Turkish Birthday
The main thing I want to post is a charming photo taken of Kris and me at our favorite Turkish restaurant, Istanbul Grill. If you go to the link, the very first photo at the top is what I ordered: "Iskender kebab." It was so good the last time we were there that I wanted to have it again. menu choices.
The dinners are only about $11.95, which is extremely reasonable for a restaurant evening meal in SoCal. The waiters, who are all part of the family ownership, are extraordinarily pleasant and helpful, without being smarmy. They love to talk about recipes and Turkey.
When we asked for the dessert menu at the end, they carefully set those down in front of us, refreshing our place settings as they did so. When Oscar (hubby) mentioned that it was my birthday, they quickly retracted the menus, almost without explanation. We sat for quite a while, maybe 15 minutes. while we did so, the staff was industriously cleaning up the place, i.e. putting away unused dishes, candles, etc. When they turned off all the lights, we figured they had forgotten us! Suddenly I realized this was just the prelude for presenting our "special treat," which was starting to appear to require candles. Sure enough, a moment later, their entire crew of 3 or 4, including the cook, came out in a line presenting their complimentary dessert for us. Hopefully I can post a picture of that, too. It was a single plate with three pieces of rose flavored turkish delight, two pistachio baklavas and a potato pancake-sized treat that appeared to be made out of feta cheese, coated on both sides with shredded phyllo pastry, fried (?), and then drenched in a sugar syrup. I gritted my teeth at the sugar coming my way, then happily chowed it down, attempting to share equally with my two companions.
Though Kris unfortunately broke up with his Turkish girlfriend, he is by now an avowed fan of Turkey. He loves tossing a Turkish phrase or two at the waiters, as well as explaining to us the photos posted prominently on the walls of the restaurant. He bugs us regularly that we should visit Cappadocia or some other intriguing place in Turkey,Troy, for example, or simply swimming in their balmy waters.
Kris and former GF in Turkey.
Photos to follow!
The dinners are only about $11.95, which is extremely reasonable for a restaurant evening meal in SoCal. The waiters, who are all part of the family ownership, are extraordinarily pleasant and helpful, without being smarmy. They love to talk about recipes and Turkey.
When we asked for the dessert menu at the end, they carefully set those down in front of us, refreshing our place settings as they did so. When Oscar (hubby) mentioned that it was my birthday, they quickly retracted the menus, almost without explanation. We sat for quite a while, maybe 15 minutes. while we did so, the staff was industriously cleaning up the place, i.e. putting away unused dishes, candles, etc. When they turned off all the lights, we figured they had forgotten us! Suddenly I realized this was just the prelude for presenting our "special treat," which was starting to appear to require candles. Sure enough, a moment later, their entire crew of 3 or 4, including the cook, came out in a line presenting their complimentary dessert for us. Hopefully I can post a picture of that, too. It was a single plate with three pieces of rose flavored turkish delight, two pistachio baklavas and a potato pancake-sized treat that appeared to be made out of feta cheese, coated on both sides with shredded phyllo pastry, fried (?), and then drenched in a sugar syrup. I gritted my teeth at the sugar coming my way, then happily chowed it down, attempting to share equally with my two companions.
Though Kris unfortunately broke up with his Turkish girlfriend, he is by now an avowed fan of Turkey. He loves tossing a Turkish phrase or two at the waiters, as well as explaining to us the photos posted prominently on the walls of the restaurant. He bugs us regularly that we should visit Cappadocia or some other intriguing place in Turkey,Troy, for example, or simply swimming in their balmy waters.
Kris and former GF in Turkey.
Photos to follow!