Having gone here tonight with my partner and my family, I thought it only fitting for my first review to be of one of my favorite places. My partner and I recently decided to try it after seeing such rave reviews online and realising that although we must have passed this place literally hundreds of times, we have never once gone in.

It is rare that you stumble upon a place that has the virtues of the Dinosaur Cafe. In Exeter, so often we have chain restaurants or independent places that slap you in the face with how independent they are. We have somewhat lost the hearty home cooked meals of old that you could get at a reasonable price. Whilst I like the other types too—hell, some of them are my favourite places—I really do feel that Dinosaur cafe is it’s own special gem.

It predominantly serves Greek and Turkish foods that are cooked to absolute perfection. However, that is not the first thing that we commented on whilst in there: the first thing is the atmosphere. Now granted, we went on a Tuesday night when the restaurant was half full, however it still had a casual and relaxed feel to it, with lovely smells of food cooking and friendly staff who are extremely attentive. You have to go up to the bar to order but that is no problem as it gives you as much time as you would like to peruse the menu. Although the menu is not large, it is particularly difficult to choose between the different dishes especially if you, like me, would happily eat every dish on there!

This time, all 4 of us decided to have starters. We ordered pita with hummus, cacik—a yogurt dip, with cucumber garlic and herbs (think tzatziki)—olives and pitta and Sigara Boregi, which is feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry. As is custom with this type of cuisine, we all put our dishes in the middle and shared it out. The Hummus in particular was delicious, as was the cacik which was garlicky, creamy and didn’t have an overwhelming yogurt taste, so it was reminiscence of a good quality tzatziki. In addition to those starters which i was  so excited to tuck into i forgot to take a picture of we also had vegetable and feta fritters that were given to us for free by the owner. They were absolutely delicious: lightly spiced and delicate, but packed full of flavour of the the fried courgette. I can really see a role for a nice light lunch made up of these dishes, especially if sharing with others, and as they are all priced between £2-4 it would be well worth the money. Although you would have to resist the mains

The one thing I will say about the mains is that it is heavy on the lamb, although there are chicken and veggie dishes as well. Before you jump to conclusions about lamb being a heavy, fatty meat, throughout the menu it is minced, lean and spiced to absolute perfection. I had the karniyarik, which is aubergine stuffed with lamb in a tomato sauce. It is such a filling dish, however is so delicious that you want to go back for seconds! All the flavours complement each other so perfectly that no particular one sticks out, but it does have a rich and complex flavour that leaves you feeling satisfied. On a chilly winter’s night, this dish is perfect and when thinking of home cooked food, I believe this represents it perfectly. My partner had the vegetarian version of this which was one of the specials that rotate regularly. Don’t worry vegetarians it was not any sort of step down! They used a wide variety of Mediterranean vegetables in a tomato sauce and stuffed into an aubergine to achieve a rich and delicious dish

 

My family also had the lamb koftas, which when I tried them were the ones which had the most ‘lamb-y’ flavour. it was not over spiced or heavy so the flavour of the meat really shone through and you could taste the freshness.  Lastly my mum had the moussaka which similar to the karniyarik had a lovely rich flavour where the lamb mince and tomato sauce blended together to make a satisfying flavour that was well balanced by the bechamel on top

All of these hot dishes are served with rice and salad. But before you sigh and wish there were chips instead, I want to tell you about this rice. They put a tiny bit of sauce on top and although it does not look like much, it makes the rice taste incredible and compliment the food nicely. The salads are great too. They are not the customary bit of greenery to give your plate some colour and make you feel less unhealthy; they are nice salads. Today we had a little bit of  beetroot salad, some mixed leaves, and some tomato with onions on the side. Previously when we have been there, we have been given other salads on the side, all of which have been delicious and gone with our meals.

The Dinosaur Cafe actually do have their own wide variety of salads, so if hot foods were not for you, you can choose to have several of the delicious salads together for a lighter bite.

Last but certainly not least are the puddings. My family unhelpfully ordered the same thing  for pudding so I did not get to try everything- tragic I know. They ordered the almond cake which is mercifully small after all the food you really do not feel like a large pudding .But this small sweet cake which is soaked in syrup and served with a little almond on top is a perfect , light way to cap off the meal and satisfy that sweet tooth. I went a little more adventurous and tried the Katafi, which is similar to baklava in that it is pastry with a nut and syrup filling. However the filling is made from walnuts instead which was lovely and although a little more filling it was a good ending to the meal and delicious. I have yet to try the famous baklava as everytime we go in the evening they are sold out, so beware that you may have to get there early to try it!

 

To cap off our meal, we tried their Turkish coffee, which is slightly different to what we are used to in England. Turkish coffee is served in a small but beautiful cup and is about the size of an espresso shot and about as strong too. The staff will ask you how sweet you want it as they put sugar in it whilst it cooks on the stove and I recommend going medium-sweet, as unsweetened is quite bitter and unless you love a very strong coffee then it is not for you. The coffee is always served with a glass of water so that it is a longer drink. The coffee itself was good quality and tasted lovely. I found it nice when sipped so you could get a good flavour without being overwhelmed. Although my dad, who is partial to a filter coffee, found it a little too much even medium sweet. Some sediment does remain in the bottom of the cup due to the way it is prepared so don’t sip all the way to the end as you might find some grounds down there.

 

 

Overall, it is a lovely restaurant; the home-cooked food, welcoming staff and relaxed atmosphere means this is perfect to go for a family meal or on a casual date. The pricing it exceptionally reasonable. For 4 of us to have 3 courses it was £68 including drinks! That is great value for money, especially as the food is such great quality. I could not recommend this place more highly! The one bug bear I have is that it is cash-only, so make sure you bring some, but if you do forget there is a cash point down the street.