My sister and I hardly agree on anything food related. I like salty, she likes sweet. I love to try everything once, and she has psychological barriers to almost every food texture. It is no different with restaurant choices...she disagrees with almost everything I suggest.
When we decide to go out to dinner together, letting her choose the restaurant is really not a bad thing. We always end up at places I normally would not go to, giving me something new to experience. Our last meal together was at Topkapi, a traditional Turkish restaurant.
For starters, we had the Topkapi Mezeleri appetizer sampler, a plate of cold Turkish style dips and stuffed vine leaves. All the dips were nice and fresh. We really enjoyed this.
Appetizer Sampler
The appetizer plate was served with warm, fluffy Turkish pide bread.
Turkish Pide Bread
Freebs and I split the Karisik Izgara dinner for two, a huge platter of grilled meats. The platter was served with rice, potatoes, and a Turkish salad.
Turkish Salad
The meats in the dinner for two included shish kebap (lamb), shish tavuk (chicken), Kőfte (ground beef) and pirzola (lamb chop). All the meats were nicely grilled, and we were extremely stuffed by the end of it.
Dinner for Two
For dessert, we ordered a kűnefe to share. This is a traditional Turkish dessert made of shredded pastry and soft cheese. The pastry is layered with the cheese, and the entire dish is sweetened with syrup.
Kűnefe
Kűnefe
Freebs ordered strong Turkish coffee made with finely powdered roast coffee beans to go with dessert. I thought the cup and saucer was beautiful. Love the bright colors.
Turkish Coffee
The meal came with a complimentary cup of Turkish tea. This was a little too sweet for me. I prefer my tea black.
Turkish Tea
The meal also came with complimentary Turkish delight, which was a perfect end to our meal. Sweet but not too sweet. I learned to love Turkish delight while I was in Sydney. For some reason, it is really popular there.
Turkish Delight
They also have belly dancers on Saturday nights. Check out their events page for the schedule.
Topkapi Turkish Restaurant
484 Preston Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-230-9221
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2 comments:
Looks and sounds absolutely warming and delicious! My next dinning out experience, for sure!
I went here once for Valentine's day dinner and the guy I was seeing at the time was a Turkish Australian - your comment about Turkish delight reminded me of when he was telling me about the history of Turks in Oz and how there is now a huge established population there!
Your post also reminded me of how I tried to give him my lamb chop as I usually don't enjoy lamb (too game-y?) but he convinced me to try it first and it was one of the best lamb chops I've ever had! I think its about time I head back to Topkapi a second time :)
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