John L.
Yelp
This shop has tasseography! Tasseography is a fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in coffee grounds. For a price ($40), you get a cup of Turkish coffee, 3 Turkish delights, a baklava, and a fortune reading of your coffee grounds. Details on arranging for a reading, what to expect at a reading, and a description of my reading are in the last 2 paragraphs below. My wife and I tried 3 drinks and 3 desserts.
1) Turkish tea
It was a black tea with no bitterness. It was full-bodied with a bit of astringency. It didn't need sweetening. It had a nice aroma and was easy to drink plain.
2) Mardin Turkish coffee with Turkish delights
The coffee is a blend with chocolate, caramel, almond, pistachio, and cardamom flavors. It was a medium roast coffee that was heavy bodied with flavors that were nutty, earthy, and woodsy. The coffee bean fruit flavors dominated over the other flavors. A flavorful and unique coffee that we liked.
Turkish Delight is made from a sugar syrup and starch milk mixture that is cooked for five to six hours, and then a flavor is added. The mixture is then poured into large trays to set. Five hours later, they are rolled, cut, and dusted with icing. The Turkish delights we got were coated with powdered sugar. It was extremely sweet with an unidentifiable flavor.
3) Pistachio Zeugma Turkish coffee
The coffee is a blend with pistachio. It is decaffeinated and CAN NOT be used for tasseography. This one was the closest in flavor to regular medium roast coffee. It was medium-bodied and had a mild nutty flavor. This was good in a typical way.
4) Walnut baklava and Pistachio baklava
The baklava were made by a vendor. They were made with filo dough, sugar syrup, butter, crushed nuts, and lemon. They were flaky, sweet, and moist with plenty of nuts. Delicious with coffee, but less appealing on their own. The sugar syrup was just too plain.
5) Red Velvet cake
This was made by a vendor. It had 3 layers of which the frosting layers were whipped cream, not cream cheese. The frosting was typical in taste and texture. There was cocoa powder on top of the cake. Typical also. The cake was soft and moist with light flavors of cocoa, vanilla, and buttermilk. It lacked butteriness. It was edible but not rich in flavor.
To make an appointment for tasseography, call the business to get a date and time. When you show up, go to the order counter and tell them you are there for your reading. You will pay first, and then you tell them your coffee flavor of choice. Decaffeinated coffee can not be used for reading. When you get your coffee, drink it until only coffee grounds are left. The owner will usually be there to show you how to turn the coffee cup upside down on the saucer. Then, wait for the grounds to dry inside the cup. The owner will tell you when to go downstairs to have your reading done by Hasan Kale. The owner, Gizem White, translates for you since Mr Kale doesn't speak English. You will be asked to make a wish. Then, you will be asked some questions. Then, predictions will be told to you. You can make a voice recording, but not video recording. The reading will take around 15 minutes.
My reading showed a good year in 2024 with some travel, especially to New York. He told me that my wish would come true. I wished that my persistent medical problem would get cured. It seems to have been cured with the last new treatment. I was told that the taurus sign was something to keep in mind, and a person whose name starts with S will be in my future. I was advised to relax more and to stress less about problems. Things would get better. Well, life has gotten better physically and mentally since the reading. I can't complain. We'll see about the rest. The experience was friendly, polite, helpful, and sincere. The owner is pleasant and welcoming with a store that is upscale, comfortable, and casual. If you want to try something unique, give them a visit.
