Astare Restaurant in Witham is a Turkish meze grill with a menu that runs from classic cold dips and small plates through to charcoal-grilled mains, house specials and fish.

Overview

Astare Restaurant is based on Newland Street in Witham and presents itself as a Turkish restaurant with a wide-ranging menu that includes meat, fish, appetisers and cocktails. The food offering is structured so you can build a meal from meze-style starters, then move into grilled items and house dishes that are served with sides such as rice, potatoes and salad. Online reservations are available through the restaurant’s website, and online ordering is offered via the linked ordering platform, with collection times stated separately.

What You Can Expect

The main restaurant menu is arranged in a way that makes the meze tradition easy to follow. There is a strong selection of cold starters that are familiar in Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean dining, including hummus, cacik, tarama and smoked aubergine-based dips. Alongside those are vegetable dishes such as saksuka and vine leaves stuffed with rice, as well as mixed platters designed for sharing.

From there, the menu moves into larger sections including house specials, vegetarian dishes, fish, salads and sides. The house specials are described with a combination of charcoal-grilling and sauced dishes served over bread, rice and yoghurt, which signals a menu that is not limited to skewers alone. Fish appears as its own section rather than a one-off special, and vegetarian dishes are grouped clearly with several substantial options served with rice.

What to Order

If you enjoy starting with a table of dips and small plates, the cold starters section provides straightforward choices. Hummus is listed with chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic, while cacik is described as cucumber and mint with a hint of garlic in strained yoghurt. Tarama is presented as freshly prepared whipped cod roe, and babaganoush is listed as smoked aubergine with garlic, tahini, yoghurt and lemon. Saksuka is included as a warm-style vegetable dish described as pan-fried aubergine with onion, potato and pepper in a tomato sauce, and yaprak sarma is listed as stuffed vine leaves with rice, pine kernels and blackcurrants.

For a sharing-first approach, the menu includes a mixed cold meze platter combining several of those dips and small plates, and it also features a larger sharing option described as an Astare Special for three to four people, which brings together multiple starters and a meat platter of grilled items served with rice and salad. This provides a clear route for groups who want variety without ordering each dish individually.

For main courses, the house specials give a strong picture of the restaurant’s core style. There are dishes such as chicken sarma beyti and lamb sarma beyti, both described as minced meat wrapped in lavash bread with yoghurt and tomato sauce and served with rice. Iskender-style plates appear in chicken, lamb and mixed versions, described as grilled meat served over bread with tomato sauce and yoghurt, finished with butter and served with rice. Other house dishes include lamb musakka cooked in the oven with vegetables and topped with béchamel sauce and cheese, Ali Nazik served over aubergine purée with a garlic yoghurt sauce, and sauté-style dishes using peppers, mushrooms and onions in a tomato sauce served with rice. Kleftiko is listed as an oven-cooked lamb shank served with mash potato, offering a slower-cooked alternative to skewers and grills.

Vegetarian diners have several main-style choices rather than relying on sides. Falafel and hummus is presented as chickpeas and broad beans with herbs, served with hummus and rice. Vegetarian musakka is listed with aubergine, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, carrot and onions topped with cheese and béchamel, served with rice. There is also halloumi and spinach described as fried halloumi with peppers over spinach and double cream, served with rice, plus a vegetarian sauté described as mixed vegetables with yoghurt served with rice.

For seafood, the fish section lists whole sea bass and grilled salmon cooked over charcoal and served with potatoes and salad, alongside garlic king prawns sautéed with garlic butter and served with potatoes and salad. This section is useful if you want the same grill-led approach but prefer fish to meat.

Dietary Options

The menu includes a clearly labelled vegetarian section and marks some cold starters as vegetarian. Beyond that, specific allergen handling, gluten-free guarantees, or cross-contamination procedures are not stated on the website pages referenced here. Anyone with allergies or strict dietary requirements should confirm details directly with the restaurant before ordering, especially if choosing dishes that include yoghurt, cheese, nuts or bread-based components.

Location and Area Guide

Astare is located at 101 Newland Street in Witham. Newland Street is one of the town’s central stretches, making the restaurant straightforward to combine with an evening out locally. The sources provided do not include detailed guidance on parking, public transport routes, or nearby landmarks, so the most reliable planning detail is the full address and the option to reserve online.

Who It’s Best For

Astare suits diners who like Turkish-style dining that begins with meze and builds into grilled and sauced main dishes. It works well for groups because the menu includes mixed platters and a large sharing option, while also offering individual mains that range from Iskender-style plates to oven-cooked dishes. It is also a good fit for mixed-diet groups because there is a dedicated vegetarian section with rice-served mains, alongside fish options and a wide range of meat dishes.

Final Thoughts

Astare Restaurant in Witham offers a menu that balances familiar meze starters with substantial mains across house specials, vegetarian plates and grilled fish. The structure encourages sharing early in the meal, then moving into rice-and-salad style mains or richer oven-cooked dishes. With online reservations and online ordering available, it is set up for both dine-in visits and at-home meals, while keeping the food focus firmly on Turkish meze and grill classics.

- Food Types: Turkish / Middle Eastern, Grill / BBQ, Seafood Restaurant, Takeaway/Delivery, Restaurant
- Dining Type: Dine In, Takeaway, Delivery
- Area: Not stated, Witham