Canons Park restaurant wins at British Kebab Awards

Much-loved local restaurant Melissa in Canons Park scooped a top accolade at the 13th annual British Kebab Awards, held at the Plaza Hotel in Westminster last week.

The Best Kebab Restaurant In North-West London was awarded to owner Cetin Kaygusuz at the British Kebab Awards. The gala event drew over 1,000 guests, including politicians such as justice minister Sarah Sackman, MP for Finchley and Golders Green.

“I am thrilled to win,” said Cetin. “It means so much to us, especially knowing how much our customers appreciate what we do.”

This is not the first time he has won a prestigious award – in 2023 he won Chef of the Year.

The British Kebab Awards, launched in 2013 by Ibrahim Dogus, champion the contribution of kebab restaurants and takeaways to the industry and local communities. Winners are chosen through public votes and a panel of judges.

Melissa has been a mainstay in Edgware for so long that you could almost go in blindfolded and you’d know what you were getting. Not any more. Not only has it moved two doors down but it’s had a super-swanky fit out so it feels like a whole new concept – but don’t panic, it’s every bit as good as the previous one, if not better!

Comfortable leather seating makes you want to linger longer to take in more of the wide range of authentic Turkish dishes – all of which are generous in portion size and packed with flavour. It’s a huge unit but is always busy and buzzy and feels like being in the west end, even down to the toilets which might be an odd thing to mention but are actually so important – and at Melissa 2.0 they are very nice.

Starters such as sucuk, halloumi and falafel set the tone, perfectly cooked and seasoned, before tucking in to Yogurtlu Saran Lamb Beyti served on a huge mosaic plate, Chicken Guvec in a casserole dish with a side of bulgur wheat, or a wide range of doner, shish and vegetarian dishes.

Save room for baklava, tiramisu or Nutella chocolate cake. There is also an extensive drinks menu, with most alcohols you can think of, inventively concocted into cocktails and ‘shooters’.

With 1.3m kebabs sold daily across 20,000 outlets, the British kebab industry contributes an estimated £2.8bn annually to the economy.