, it has been amazing to see people travel from different cities to try our fresh, authentic Turkish cuisine.
“The fact that we have seen customers return repeatedly in this short space of time is fantastic as it shows that they value what we provide.
(Image: Leah Collins)
“On our opening weekend, the response was overwhelming – we served around 800 people in just two days. It was a great way to start.
“Halil is from Turkey, he has good experience with the culture and cuisine – I’m a big foodie, so I need to know what works.
(Image: Mevlana)
“It took us weeks to develop the menu and decide on the dishes we want to serve – we wanted to deliver an authentic Turkish menu with traditional flavors as we felt this would appeal to all demographics in the Bolton community.”
The restaurant and coffee house have four separate menus for lunch, dinner, desserts and the coffee house.
All food and desserts are made in-house from scratch every day by the expert Turkish chefs.
(Image: Leah Collins)
The room has room for 100, including the room below and the upper veranda.
The opening says the two can be used for private events, group bookings, conferences and meetings, something that they are currently developing.
The most popular is Mevlana’s ‘Charcoal Grill’ section, which offers meat marinated with herbs and spices that can be cooked to order on a charcoal grill, along with rice and salad.
‘Turkish Pide’ is a twist on a classic dish.
The Turkish pizzas are made fresh to order and topped with mozzarella cheese. Toppings include minced lamb, onion, chicken, spicy sausage and red pepper among many more.
Mr. Jiva said: “We didn’t want to cut corners when it comes to the quality of our food.
“Made from premium cuts of meat and chicken, the tasty meat feasts replicate the authentic flavors found in Turkey.
“We use premium cuts of meat prepared according to Turkish methods, which include marinating the meat for 24 hours before it is prepared and cooked.
(Image: Leah Collins)
“All dishes are made in-house to order as we want to focus on offering a quality experience.”
The products are purchased from local suppliers.
Mr. Jiva’s daughter helped design the children’s menu.
(Image: Mevlana)
He said: “The children’s meals are also special – we wanted to offer more than just chicken nuggets and chips – we wanted to focus on clean and nutritious meals. I asked my daughter to choose what she wanted in a restaurant and we went with that to help put together the children’s menu.”
The restaurant operates a ‘dry bar’ which serves customers delicious mocktails and sweet Turkish sodas.
The specialty drink, ‘Mevlana sunrise’, features grenadine syrup, mango juice and crushed ice topped with blueberry soda.
What I thought of the food
I was lucky enough to try the Soğuk Meze Tabağı on Mr. Jiva’s recommendation, a mezze plate including homemade hummus, cacik (yogurt and cucumber dip), saksuka (mixed vegetable dip), patlican tarator (tangy smoked eggplant dip), an ezme ( spicy chilli dip) and zeytin (olives) served with fresh Turkish bread.
(Image: Leah Collins)
The dish tasted as good as it looked and provided a fantastic mix of flavors that each complimented the other – I left the plate clean.
Next on the agenda was a delicious meat platter featuring prime minced lamb with Turkish herbs and spices, spicy diced chicken, tender lamb ribs, lightly seasoned chicken wings and a selection of doner meats served on a bed of rice and bulgur.
The flavor was delicious and the quality of the meat, which was expertly seasoned, really shone through.
(Image: Leah Collins)
While eating, a customer next to me who had ordered the same thing remarked, “I had seen this place on TikTok and wanted to try it, the portion sizes are much better in person and the food is lovely.
“The pictures do not do this place justice.”
The last dish I tried was ‘kunefe’ – a traditional sweet Arabic dessert made of shredded Kadaif dough layered with soft cheese and topped with sugar syrup served with vanilla ice cream.
(Image: Leah Collins)
Although I was initially skeptical of the cheese, I was proven wrong. The texture was the perfect amount of gooey sweetness, topped off perfectly by the smooth vanilla ice cream.
Before visiting Mevlana, I thought I had already tried the best Turkish cuisine had to offer, but luckily I was proven wrong.
(Image: Mevlana)
The opening hours for Mevlana are as follows:
Monday – Thursday 11.30 – 22.00
Friday – Sunday 11.30 – 23.00
The restaurant currently only accepts walk ins, although details of Mevlana’s menu can be found on their social media pages.
On-site parking and additional overflow parking is available and free.