Sometimes, after long days at work, you just want to go out and have a big meal. An appetizer, mains AND dessert. You don’t care that you shouldn’t be eating a big meal at night or whatever other stupid “fun facts” people throw at you constantly. You just want to eat because long days at work earn you the right to a big indulgence.
A pre-planned dinner on a not-so-fun day at work had kept me going. We had decided on Bosporus simply because I happened to walk past it one random night and it was buzzing! It was quite late at night and the place was packed with people – which is always a good sign. Also, I hadn’t really ever had the pleasure of trying Turkish food but had only ever heard the best things. We battled rush hour traffic on Jumeirah Beach Road (which is still heaps better than traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road FYI!), got ourselves a table outside and settled in.
The menu is filled with pictures and we started intense discussions about what to order. Given we were five foodies at the table (some familiar with the cuisine and some not), the discussion about what to order seemed endless. I give thanks to the heavens that our server was not only super patient but also very informative and helpful; he gave some great suggestions. Finally, when the time came to order, we went a little nuts. And it was all, so worth it!
We started with an order of hummus which was brought out instantantly. Creamy and delicious. And the fresh bread did great with it!
Mini lahmacun – to my relief, these were lamb. And amazing. I recommend using the lemon.
We also ordered the Beyti Kebab which was a favorite around the table. The flavor in these little bites was unbelievable. And the yogurt is a perfect accompaniment.
For mains, there was one order of Manti. It was the only dish I couldn’t eat given it is beef but judging from from the wide eyes, “mmmms” and the oh-my-gosh’s that followed, this is a good one!
Iskander Kebab (Chicken). Apparently everyone’s favorite. And now, mine too!
The sautéed chicken with vegetables. This was probably the most underwhelming dish of them all but still good.
Given we were struggling to decide on more food because all the above wasn’t enough for this ravenous bunch, the mixed grill was recommended to us by our waiter. Mostly lamb and a little chicken. All the meat was cooked perfectly and very flavoursome.
We couldn’t leave without dessert after seeing Kunefe (Kunafeh) on the menu. So that’s what we did..
One plain Kunefe
One Nutella Kunefe. Yes. You heard right, Nutella! Whoever came up with this should win an award of some kind, in my opinion. Having said that, the opinion on the table was split – some like the original. My take is that mostly any dessert only gets better with Nutella.
We ended the meal with cups of Turkish and peppermint tea and shisha. While this place can get pricey if you go as nuts ordering, it was very good food and definitely worth it. Also, great location – beach road is always a winner, isn’t it?
LOCATION – Jumeirah Beach Road, Opposite Mashreq Bank, Umm Suqeim, Dubai