Menemen in the UK: what it is, how to order it, where to find it
Quick answer
Menemen is eggs cooked slowly with tomatoes and green peppers in olive oil and butter, served in the pan it was made in with bread for scooping. It is the standard Turkish breakfast dish and the subject of a national argument about whether onion belongs in it. In the UK it has spread beyond Turkish cafés to brunch menus everywhere, and the difference between good menemen and scrambled eggs with tomato is how long the tomato is cooked before the eggs go in.
Calories and nutrition
- Calories
- 520
- Protein
- 26 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Salt
- 2.0 g
420–650 kcal
Portion: One pan for one, three eggs, with bread.
With sucuk, add about 150 kcal; without the bread, about 380.
Estimates for a typical portion, based on standard UK and USDA food composition data. Actual values depend on the recipe and the restaurant.
What menemen is
Green peppers are softened in butter and olive oil, grated tomato is added and cooked down until it is thick and sweet, and beaten eggs are stirred in slowly over low heat until they set in soft curds through the sauce. It is finished with black pepper and pepper flakes, sometimes with crumbled white cheese, and served in the small two-handled pan it was cooked in, with bread. It takes ten minutes and is eaten at breakfast, but Turks will eat it at any hour. The name comes from Menemen, a town near Izmir.
The onion question
Half of Turkey makes menemen with onion softened first, half without, and each side considers the other wrong. A national poll settled nothing. Without onion, the dish is cleaner and tastes of tomato and egg; with onion it is sweeter and heavier. Most UK Turkish cafés make it without unless you ask. Sucuk, the spiced sausage, is a common addition and turns it into a full meal; so is kaşar cheese melted on top. What menemen should never be is an omelette: the eggs go in loosely beaten and are stirred, not folded.
How to judge it
It should arrive in the pan, still moving slightly, glossy rather than dry, with the tomato cooked to a sauce rather than sitting as raw chunks. It should not be watery; watery menemen means the tomato was not cooked long enough. The eggs should be in soft ribbons through the sauce, not a solid layer. Good bread on the side matters, because you eat it with bread, not a fork.
Where in the UK it is done well
Every Turkish breakfast house makes it, and the kahvaltı places of Green Lanes, Enfield and Dalston make it constantly, which is the best guarantee. The ranking below counts Turkish restaurants in our directory whose name signals breakfast, café or kahvaltı.
How to order it
Order it as part of a breakfast spread or on its own with bread. Say 'soğansız' for no onion or 'soğanlı' with. Add sucuk if you want a full meal. It should take ten minutes; if it comes in two, it was made ahead.
Where it's done well
UK councils with the most menemen specialists, by restaurant name, in our directory.
Restaurants near you
Search by postcode or use your location to find restaurants likely to serve menemen near you.
Make it at home
Serves 2 · 15 min
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 2 ripe tomatoes, grated, skins discarded
- 1 long green pepper, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil
- half a tsp salt, black pepper, a pinch of pepper flakes
- crumbled white cheese, optional
- bread to serve
Method
- Warm the butter and oil in a small pan and cook the pepper over medium heat for three minutes.
- Add the grated tomato, season, and cook for eight minutes until thick and sweet.
- Beat the eggs loosely and pour in. Stir slowly with a wooden spoon, scraping the base, so the eggs set in soft curds through the sauce.
- Take off the heat while still glossy; scatter cheese and pepper flakes and serve in the pan with bread.
Grate the tomatoes rather than chopping them; you want a sauce, not pieces. Take it off the heat early; the pan keeps cooking it.