kilim

have been many times over the past year. this byo turkish must be one of the most popular restaurants for a reasonably cheap meal on jackson street. when nearby places are almost empty, this one is almost invariably busy. there always seems to be a slightly chaotic air, but thestaffare friendly, helpful, and always seem to find us a table when it looks hopeless. for two, we usually order a vegetarian mezze and one other shared plate. the mezze is delicious and almost enough for two by itself. sometimes service can be a bit variable, but not for any other reason that there's a lot of activity and occasionally something - like bringing wine glasses - can get forgotten. kid friendly, bustling, good and ample food for a reasonable price. no wine list - byo only - but there is a good bottle store 50 meters down the road. worth a visit for a quick meal out in petone.

love how little and cosy this place is. thestaffare amazing and attentive. never had a bad meal and the range of food is good. probably not one for a big group of people (personally)

the food here is pretty good, lunch meals are ok but dont understand why you dont offer the mixed iskender at dinner time, thestaffare very rude also

we turned up at one my usually favourite places to eat at 4:45 today. thestaffstared at us, then chatted away, then stared at us again, then continued chatting again behind the counter. in the end, we awkwardly left as they made it clear that they weren't going to offer us a table. so ,we need to find a new favourite turkish restaurant now!

a lovely little restaurant on the busy jackson street.staffwere friendly and efficient. the size of the dishes was really decent with a good balance of protein, vegetables and carbs! we were all very full and happy after all. byow was the bonus.

this is one of the best finds ever. it's central, affordable, the food is authentic and hearty, no corkage fee (for the alcoholics) and the decor is gorgeous. the only downsides are the set booking times either 6pm which can be a bugger if you are racing back from town or 7.30 where you are tempted to eat a pre dinner before hand and spoil your appetite...and the cosieness of the place can mean the acoustics of a large table of cackling tipsy ladies can put you off your meal. but all and all the good outweighs the not so good. the chicken meze is a highlight. if you like a bit of everything it's sure to please. thestaffare usually pretty good and the meals come out in good time, considering they are usually very busy. i don't know how they manage the constant swarms of people, noise and endless telephone ringing in a small setting but they seem to pull it off!

tasty and good value. ordered the mixed (lamb and chicken) salad for $15 which was good value as there was lots of chicken. the fries were $5 a bowl and were cooked well. thestaffwere so friendly and welcoming.

my daughter and i usually go once a week. we always get the chicken iskanders. (but have also tried other things as well). we have also eaten in when my family came for a visit, everybody raved about the food and the service. thestaffare always nice and friendly and the food is the best. well worth a visit when you are next in petone.

i absolutely love kilim, it's one of my favourite places to go! the food is amazing, you get so much value for what you pay for. i loved getting the chicken meze as it comes with a variety of different things so i feel like i get to try a bit of everything there is. and the meal is massive!
thestaffare really friendly and are really attentive :)

booked a table for a group of  9 on friday night celebrating a birthday. we started the meal with curly fries (yum) and most ordered either mixed iskendar and doner kebabs for mains. they catered for different dietary requirements (vegan & celiac) and meal portions were huge, fresh and delicious - no one had room for dessert which was just as well, as once we were served mains, waitingstaffdidn't come back to check if we wanted anything else (the rating would have been a 5 otherwise). will definitely come back again

kilim has delicious food (kebabs and iskenders) and i would recommend you try this place out (eating in or taking away).  it can get very busy some days during 12pm to 2pm ,so if ordering takeaway, it is best to order over the phone.  also, thestaffare very friendly.  for a turkish restaurant the prices are a little high, but it is well worth it. the beetroot dip is amazing!

we've been going to kilim for lunch and dinner for years. recently was the most dissapointing experience. called and booked for x4 people in advance, (on a tuesday night) when we arrived at 7pm a waiter greets us and looked suprised, (probably because they were packed) i told him we had booked a table, he replies "are you serious?" i thought he was jokingly saying that, i said "yes, i am serious." if we didn't feel bad enough already he looks at a dirty table and says "take this table" he didn't even bother checking the booking. all thestafflooked at us as if we had walked into the wrong place. then finally, we waited for them to clean the table  and sat, ordered pretty quickly and the food arrived 10 mins later. their food was literally half the size it was just a few months ago, a bit of chicken looked uncooked. so much had changed. 
i've never seenstaffworking at a restaurant looking so nervous to see customers popping in to eat, it was 2 adults and 2 kids, (kids only ordered hot chips) we were in and out all within half n hour. sorry for the long review, just thought i would say, i would rather give my business to someone who appreciates it. felt like we were burdens, and did not enjoy it at all.

best doner kebabs ever! the iskender is equally as good. when i see natives from the home country of a eating establishment frequenting for meals it says a lot about the authenticity and quality. have seen the turkish embassystaffhere a few times for lunch. is also one of my daughter's favourite places to eat as well. would highly recommend it!

i have just got my driver's license, and to celebrate my girlfriend and i went to kilim for lunch.

we were also in the area and we are fan of turkish cuisine so we decided to give this one a try, and to see for ourselves why it had such good ratings. 

at first glance, the place looks small from the outside, but there are definitely more seats inside. just a tip, i don't know if it's just me, but the door was quite hard to open; maybe i just don't have enough muscles, but it felt like there was an air suction going on that made it a bit difficult to open. but never mind that, let's carry on with our dining experience.

as soon as we walked in, we knew we were in a turkish eatery. the smell, the music, the wall decorations, the lighting, and the ornaments, really gave us that authentic mediterranean setting. we sat on booth-style seats, the first thing i noticed was that there were throw pillows placed along it, and gave it that feeling that we were eating at a turkish home, which was pleasant.

i ordered their turkish chicken, which was marinated chicken that was grilled, served with a turkish-style salad mix, rice, turkish bread, and dips (hummus, beetroot puree, and greek yogurt (or similar)). the chicken was very delicious, and i could taste the spices they used to marinated it with, and there was so much chicken, especially for its price. another thing that stood out for me was the beetroot puree dip. i am not a beetroot fan, but i do not hate it either. but that puree was so nice and refreshing to my palette with its mildly sweet taste, that it was one of my favourite aspects of the meal. i do not even normally finish beetroot puree dips on other turkish places when i order iskenders.

my girlfriend ordered their pilavustu, it was grilled chicken served with rice and turkish bread. sound simple doesn't it? but it was more than worth its price of $10. the chicken had a delicious smoky charcoal flavour to it. 

we also ordered a bowl of fries. side dishes like this, i just expect them to be generic and similar for every eatery, but these fries i just have to comment on. i am a fan of crispy and thin fries. these were quite thick but i loved them because of their rich potato flavour, which i enjoyed savouring. you might be thinking, of course they will taste like that,  because they are potatoes and that all other fries will taste like that. but some fries, although quite crispy, some just taste quite bland, airy, and oily. my best description i could give you is that they tasted like the original flavour of pringles. 

thestaffwere friendly. there were also a few families with kids that were dining at the time. so it is a family friendly place. there was a small wooden rocking horse, which i presume can be used for kids. i have mentioned before that the lighting gave it more of an authentic feel, but it also meant that the photos that i took are not of best quality.

overall, my girlfriend and i were very happy with our dining experience, it was worth the price, a great place to celebrate and dine any time of the day, and we will definitely come back. i recommend this to everyone.

food is always amazing, i eat here often and have never had a complaint. staffare lovely and this is the perfect place for a local byo dinner