A TURKISH restaurant in Southampton has won its crown as the Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in the UK.

Ottoman Kitchen came out top to lift the winning trophy in front of over 700 restauranteurs, MPs and celebrities at the Asian Curry Awards on Sunday night and was officially presented with the title by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The family-run restaurant, based on High Street - who were up against middle Eastern London restaurants Sofra, Kateh, Devran and The Palomar for the award - is known for its hot and cold meze and traditional Turkish grills cooked over charcoal.

The restaurant is on the site of the former Ferryman & Firkin pub which was not in use for many years.

But the venue then underwent a six-month refurbishment to create the now Turkish 100-seat restaurant which has been open since June.

According to the restaurant, judges from the Asian Curry Awards visited the restaurant twice and noted: “Ottoman Kitchen is a modern Turkish restaurant, where the food is expertly cooked and the charcoal grilled dishes really stand out as the signature cooking of the restaurant.

"The beautifully cooked food matches the décor in this distinctive Southampton venue.”

Owner Niyazi Kaya said: “This is one of the proudest days of my life and is testament to the hard work the chefs and team have put in. It’s a great honour to be bringing the best restaurant award back to Southampton.

"We hope many people will come and try our cooking as it is a little bit different from the usual restaurants in Southampton. This should be a great thing for the city.”

To celebrate the award, Ottoman Kitchen will hold a celebratory three-course gourmet dinner showcasing the dishes which helped secure the award, on Tuesday December 10.