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.
