Tulip Turkish Cafe in Swindon promises 'something different'

The Tulip Authentic Turkish Café, which will be situated on Havelock Street in the former site of JJs Hair Group, announced last week that it would be ‘opening soon’ as new signs started to appear.

But now the owner of the café, Mustafa Dayan, has spoken exclusively to the Swindon Advertiser about what locals can expect from the establishment.

Dr Dayan, who was raised in Turkey but has spent the past 25 years living in the UK, is already well-known in his community as a parish councillor for West Swindon.

Having worked in restaurants and takeaways for several years, he is now hoping that his new venture can be the first-of-its-kind Turkish cafe in Swindon.

Tulip Authentic Turkish Cafe will be the first of its kind in Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

“I thought that Swindon needed some different kinds of food and some cafes in different styles because Turkish food and drink is quite popular around Europe and in the world, but there are no Turkish cafés in Swindon,” he told the Adver.

“There’s also quite a lot of Turkish people living around the Swindon and Wiltshire area and I’m a member of the Turkish community as well as being a parish councillor.

“It’s going to be a totally different concept to most cafés in Swindon with different decorations.”

41 Havelock Street, where the new café will be located, has been empty since late 2023 when the existing hair salon announced that it was relocating to Crombey Street in Swindon.

But now Mr Dayan is hoping to make the place feel like home.

West Swindon Parish Councillor Mustafa Dayan will run Tulip Cafe alongside his wife. (Image: West Swindon Parish Council)

Tulip Café will be named after the national flower of Turkey which is so popular that the country even celebrates an annual festival for tulips.

Explaining where the idea for the café came from, Mr Dayan said: “My wife always wanted to work in a café.

“I used to run a restaurant and I have mostly worked in a takeaway shop but it was my wife’s idea to set up a café so that we could work in the daytime rather than the nighttime.

“We will work in the café together and it will be a family business.”

Although no official opening date has been set up, the Dayan family say that if all goes to plan then the Tulip Authentic Turkish Café will hopefully be up and running by the end of June, and

“The builders have been working finishing the jobs at the moment, and then we can get ready to open,” Mr Dayan added.