Next to the railways bridge on St James's Street, on the opposite side of the road from the station entrance is an end of terrace building which has over the years been put to a number of uses, including a bank and an Islamic School. It has recently been converted into a restaurant, though in true Waltham Forest style much of this work was done by dodgy labourers who had no regard whatsoever for health and safety legislation. They could be seen practically standing in the bus queue as they wielded their lump hammers to destroy the frontage and open it out so that the current full glass windows could be installed. There was at this stage no application for planning permission, and, the council planning committee was told, this work was for some mysterious reason, actually undertaken while the building was still a school.

This is a corner of the borough where planning, building controls and health and safety legislation has been ignored by developers with apparent impunity for some years, though there are noises that the illegal and possibly dangerous bedsit conversions on the other side of the road may yet see some enforcement action which involves more than a few tut tuts and some hand-wringing.

So we have a new restaurant on the same row of shops as Compucare and Cash Converters. From the outside, the job looks good. Its a double shopfront, going back some way. There is supposed to be a garden at the rear, though this is not obvious from the street, a good sign if they have done it right. They have preserved the beautiful gable end at the top of their building and the shop front does nothing like as much detriment to the period features as the blue tarpaulin and tawdry signage at Cash Converters. Being on the opposite side of the road from the station, the new restaurant will not have too much footfall, though it is at the corner of the lane leading down to the Firs Medical Centre by the railway, and many people on their way to the Bengal Curry House would pass it. I hope they are going to have some pretty good chefs and front of house staff.

Details of the menu, are here. It is an improvement to the area to have a successful turkish restaurant as well as Delight Kebab and Cafe or Kapadokya. I wonder if they will give the Windmill a run for their money?