It is great to be back in Huntingdon! This is a corner of Cambridgeshire that often gets overlooked by foodies but has several gems that are well worth checking out. It is a real shame that I don’t get to visit more often but tonight I received an invitation from the Tiger Lounge on High Street to sample their Turkish menu, so I was delighted to return.

Regular readers will know my love for a good Turkish meal runs deep, and with it being AGES since my last Turkish review, I arrived absolutely buzzing to see what they had on offer.

The restaurant divides into two distinct experiences: An Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant called Rajpoot on one side and the Turkish restaurant Tiger Lounge on the other.

Walking into the Tiger Lounge, I immediately noticed the striking bar at the rear, that proudly stretched across half the room and featured beer on draft. The decor exudes a stylish, modern vibe, with strategically placed neon lights casting a soft, almost rhythmic glow, adding to melodic ambience of our dining experience.

Meze

Our meal began with a generous selection of hot and cold meze platters. I always opt for these, as they are brilliant for sampling a range of dishes and really put a restaurant’s consistency to the test. Plus, I love how these platters encourage sharing and conversation between guests, making the dining experience inherently more social.

Hot Meze Platter

The meze platter was a feast for the eyes, showcasing kalamar, hellim, sucuk, sigara börek, and falafel, all alongside garlic and chilli dips. The star for me was the sucuk izgara – these spicy beef sausages were packed with a rich, meaty flavour and a fantastic garlic undertone that really hit the spot. The sigara börek was well executed, with its crisp, cigar-shaped pastry yielding to a delicious feta and spinach filling.

Cold Meze

The cold meze was a fun and colourful spectacle, made from 6 different sauces that were neatly divided up by cucumber slices; hummus, cacik, ezme, dolma, kisir, and tarama salata.

Accompanying this vibrant dish was a tub of the softest pitta bread I have encountered in a long while but for me, the undisputed highlight was the dolma, the hand-rolled vine leaves filled with fragrant rice and herbs. The roasted red pepper hummus also deserves a special mention at its robust flavour truly made it shine.

Between my guests and I, we all struggled to find a single thing we didn’t enjoy, with each and every one being a worthy addition to the plate. I highly recommend giving both the hot and cold meze platters a try for anyone visiting, as Tiger Lounge offers a superb example of how the meze platter should be done.

The Tiger Platter

If you find yourself at the Tiger Lounge, you’ll quickly notice you are spoiled for choice, so if you are keen to dive deep into a bit of everything, I wholeheartedly recommend their colossal Tiger Platter. This isn’t just a dish; it’s a magnificent, colourful mountain showcasing a selection of their finest charcoal-grilled specialities!

Prepare for a real feast, featuring eight cuts of meat: chicken wings, lamb chops, Adana lamb and lamb kofte, lamb shish, chicken shish, lamb doner, and sucuk. It all comes generously accompanied by pitta, a mixed salad, steamed rice, and couscous.

To my absolute delight, the sucuk made a welcome second appearance on the platter. However, the unexpected hero was undoubtedly the doner kebab. Far from the greasy, ‘trashy’ versions often found at local food vans, this tasted remarkably light and clean, a testament to the Tiger Lounge’s commitment to quality and truly setting them apart.

The lamb chops were simply stunning – a beautiful sight, utterly delicious, and generously sized. They were everything you could ever want from a chop, and then some.

Everything on the plate was a visual feast, with colour all over the place and different shaped meats at every turn. What truly impressed me was how even the often-overlooked sides, the rice and couscous, held their own. Far from being mere flat canvases, they boasted a robust and hearty flavour that stood out wonderfully on their own.

Levrek Izgars (Seabass)

Then, quite unexpectedly, a jaw-droppingly beautiful chargrilled whole seabass arrived, resting gently atop a bed of rice and salad. The plate was a carnival of colour, garnished with vibrant red pomegranate seeds, vivid pink cabbage, bright green and yellow chillies, orange carrot, and ripe tomatoes. The fish itself was a masterclass in subtle flavour – incredibly light and delicate, with a succulent, juicy texture. It was, quite simply, incredible!

Cocktails

The cocktail game at Tiger Lounge is undeniably strong, perfectly complementing the restaurant’s vibrant, nightclub-esque vibe. As a model citizen and designated driver, I could only manage a small sip of each – but I can confirm they were all absolutely delicious and, quite worryingly, far too easy to drink!

Baklava

We rounded off the evening with one of my favourite sweet treats – the baklava. While they certainly looked the part and tasted delightful, I was a touch disappointed by their lack of crispness. It might sound trivial, but for me, that satisfying crunch is the x-factor that truly elevates baklava, and I felt it was just missing here.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Tiger Lounge is a gem hiding in plain sight on the Huntington High Street. It is easily missed due to its large car park out the front. Yet, by offering a truly special experience, from the unexpectedly light doner kebab and impressive lamb chops, to the vibrant meze platters and stunning whole seabass, the kitchen delivers on both flavour and presentation. While the baklava might have missed that crucial crunch, it was a minor blip in an otherwise excellent meal. Factor in the vibrant, nightclub-esque atmosphere and the dangerously drinkable cocktails, and you’ve got a place that deserves to be visited, even from outside of Huntingdon. Tiger Lounge doesn’t just offer Turkish food; it offers a memorable, colourful and delicious dining experience that stands out in Huntingdon’s foodie scene.

Thanks for reading!