Sembol

I should have written this some time ago, but not having had the time, I am only writing this now. Expect more restaurants this week.

~o~

If you were to ask a lot of people in Urfa City about restaurants, Sembol is the first place they would suggest.  What's so special about Sembol? Their Kebab of course!

 (Yes, I took a pic of the restaurant name)

Appetizer:

Of course, there was the salad, lebeni cold soup and surprisingly, some mini lahmacun.  Lahmacun is somewhat like pizza, however the only toppings are tomato sauce, onions, bell peppers and ground beef and it is quite soft. The salad was composed mainly of onions and thick tomato sauce with some peppers, and it was spicy but was delicious.  I have to admit though, the lahmacun was pretty hot, but it tasted quite good. 

Main Course:

We ordered kebab of course, and it was grilled to perfection.  It was a mixture of beef, liver, a little bit of fat, chicken, tomatoes, eggplants, and a special one wherein there was was cheese and chicken in a single piece.  It was utterly divine when eaten with parsley, onions and bread.  Everything was not oily, with just the right amount of spiciness, making the meal enjoyable.

Drink: Ayran

Ayran is basically yoghurt and water mixed together, but Sembol's Ayran is quite special as it had a foamy top.  It was of just the right thickness and was not sour at all (some tend to be a bit sour), in fact it was quite sweet.  As it also came in a metal bowl, it gave the drink a very Turkish feel to it.

Yes, I have to say it, Sembol is definitely not a restaurant you should pass up on.  Price wise, it is average, but the service and the food is incomparable.

Çulcuoğlu Baklava and Restaurant

Haven’t updated this blog in a while, although I’ve been going around various restaurants here in Turkey (Şanliurfa, Turkey, specifically).  I keep forgetting the restaurant’s name and the names of the food they served, initially so I couldn’t really make any entries before.  Now that I’ve gotten to learn the language better, I can start making entries about them.

Çulcuoğlu Baklava and Restaurant

Located near the city center, this restaurant has an outdoor and indoor eating place.  As it was the spring season, me and my friends selected to eat in the garden, and we were given blankets to warm ourselves with if we felt cold.  Talk about hospitality! 

I sampled some of the Turkish food I haven’t tried before, and here were my selections:

Lebeni Soup

This is a usually a standard part of any restaurant’s offerings.  Some offer it for free, but I’m not sure for this certain place as I didn’t get to look at the bill closely.  It’s made out of yoghurt mixed with some beans, and is served cold.  Having had this a lot of times before, I would say there’s normal, nothing spectacular about it.

Domates Salata (Tomato Salad)

My friend ordered this particular salad, but actually to me it already looks like a tomato soup since the ingredients were very finely chopped and the tomato juice was soaking all of them.  It’s a combination of (I think) parsley, onion stalks, onions, and of course, tomatoes.  It had a fresh taste, but as this is also a very common offering in the area, I can find nothing about it that stands out particularly.

Içlı Kofte

Kofte is a popular dish in Urfa, and this is the first time I have tried this particular type.  It’s similar to an empanada, but the main difference is that while an empanada is soft, this particular dish is quite crispy on the outside.  The filling was made out of ground beef mixed with finely chopped onions and some other spices.  As for the taste?  The filling complements the taste of the breading used.  I thought it would be oily, but it wasn't.  It tasted very good, the meat had a defined flavor due to the spices used.

Tandir

 My main entree.  You can see what it is composed of clearly, except for the fried rice underneath the beef strips.  The fried rice had beans mixed in it.  Verdict: It was very delicious.  The beef was quite soft, no hint of toughness anywhere, and the flavor was very pronounced.  The rice was well cooked, the amount of oil just right, making it not very oily.  The beans in the rice were flavorful as well, and complemented the beef.  It was a good partner with the onion, tomatoes and peppers seen in the picture.

It was not very expensive, the meal I think was a grand total of $15-20.  I have to admit though, the variety of the food is limited, and I'm not sure I want to try anything else on the menu, but I'd definitely go back for the kofte.

The Parklane Hotel Lunch Buffet

After the disappointment at a buffet (see previous entry), I was slightly a bit more cautious when I went to Parklane Hotel to eat at their buffet for lunch.  The experience made me realize why I loved eating at buffets: various food!

I had some salad, soup and some sashimi for my appetizer, coupled with some hors d'oeuvre (shrimp!).  I had a lot of fun with these entrees since they were not only quite fun to look at, but also quite scrumptious! Oooops! No pics for these, it sorta slipped my mind since I was having fun eating.  The soup was quite rich, a lot more than your average cream soup.

 Now for the main meal.  Here's a slight preview of the dishes I ate:

Oho! I see I had a picture of the soup.  I think I had a taste of various dishes, which included pork, beef, chicken and fish.  Honestly speaking, the food was good, but they reminded me of various Filipino dishes, given only different names.  I wonder, does the name of the dish relate to the whetting of the appetite, whether its a common dish or an exotic one?  (Side note: If you noticed I didn't have rice on my place.  That's because I don't eat rice whenever I eat at a buffet.  I try not to eat too much carbs in a buffet setting since I know they're a lot more filling than sampling various other dishes)

I guess this is my favorite part: dessert!

I so loved the desserts especially the creme brulee.  I sampled all of the desserts seen here, and yes, I finished all of them.  They were all so yummy!  I think you could also have crepes made as well as halo halo but I preferred eating these creations.  Mouth watering, aren't they?

I guess the best part about this is the price.  It costs 500 something pesos!  For the quality of the food and the ambiance, the price is very reasonable.  I'd probably take my friends there if I had a chance!

Parklane Hotel
Cebu City

The Buffet at Marco Café

I’ve been to a couple of buffets in some hotels in Manila, and I have to say that despite steep price of these places, I’ve never felt disappointed with any of them.  This made me think that all hotel buffets would satisfy me.  Unfortunately I was proven to be wrong.

I had a lunch buffet with a cousin earlier at the Marco Polo Plaza, and I was really looking forward to it since my sister who had eaten there before raved about it.   She really made me think that the place was worth visiting, and I was excited.  When I entered the place, it was large and very classy.  The staff was very accommodating throughout the meal.  The place was also very neat, not even a single fly dared show its’ head.  The food I sampled was excellent, from the appetizers to the desserts.

So what was the problem?  I have to say it was with the mediocre selection of food.  I’m not sure if they had a theme or something they had to follow for today, and if that was the case, I’m apologizing in advance, but I really thought there was nothing very special in the food they served.  True, the selection of the appetizers from the bread, cheese, salad and sauces were very much varied, but the main course and the dessert fell short, most especially the main course.  Most of the food presented in the main course was something you tended to eat casually.  There was no sense of excitement in the food, nothing that would make you want to try it since it was something that seemed different from what you usually saw.  As for the desserts, there was not really that much of a variety in the cakes and sweets, I guess I just expected more from them.

The food is excellent in taste, no doubt about that.  I was actually quite fascinated with the various types of cheese I got to try.  The thing is, with food I enjoy an adventure, and unfortunately the visit did not quite live up to my standards.    I had hoped for more, and I found the place a bit lacking for my needs.

My verdict: Marco Café would be an excellent place to dine in if you’re looking for an excellent buffet with scrumptious food which are familiar to you. 

The Marco Polo Hotel

Cebu City

Hassan Steak and Kebabs

My apologies, no pictures for this post :( The place was too dark and I didn't have a decent camera with me during that time)
                                                                 *****************

Last Saturday, me and a group of friends went to this small place at Katipunan area.  I had never been there, but they assured me it was a good place to eat at, and that it wasn't too expensive.  I conceded, and I was not disappointed.

The place was quite small, and easy to miss.  It seemed like a small eatery to me.  We got seated, and a waitress went to our table to take our orders.  I went for Beef Shawarma, as well as their own take on pizza in both chicken and beef flavors.

After a while, our meals were served.  Size wise, the servings were a bit small for me.  But I have to say the food was good.  The beef shawarma I ordered was laid out in a plate, with the pita, veggies and the meat separated.  As they had a variety of sauces you could mix and create your own preferred sauce.  I liked mine with a lot of garlic and cheese sauce. 

As for the pizza?  They were about approximately 10 inches in diameter.  They were really good, and very very tasty.  Actually, when I think of it, they tasted like shawarma made into pizza, but no veggies.  It was thin crust, and quite crispy, and very very good.  Just like the meal, you could choose the flavor of sauce you want it to go with. 

Price-wise, I thought the beef shawarma was a bit small, but the pizza was quite cheap for its size and taste.  I would like to go back there again sometime to taste their other offerings, especially since I know that their place offers good food without hurting your pocket.


Hassan Steak and Kebabs
Katipunan

The Greek Experience

I had always wanted to try Mediterranean food, most especially Greek food, since it's always been described in my favorite romance pocket books.  My sister warned me that it might not really suit my taste, but I was quite insistent so off we went to the nearest place where we could get Greek cuisine: Cyma at Trinoma

The Bottomless Lemonade

 Caesar Salad

We just had a salad, and just to be on the safer side, we chose a simple Caesar salad.  It was good enough to share for the two of us, although it was stated that it was a solo serving.  It was good.  What really drew me was the taste of the vegetables, since they were all so crisp and very fresh.  I was thinking whether they were organic or not, but I never got to ask.  As for the sauce?  It was the typical dressing, maybe a bit lighter than what I usually have.  

 Flaming Cheese

This was our appetizer, and before it was served the cheese was indeed put on fire as all the waiters cried "Oppa!".  It was great!  The cheese I think was a mix of parmesan, mozarella and probably cheddar which was cooked in olive oil.  It complemented the grilled garlic bread just fine. 

 

Baked Macaroni in Greek Style

Lastly, we had baked macaroni.  I know it's not a Greek dish, but I just wanted a taste of how Greek prepared their food essentially and due to my sister's misgivings about what she tasted before we settled for this.  How should I describe it?  It was good, but the beef tasted a bit off to me.  I guess it was due to the herbs which were part of the dish.  Also, I had a hard time finishing my part.  We took a "to share" size of serving and we got more than we bargained for.  I got a bit tired of the taste as I tried to finish it.  It was a bit overpowering for me.

 Chili Oil

Overall Summary:

I quite enjoyed my appetizer as well as my salad, but I have to admit the main dish disappointed me a bit.  It was a good thing the chili oil was there as the spice went well with the flavor, but I still was unable to finish my meal.  If I had had the macaroni in a smaller serving I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more than I did.

That aside, I can not really say that this is a good review.  As I said, I did not really eat authentic Greek cuisine, just food which was prepared in Greek style, I am in no position to say whether the food is good or bad.  So here is just my take on what I ordered, and sadly I think the taste may not suit me.  But I still have hope, maybe on my next visit it will be better.

(All of the food had their Greek name counterparts, but for simpler understanding I just wrote the usual names)

Isaw! (Barbequed Innards)

Yum! I know other people may think it's carcinogenic, dirty and a whole lot of other things, but for me good food is good food and I like these!  The 4 pieces below are chicken intestines while the 3 above are pork intestines.  They are cooked by a neighbor of ours so I'm quite certain of their cleanliness (I've never suffered from diarrhea after eating this!)

Underneath the barbeque is the sauce in which I dip the barbeque in, which is composed of vinegar, onions and some chili peppers.  It's a bit hot, but it's also good and it matches the barbequed innards well.  Perfect match with alcohol, don't you think? :)