Milton Keynes has recently had a few new indie restaurants pop up in the Xscape, filling up the spaces where some of the old chain restaurants have closed down and left. It’s great to see that the indie scene is thriving, and I’ve heard some great things about these new offerings. One of the new restaurants that have opened is Sumac Room, a Turkish Mediterranean restaurant located in the Xscape, Milton Keynes.
Sumac Room is truly beautiful inside, decorated with blue, yellow and pink shades, golds, velvets and a flower wall. It’s very aesthetically pleasing and makes for a gorgeous spot for a date night or girls night out. You can expect hot and cold meze, bbq grills, fish and vegetarian dishes, as well as chef specials – there’s even a decent children’s menu, so a great place to visit with the family too.
I recently visited for dinner with three of my NCT friends as we were very overdue a night, having been over 2 years since our last one. One of my friends suggested we tried out Sumac Room as it had recently opened, and I’m very pleased she did.
After ordering some cocktails (and mocktails for us drivers) we took a look over the menu and ordered our starters. Sumac Room has a great cocktail menu, with plenty of non-alcoholic options – but as this was our first mums night out since our babies were 2 months old, I drank mine without getting a photo first!
I chose the Kalamari to start (£6.95) which is deep-fried and wonderfully crispy, served with a small side salad. While we were having our starters they also came around with some bread and dips – cacik and kisir. Everyone enjoyed their starters, and the added bread went down nicely too!
For mains 3 out of the 4 of us chose the Chicken Beyti (£14.50) – marinated chicken seasoned with garlic, wrapped in bread with cheese, topped with tomato sauce and butter, served with yoghurt. This is one of the tastiest things I’ve tried from a Turkish restaurant before, it had so much flavour. The one of us who didn’t have the chicken beyti had the Salmon, which was served with sauteed vegetables and salad – and it looked amazing!
When it came to the end of the meal and they asked us if we wanted to look at the desserts, we weren’t going to say no. There wasn’t a huge variety on the desserts menu, there’s a mix of traditional Turkish desserts, ice creams and chocolate cakes. I was intrigued by the Magnolia pudding, which is served with strawberries and pistachios. We’d never heard of this before and the waitress described it like a custard, but it was a thinner more yogurt like consistency. I quite enjoyed it, but the rest of the table weren’t very keen!
The food at Sumac Room was incredible, and it had such a great atmosphere, and beautiful decor! It was a great place to go out for a meal with some friends, and would make for a great location for a date night. I haven’t stopped thinking about the chicken beyti since we visited, so I’ll be sure to be coming back for it again soon!
How to Find it
Sumac Room is located in the Xscape, Milton Keynes MK9 3XS – use the map below for directions. It’s located where Frankie & Benny’s used to be, on the Nandos/McDonalds side of the Xscape.
