Pimlico Mediterranean Grill: Cyprus Mangal £14.95 Lunch Deal

Cyprus Mangal, at 45 Warwick Way in Pimlico, has run a Turkish-Cypriot charcoal grill a short walk from Victoria station since 2005, and the cheapest way to eat its kebabs is the weekday lunch: two courses for £14.95 per person, Monday to Friday from noon until 4pm. In the evening the same ocakbasi turns out lamb chops, adana kofte and a seven-meat speciality platter for anyone who wants to share.

The restaurant's own homepage states simply that it was established in 2005, and it describes itself as a Turkish meze bar and restaurant. Harden's calls it a Turkish-Cypriot grill near Victoria station that never fails to hit the spot, praising generous portions, great service and a lively atmosphere. The Cypriot side shows up on the menu in kleftiko and hellim, the island's halloumi, served next to the Anatolian kebabs.

The heart of the room is the ocakbasi, the open charcoal grill where the skewers are cooked to order, and Harden's reviewers single out the smell of it when you walk in. The dining room has brass lanterns with circle-lattice panels hanging over the tables, a dark slatted wooden bar with a rack of wine glasses above it, patterned encaustic floor tiles and dark leather high-back chairs.

Pirzola is the order for lamb lovers: three charcoal-grilled lamb chops for £23.95. Kuzu shish, marinated cubes of lamb from the same grill, costs £20.95, and adana kofte, the spiced minced lamb skewer, is £18.95. Each arrives with the kind of char that only comes from coals, which is the main reason to choose an ocakbasi over a doner shop on Wilton Road.

For a table of two or three, the Cyprus Mangal Speciality at £33.95 is the showpiece: kofte, lamb chop, lamb rib, lamb shish, lamb fillet, chicken wing and quail on one plate. If that sounds like too much, the karisik kebab mixed grill is £21.95 and covers the essentials. Start with hellim, charcoal-grilled Cypriot cheese, at £8.50, which is better here than the fried halloumi found at most kebab houses.

Kleftiko, an oven-roasted knuckle of lamb, is the dish that marks the Cypriot side of the kitchen, at £18.95. It is soft and slow-cooked rather than smoky, so it pairs well with a grill plate if two people want contrast. The tasting menu is the other route: four courses at £34.95 per person, with a minimum of two people, which takes the decision-making away for a first visit.

One honest call: skip the tasting menu at lunch. The £14.95 two-course lunch special, served Monday to Friday from noon until 4pm, covers a starter and a grill main for less than half the price, and the grill quality is the same. Save the tasting menu, or the speciality platter, for a weekend dinner when the room is busier and the meal can stretch over a bottle of wine.

Online booking runs through the restaurant's reservations page. Friday and Saturday evenings are the busy nights, when Pimlico locals and Victoria hotel guests overlap. On those nights the dining room stays open until midnight, so a later booking is easier to land than a 7.30pm one.

There is a separate takeaway counter at the front, which keeps going later than the dining room, so a kebab to go is an option after a late train into Victoria. The bar page notes that guests may bring their own wine for a corkage fee of £12.50 per bottle. At that price it only makes sense for a special bottle, since the bar keeps its own wine list.

Expect a mix of local Pimlico families on weeknights, office groups from around Victoria at lunch, and travellers staying in the small hotels along Warwick Way and Belgrave Road who wander in for an evening meal. The window carries a large halal sign, and many regulars come specifically for halal lamb cooked over charcoal rather than gas.

If the room is full and the wait runs past half an hour, the simplest fallback is the takeaway counter at the front of the same restaurant. On a rainy evening it is also the fastest option: order a shish, walk the few minutes back to Victoria, and eat it on the train home instead of queueing for a table.

Warwick Way is one of Pimlico's main shopping streets, lined with cafes, newsagents and small hotels, and it crosses Tachbrook Street, home to Tachbrook Street Market. The market is a good stop at lunchtime on a weekday, with street food stalls and fruit and vegetable sellers, and it makes a pleasant ten-minute loop before sitting down to the two-course lunch special.

For a longer walk after dinner, head south through the stucco squares of Pimlico toward Millbank and Tate Britain on the Thames. Even when the gallery is closed, the riverside walk along the Embankment is a quiet way to work off a speciality platter, with views across to Vauxhall. Pimlico tube station sits between the restaurant and the river, so the walk ends conveniently close to the Victoria line.

Address: Cyprus Mangal, 45 Warwick Way, London SW1V 1QS, a short walk from Victoria station. Restaurant hours: Monday to Thursday noon to 11pm, Friday and Saturday noon to midnight, Sunday noon to 11pm. The weekday lunch special of two courses for £14.95 runs Monday to Friday from noon to 4pm.

Menu prices: Hellim £8.50, Kleftiko £18.95, Adana Kofte £18.95, Kuzu Shish £20.95, Karisik Kebab £21.95, Pirzola lamb chops £23.95, Cyprus Mangal Speciality £33.95 and the four-course tasting menu at £34.95 per person for at least two. Corkage is £12.50 per bottle. Karpo APP can plan a Pimlico evening around a table here and a riverside walk to Tate Britain.