Glenn C.
Yelp
I was here at this unique Turkish spot a while back with a small group. The staff was friendly and the place has a good ambiance. They have a good amount of wine on the menu as well as surprisingly, a good variety of gin. In terms of food, I wouldn't mind going back specifically for brunch as I'm a big fan of Çılbır as well as Menemen. In terms of what we did get, the Rana's Table consisting of 15 dishes was a very nice selection and was a pretty good deal for dinner at $45 per person though some of the main dishes have a surcharge.
The first part of the Rana's Table for two consisted of the appetizers and mezze; both cold and hot. There was a lot of them and it became a bit of a hassle for them to put everything on the somewhat small tables. While cold, I was a big fan of the Mussel Dolma or mussels stuffed with rice, currants, and spices which is one of the coastal Turkish dishes they have here. It had nicely spiced rice with meaty mussels. Speaking of seafood, the Kimyon (or Cumin) Garlic Shrimp with whole shrimp, pul biber (i.e. aleppo pepper,) sesame, and butter was excellent also with a bit of spice and a slight bit of heart. Rounding out the seafood were the Calamari with urfa biber and tomato sauce which I didn't try of course due to the allergy as well as the Tamara Fish Roe which came with olive oil, bread, and lemon which had a good salty tang to it and went well with the bread being of course very similar to the Greek taramasalata (with the Greeks likely getting the recipe from the Ottomans) but I preferred the texture here over Greek spots I've been to.
Favorite of the non-seafood appetizers was the Atom Labneh or soft cheese with chili garlic brown butter. Nicely spiced again presumably using either the urfa or pul biber again and the labneh had good texture. Listed simply as Fava, the appetizer with mashed fava bean, dill, red onion, and olive oil had a thicker texture to it and was different but tasty. Rounding out was the Mevsim Salad/Salatası or seasonal salad as per the word mevsim as well as a selection of cheeses and olives. The salad wasn't a throwaway or that generic with tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, sliced green apple, cucumber, and another vegetable along with the obligatory greens on the bottom and was particularly large compared to the rest of the appetizers. It was pretty tasty though I would have preferred a stronger dressing. The mezze included some type of tomato based dish, some type of filled borek (a fried dough,) another dip, and clams with soujouk. All were fine and I would give more descriptions but they lacked them on the menu and I can barely remember them from when we went there outside of the tomato one being excellent and the clams being unique and delicious.
Unfortunately, the person I was eating with wasn't in the mood for steak so we didn't get the Iskender and instead went with the Grilled Branzino which is listed as whole with lemon, olive oil, and sumac. It was more lightly spiced that I imagined it would be but the fish was pretty tender. It's normally $39 on the regular menu and I'm not sure if it would be worth it and was an extra $10 on the prix fixe. Much better for the extra amount was the Seared Lamb Chops with Turkish apricots, urfa biber, and garlic. They had ordered that dish and gave me a piece as I gave them some of the fish and the lamb chops were excellent being perfectly cooked with a bit of sweetness.
Our side dish was the Rice & Dried Cherry which didn't have much cherries in it and I probably would have preferred the Cauliflower With Garlic Yogurt. The dessert was the same for all of us which was a mini Rice Pudding which I believe is called güllaç. It was topped with a lightly sweet preserve (raspberry I believe) as well as pistachios. This was a nice light way to end a filling meal.
While my main dish was only just alright, I would still recommend this place but only to go here with another person or otherwise with an even number of people so you can order the obligatory Rana's Table. It is both the most worth it especially because the main dishes are a bit overpriced especially for Turkish food and it gives the best sampling of all their appetizers and daily mezze which are the definite highlight even though the lamb was excellent. Low 3 for the meal outside of this excellent deal, mid/upper 3 with.