Ottoman Cuisine (Turkish)

Address: Cnr Broughton & Blackall St, Barton ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6273 6111

Opening Hours: Lunch - Tue-Fri Noon to 3pm; Dinner Tue-Sat 6pm-10pm

Website: http://www.ottomancuisine.com.au/Canberra/Canberra.html

This is one of my favourite top 3 restaurants in Canberra because it has a combination of: fantastic food, great pricing (I think), good service & the optimum ambience between a bustling vibe that is not loud enough so that you cannot hear what the person sitting opposite to you is saying.

Entrée:

Scallops with Lemon Mash & Mustard – scallops quickly seared with complimentary textures & flavours. I find that fluffy, potato-ey sides always work well with a well-cooked scallop dish. Lemon is always a safe option with seafood and this was no exception.

Pan-seared Ocean Trout & Almond Tarator with Mustard dressing. The fish looks quite rare, but it is in fact not slimy at all. The Almond tatator was similar to a denser version of hummus and the quantity was just right in this. A Culinary delight.

Mains:

Char-grilled deboned spitchcock marinated – texture is between duck & chicken thigh meat, tangy lemon hit with a dry-paste Mediterranean marinade.

Lamb cutlets – rubbed in a Mediterranean dry spice, flavoursome and juicy. Potato chips were more like mini toasts, drizzled in a tangy vinegar dressing. Served with Turkish rice – the oily sweetness was carefully fragmented by harshness of sea salt.

Dessert:

Green Apple sorbet with Midori Syrup, sprinkled with crushed pistachio – Smoothest & most refreshing sorbet I’ve ever consumed, apparently the midori raises the freezing temperature hence no iceflakes. The waiter suggested this was a good finisher to ‘cleanse’ the palette – and the man totally knew he was on about. I satisfied the sweet tooth without tipping over the edge (like most desserts will do).

Pictured here is the Semonlina & Orange Cake with orange syrup. It looked like a soggy friand to me but I was assured it was quite delightful. Wwe had a bit of a mishap with the desserts, they initially delivered the poached pear (pictured delightfully below) instead of the orange cake, but very quickly recfitied this (in effect bringing 2 orange cakes, one of which we had to send back to say we already had an orange cake). The service and problem management was swift & professional, with the waiters apologising profusely about the mix up (no skin off our back, we almost got a free dessert).


The only thing that could have made this evening better was a piece of Turkish Delight (there was a mountain at the paying counter as I entered the restaurant, but you've obviously got to get out early if you don't want to be stuck with the last stale looking piece - which I didn't pick up & eat mind you)...