HaSTurk in Braintree is a Turkish meze, grill and seafood menu built for sharing, with plenty of charcoal-cooked mains and a strong supporting cast of dips, salads and baked dishes.

Overview

HaSTurk is a family-run Turkish restaurant in Braintree that puts classic meze plates and charcoal grilling at the centre of what it serves. The menu is structured in an easy, familiar way, cold starters and hot starters first, then grills, house specials, fish dishes, burgers and salads, with a separate kids’ menu and a couple of larger platters designed for the table.

If you enjoy the Turkish way of eating, a few small plates to start, followed by a main that comes with rice (or couscous on request) and salad, it’s very much built around that rhythm. There are also options that lean towards a more “one main, minimal extras” approach, such as grilled fish served with sautéed potatoes, or chargrilled burgers served with salad, with chips available on some burger choices.

What You Can Expect

The opening section is where HaSTurk’s range really shows. Cold meze includes staples like hummus, cacik (a yoghurt and cucumber style dip), tarama, stuffed vine leaves and saksuka, a vegetable dish based around aubergine, onion, potato and pepper in tomato sauce. There’s also a mixed cold meze plate that groups several of these together, which is a practical choice if you want variety without picking five separate dishes.

Hot starters keep things traditional but varied, with plenty of “order two or three and share” options. Examples include:

Hellim fries and grilled hellim (Cypriot cheese)

Grilled sucuk (spicy Turkish beef sausage)

Falafel served with hummus

Sigara boreği, rolled pastry filled with feta and parsley

Garlic mushrooms in a garlic and cream sauce

Calamari served with tartar sauce

Whitebait with salad and tartar sauce

Garlic king prawns sautéed with garlic butter

A mixed hot meze platter combining items like hellim, calamari, sucuk and sigara boreği

Mains are split between grills, house specials and fish dishes. The grill section focuses on charcoal cooking, with skewers and grilled cuts served with rice (or couscous on request) and salad. You’ll see chicken shish (lean chunks of chicken breast), lamb shish (cubes of lamb), mixed shish (lamb and chicken), and minced kebab styles such as adana kofte (minced lamb) and chicken beyti (minced chicken). There are also charcoal-grilled chicken wings, chicken thigh fillets, lamb ribs, lamb chops, and a mixed grill that bundles several of these in one plate.

House specials move into saucier, baked and “assembled” dishes. These include sarmas (minced meat wrapped in lavash, topped with a special sauce and served with yoghurt), shish iskender (shish served with hot tomato sauce over bread, plus melted butter and yoghurt), moussaka options, and sauté dishes where meat or prawns are cooked with peppers, mushrooms and onions in a red sauce over rice or couscous. There is also a lamb shank dish (kleftiko style) cooked in the oven and described as served with mash by default (with rice or couscous available on request).

Fish dishes are treated as a proper section rather than a token option. Examples include grilled sea bass fillets and grilled salmon, both cooked over charcoal and served with sautéed potatoes and salad, plus a garlic king prawn main served with sautéed potatoes and salad.

What to Order

The menu lends itself to a few dependable “builds”, depending on whether you want a meze-heavy meal or a clear main.

1) The classic meze-table build (best for sharing)

Start with mixed cold meze to cover dips and vegetable plates in one go

Add sigara boreği and falafel with hummus for a mix of crisp pastry and herb-led bites

Finish the starter spread with calamari or whitebait if you want a seafood plate on the table

This build works well because it covers creamy, crunchy and fried textures without duplicating flavours.

2) The charcoal-grill build (straightforward and filling)

Choose one skewer main such as chicken shish or lamb shish, or go mixed shish if you want both

Add one hot starter like grilled hellim or grilled sucuk to share beforehand

Keep it simple with the standard rice (or request couscous if you prefer)

This is a good route if you want the focus to stay on charcoal cooking rather than sauce.

3) The iskender build (for tomato, bread and yoghurt lovers)

Start with a lighter hot meze option (falafel and hummus is an easy pick)

Go for chicken shish iskender or lamb shish iskender as the main, both served with hot tomato sauce over bread with butter and yoghurt

Add a side salad like shepherd’s salad to keep the meal balanced

Iskender-style mains bring a different feel to the table, more saucy and bread-based than the skewer plates.

4) The seafood-led build

Begin with garlic king prawns or calamari as a starter

Choose grilled salmon or sea bass fillets for the main, served with sautéed potatoes and salad

Add a cold dip starter (like cacik) if you want something cool alongside the grilled fish

This build keeps the meal cohesive, moving from seafood starter to seafood main without needing extra heavy sides.

Dietary Options

Vegetarian choices are clearly built into the menu, and several items are marked as vegetarian and or vegan. Cold starters such as saksuka and the mixed cold meze plate include vegetable and dip-based options, and hot starters like falafel with hummus and sigara boreği provide meat-free choices at the start of the meal.

For mains, there is a dedicated vegetarian dishes section with options including:

Falafel and hummus as a main-style plate

Vegetarian moussaka (vegetables topped with béchamel and cheese)

Vegetarian kebab (grilled mixed vegetables with hellim, sauce and yoghurt)

Vegetarian imam bayildi (aubergine stuffed with roasted vegetables, topped with cheese and served with yoghurt)

If you are avoiding dairy, it’s worth noting that several vegetarian dishes include cheese, yoghurt or cream-based sauces, so the clearly vegan-marked dishes are the safer starting point.

Allergen information is indicated through dish markings that highlight common allergens such as dairy and gluten on many items. If you have allergies or intolerances, it’s sensible to choose dishes with clear markings and check any sauces, breads and fried items carefully.

Location and Area Guide

HaSTurk is in Braintree. It’s a good local option if you want Turkish food that can be ordered as a full spread of meze and sharing plates, or kept simple with a single charcoal-grilled main, plus rice and salad.

Who It’s Best For

Groups who enjoy sharing starters, especially mixed meze and hot meze platters

Diners who prefer charcoal-grilled mains, with plenty of skewer and mixed grill options

People who like a mix of meat and seafood on one menu, including grilled sea bass and salmon

Vegetarian diners who want more than one token choice, with a separate vegetarian section and plenty of meze options

Final Thoughts

HaSTurk’s menu is built around the Turkish staples that suit both casual sharing and more traditional dining. You can start with mixed cold meze and hot meze plates, then move into charcoal-grilled skewers, mixed grills and house specials like iskender and sarmas, with grilled fish and king prawns providing a strong seafood lane as well. With clear vegetarian choices and plenty of buildable meal combinations, it’s a flexible option for Turkish meze and grill in Braintree.

Food Types: Restaurant

Dining Type: Dine In

Area: Not stated, Braintree