For a new pop-up, Kismet looks lived in. I mean that in the best way. Above the Globe Tavern in Borough Market, the rooms that were once Bridget Jones’s fictional flat have been taken over by Dom Hamdy of Bistro Freddie and Keiran Mustafa, a chef of Turkish-Cypriot heritage. This is Kismet’s home for the next year. Joké Bakare’s Chishuru once had a residency here. She now has a restaurant in Fitzrovia — and a Michelin star. After its recent trial run, Khao Bird went permanent in Soho. Clearly these rooms have potential for magic.

Hot weather and warped train tracks mean we arrive an hour late, feeling (not unlike Bridget Jones) an unholy trinity of sweaty, stressed and starving. There’s an old TV flickering at the top of the stairs, beaming out scenes from vintage Turkish shows, before we pull back a heavy curtain and step inside the lively dining room. We’re greeted not just with a smile but a handshake too. As we sit down, our server tells us Kismet replicates the traditional “meyhane” drinking dens of Istanbul and northern Cyprus. The walls have been painted in a soft yellow, emulating the tobacco-stained paintwork of a well-loved pub, then pinned with newspaper clippings and old photos hunted down in the flea markets of Istanbul by Hamdy and Mustafa. On every table, steel paper-napkin holders (you’ll need ’em) are marked 1964 — the year Mustafa’s family arrived in the UK.

I’ve been twice since Kismet opened in July. Named after the men once employed by Istanbul bars to carry pissed-up patrons home in baskets strapped to their backs, it isn’t long before bottles of own-brand Basket Case lager land on the table with iced glasses. You can also order Turkish raki by a measure or bottle. Have the latter and you’ll be instructed on how to serve it: fill to the line on the glass, add as much water as you like, then top with ice. My pal Sophie christens it “raki squash”. If you don’t make it to the bottom, you can get your bottle labelled up with your name for your next visit.

A meal at Kismet is generous in all senses. The set menu is £48, with a cover charge of £4 (which everyone pays) that brings bread, tea and water. We go for the set option and the table is quickly laden with meze — whipped tahini with sharp citrus, a rich and delicate tarama, stewed green beans and strained yoghurt with cucumber — served with a side plate of shaved kohlrabi, cucumber and melon. We’re tipped off to rake a triangle of melon through the dregs of the atom, a plate of buffalo-milk yoghurt with a whirlpool of glossy, deep red chilli butter that disappears fast.

The dips are so wonderful, we order another round of mopping-up bread we definitely don’t need. Not least because we’ve already gone off-menu and added a plate of yaprak ciğer (fried lamb livers). Crisp, light and showered in lemon juice, they will convert many offal naysayers. Especially when slathered with the accompanying pickled chilli.

The livers arrive with plump beef and bulgur wheat köftesi, and a skillet of bubbling Swiss chard that spits olive oil angrily. Topped with another dollop of the unmissable atom, it’s an enticing way to eat your greens.

Mustafa was head chef when the lauded Indian restaurant BiBi opened in 2021 and he’s worked at Greek-inspired Oma, so he knows his way around a charcoal grill. The main event is a platter of chicken thighs, excellent meatballs and charred peppers, all served on top of more of that bread, this time soaked in meaty juices. A plate of fried Cyprus potatoes that taste of days by the sea finishes things — and us — off. We ask for one final extra: a doggy bag.

Meyhanes must be special places, because you’ll find an abundance of warmth here. There’s a lively soundtrack (and, on the night we visit, a live kanun player), ceremonial spritzes of citrusy hand spray, glasses of Turkish tea presented on hanging silver trays that are skilfully swung around the room during service, and an enormous pan of still-warm baklava. These flourishes raise a smile.

Kismet means fate. Based on two glorious, sun-soaked meals, I imagine this Kismet is destined for great things over the next 12 months, and beyond.