Thanks to everyone who entered my stainless steel straws giveaway! The winner is Er!
Congrats, Er! Send me an email at sushiandsitups[at]gmail[dot]com with your full name and address, and I’ll send these out to you as soon as possible!
Last night my dad and I grabbed dinner at Bosphorous, a Turkish restaurant, on Park Ave. We actually took a Mediterranean cruise when I was in middle school, which ended in Turkey, but I don’t really remember any of the food from there.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, I realized I had forgotten my camera. Rookie mistake. So my apologies for the crappy photos—these were taken on my iPhone (3!!).
We started out with an order of lavas, which is their traditional hollow bread. It came out piping hot, and once you rip into it, the whole thing deflates. It was warm, chewy, buttery and delicious.
We dipped the lavas in hummus and roasted eggplant.
You really can’t go wrong with hummus and warm dippers. The eggplant was also delicious. There were huge chunks of eggplant, and it was swimming in tomato sauce. However, it was served cold, which I didn’t expect. I had never actually had cold eggplant before.
My dad ordered shrimp casserole for his main course, which was sautéed shrimp coated in a cream sauce and served with rice.
He was kind of lukewarm on the dish. He said the cheese overpowered everything else.
I ordered lamb kofte, which is a mixture of lamb and veal with seasonings then formed into patties and grilled.
It was really flavorful and moist. The spices were really strong, but balanced out well with the rice. The rice was also extremely seasoned and flavorful. I really enjoyed my meal but could only eat half of it. It was a lot of food!
Overall, I really enjoyed my meal, even though my dad didn’t, but there are some things they could work on. They were out of a fish on their menu, which was my dad’s first choice, and then they were out of the wine he wanted. Our waitress was also a little annoying. She had great intentions, but she kept coming back with little quips that you could tell she uses with every table.
“Great choice. If you don’t like it, I’ll eat it.”
“How is everything? Glad you like my cooking!”
It just didn’t fit with the ambience they were going for there. It’s also important to note that this place is pretty pricey. Most of the entrees are more than $20. Welcome to Park Ave!
The next day at work, I heated up my leftovers making my cubicle smell like onions. Whoops. I really do try not to be that person, but everyone around me said it smelled delicious.
It really did heat up well. The patties were still really flavorful and moist, and the rice was just as delicious and I remembered from the night before. However, those spices definitely added up.
Lunch was followed by a lot of water.
And additional reinforcements.
Sorry if this post seems rushed. I’m feeling really icky. I woke up with the worse headache this morning, which hasn’t gone away despite lots of Advil all day, and on top of that, I’ve been feeling kind of nauseas and my eyes are having a difficult time adjusting making me dizzy. I’m just a mess. Time to shut the computer and give myself a break.
Have you ever had Turkish food?
Any fun plans for the month of September? I’m pumped for football season!
Welcome to Park Ave…hah – sounds about right!
Feel better! And yes, equally pumped for football season! Are you a college or pro fan? Gators, obvs…but any other teams?
Pro teams I root for are the Colts and Bears!! I also try to root for Florida teams just to be a good sport
P U! Just kidding. I’ve never had Turkish food but it sounds very good. Love the Gator cup.
Thanks! I love that the cup is HUGE!
I’ve never had Turkish food, but it looks good! I like all types of Mediterranean food, so I’m guessing I’d like Turkish, too!
Yes they are pretty similar!
Although I go to your rival school, I must say that I love your cute pink gator cup
I saw UCF ones too!
I went to Bosphorous a few years ago with friends and had the WORST SERVICE ever. I loved the food (anything Mediterranean makes me feel at home!), but will never go back there because of our experience. Oh – and because there was more than 6 of us they added 20% tip. Now, I typically tip 20% (or more) – but I would not have tipped that much there. We were pissed!
Yes I was definitely not impressed with the service.
This was the first time I’ve heard of Turkish food before this!
It’s pretty similar to all the mediterranean cuisines. Lots of similar spices!
I’m with you girl! I’ve been feeling like crapola all week! Get better soon! xo
Same to you!! We need some R and R.
I have never even heard of Turkish food! Like I understand it exists but I have never seen anyone make it before. Looks great
It’s definitely worth a try if you like Mediterranean food. But I’m sure there’s less expensive places!
I love Turkish food but I’m not a fan of Bosphorous, they’re just okay in my book. The best Turkish food I had here was at the Turkish festival downtown, check it out next year, it was awesome: http://peasinablog.com/good-peas/good-peas-orlando-turkish-festival/
Oh I bet that was amazing. It was probably a lot more authentic and not as hoity toity.
I’m glad I’m not alone! I went to Bosphorous once too based on how much people rave about it, and I just thought it was kind meh. Part of my problem is that I’m allergic to eggplant so everything that looked really good had eggplant in it. I just was underwhelmed by everything — except the bread, that was great! And I agree, it’ too pricey to not LOVE everything you try.
And what is it with waitresses lately, huh? (I saw your comment on my BBQ waitresses blog!). Seriously, I was a server for 4 years during and after college and I was NEVER as snotty as some of the servers I’ve had lately. But I’m a sucker. Since I did serve for so long, I still always leave at least 20%.
I’m never brave enough to not tip or to ever send my food back. I just blog about it afterward, lol.
Yay!!!! So excited to finally try these straws…sending you an email now.
Hope you are feeling better today.
Today’s been much better. Thank you!
I went to Bosphorus once and got sticker shock, too! I know people rave about it, but dang – our bill was $60.00, and that didn’t include any drinks! My dinner was pretty good, but not sure if I’d go back w/o at Groupon or something.
Yay for football season!! And I love your cup.
Exactly! If I’m going to spend that much, I want the entire package: great food and great atmosphere.
I’ve never had Turkish food. I really enjoy trying new food and want to try it at least once.
Yay for football season! I can’t wait either
I agree! I always love trying new types of food!
I’ve never had turkish food, but that bread looks delish! I love the cup too.
I have a Florida’s Natural orange juice one that I left at home and I lovee it!
The bread was definitely the best part!