Food review: I went to Bodrum Restaurant in Southsea and tried Turkish delight for the first time

Despite having visited multiple establishments along this popular stretch, I have never tried this particular restaurant, which comes highly recommended on Google, with a rating 4.6 out of five and hundreds of raving reviews.

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Bodrum offers Turkish and Greek cuisine in a cosy and relaxed setting.

We arrive on a bustling Friday evening, regrettably a little late, but staff are immediately accommodating, offering us a choice of two tables. We opt for the booth underneath some low-hanging branches.

The restaurant is adorned with many of these ferns and fairy lights, including a tree in the centre of the room which is a charming and rustic touch.

Within minutes we were greeted by a polite and friendly waiter who brings us offerings of warm homemade bread and black and green olives marinated in herbs, lemon and olive oil while we wait to order, or in our case, painstakingly wade through the options and dither over the extensive menu as they wait patiently.

After a quick word with the waiter, who advises portions sizes are generous and we can always order more if needs be, we select the set menu for one (£28.50), which looks to be a bounty in itself, an added hot meze plate of King Prawns (£6.95) and a side order of chips (£3).

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Bar an order of bread halfway through after blowing through the first batch in the first 10 minutes, this was more than enough for us.

The set menu consisted of six varieties of cold mezes – it’s worth noting these can be chosen but we opt to let the chef choose for us – a stuffed filo parcel, lamb and chicken shish with rice and salad, and rice pudding or ice cream, we choose the latter.

Everything was absolutely delicious. The bulghur salad in particular was extremely moreish, finely chopped celery, red and green peppers, onions, parsley and spices added to bulghur wheat and marinated with tomato paste, lemon juice, and olive oil.

The king prawns pan-fried in butter and garlic were divine, sat in a tomato and white wine sauce that was best mopped up with the lashings of bread.

While many restaurants offer polite and satisfactory service, it must be said that the service at Bodrum was beyond that, nothing was too much trouble and with every request we were met with a genuine smile and a laugh.

To conclude our experience the waiter brought over a complimentary Turkish delight, a delicacy I have never before indulged in. Despite my aversion to nuts and chocolate, I gave it a go, how do you know if you don’t try right? I can’t say I’ll be making a habit of it but they were tastier than I had imagined – and it’s the thought that counts.

In a nutshell, we will most definitely be coming back to Bodrum.

Food – 5

Value – 5

Ambience – 5

Kid-friendly – 3