The kebab platter is generous and well-priced, coming with starters and sides. Photo: Martin Conway.
If there’s one thing we all need more of in tighter times, it’s generosity, and in true Turkish spirit, Tuggeranong’s Little Istanbul has generosity mounding up and spilling over.
It’s the kind of generosity that sneaks up on you.
From the outside, it’s just another modern restaurant in a long line of restaurants attached to the side of a shopping mall. The fit-out is modern with a side of glam; the menu is a little cumbersome and slightly overwhelming; and on a Saturday night, you’ll be lucky to get a table.
But when you work through it all, you’ll find heaped platters of wonderfully marinated Turkish meats, vibrant spreads of all the classic dips that you expect to find, Turkish bread pulled from the oven and chopped right in front of you, and some incredibly good value banquet spreads that will have you leaving with a waddle.
The meats are grilled in the open kitchen alongside the freshly baking bread. Photo: Tenele Conway.
On my recent visit, our table opted for the kebab platter, which at $37 a head was a steal. Price-wise, this sits between the vegetarian banquet, which comes in at a surprisingly affordable $32.50 a head, and the Sovereign Banquet at $39.50 a head, again, excellent value. The banquets don’t stop there, and like a Turkish sultan, you can move through the levels all the way to the Royal Banquet at $54.50 a head.
The kebab platter isn’t quite as it sounds – it’s more of a mini banquet starting with a selection of dips and fresh-baked Turkish bread. Alongside the plate of meats is a rice pilav and a green salad. There was a little mix-up with our dips that saw the meat arrive first, something we were more than happy to take in our stride as the waiter apologised profusely. Once we all laughed it off, he commented jovially, “Oh well, dips go well with meats”, and he’s not wrong.
The dips accompanied by fresh-baked bread whet your appetite for the meal to come. Photo: Tenele Conway.
The meat selection on this platter includes sis kebab, which sees pieces of marinated lamb skewered and grilled to a nice char. The sis tavuk is similar but with very charred chicken pieces. The lamb cutlets are a nice addition to the spread with their herby marinade, and the hero for me was the lamb kofte. Loaded with cumin and Middle Eastern spices, every bite is a flavour bomb.
Turkish food is such a visceral experience, and that holds up here as you schmear your bread through the dips, leaving little dots across the table on its way to your mouth; lamb chops are grabbed by the bone as you gnaw away the tender meat. Hands clash as you reach in for your share of the skewered meats, and you can be sure the burnt end of the stick breaks and plops it back on the platter.
The sweets cabinet is loaded with Turkish treats that are impossible to resist. Photo: Tenele Conway.
With our seats right next to the dessert cabinet, we couldn’t leave without grabbing a few morsels to enjoy at home. The baklava with its gorgeous honey-laden filling was one of the best I’ve had in a long time, and the Turkish delight could surely lure many victims in the hands of the White Witch of Narnia.
Little Istanbul isn’t reinventing the wheel here, but you won’t leave hungry or with an empty wallet.
Little Istanbul is located at 210 Anketell St, Greenway and is open 7 days a week from 9 am until 9 pm. Alcohol is BYO; no corkage applies.
Original Article published by Tenele Conway on Region Canberra.
