Albert T.
Yelp
I was on the verge of adding Turkish Village to my no-go list after reading a 1-star review stating that the restaurant was not honoring their Restaurant Week special. That certainly sounded unethical, but I wanted to check it out for myself and decided to give it a chance. As soon as we walked in on Sunday for lunch, the last day of Dearborn Restaurant Week 2024, we were greeted warmly and allowed to pick any table in the rather empty interior. We perused the menus and asked for the $40 special, which the waitress enthusiastically recommended.
Mezze Platter (Complimentary) - This includes three items. First up a thick pink sultan, colored with beets, with a yogurt and garlic tanginess. In the middle, a tomato, cucumber and parsley based ezme, with a bit of a savory spice added from peppers, and some sweetness from pomegranate. The taste is almost a bit smoky and serves as a counterpart against the relatively similar taste of the other two starters. Lastly, haydari, a mainly dill, feta, garlic and yogurt mixture that tastes pretty similar to the sultan but with a bit more herbal freshness and some additional savory saltiness from the feta.
Pita (Complimentary) - Other than being an unleavened flat bread, this bread doesn't really share the characteristics of a typical pita. It's cut into rectangles and there's no discernible pocket on the interior. The inside of the bread is quite chewy, while the exterior is crunchy and falls off in a single layer. The top is studded with sesame and nigella seeds, giving a deep earthiness.
Restaurant Week Combo ($40) - The combo first comes with a salad and small order of hummus. The salad is fattoush-like, but missing the fried pita chips. There's a sumac infused vinaigrette that covers chopped lettuce, tomato, red onion, and cucumber, giving the whole salad a vinegary tang. It's perfectly dressed (4/5). The hummus is a pretty typical good quality restaurant hummus. Smooth, with balanced flavors between the chickpeas, tahini, and acidity. It's topped with a paprika infused olive oil, which seems to add more color than flavor to the hummus (4/5).
Next comes two drinks. We went with the the Turkish Village smoothie and the Turkish Tea. The smoothie served is a half size 8oz portion. It's layered with an avocado pistachio base, mango in the middle, and strawberry on top and topped with sultana, coconut flakes, and crushed pistachio. Once mixed a bit (which naturally occurs as you drink), the overwhelming flavor is of mango. The tea is a nice, strong black tea with a bit of an astringent mouthfeel and reminds me of the taste of darjeeling. It's served with two sugar cubes to sweeten to your liking.
Next up is a large plate filled with meat, veggies, and rice. The platter seems to be a half size portion of the $84 family platter. For the rice we had a choice of red, yellow, or white. The waitress recommended the red and we found it to be a great choice - it's not rice, instead it's bulgur pilav, with bulgur cooked in a savory tomato base, mixed with bell peppers, onions, and various spices. The bulgur retains a bit of snap and is deliciously tomatoey with a bit of a spicy kick (5/5).
The meat consists of an adana kebab, chicken kebab, chicken shish, beef shish, and both chicken and beef doner meat. To be honest, I couldn't really taste the lamb in the adana - it's quite beefy and is deeply savory with a bit of a kick. The beef doner, on the other hand, does have a bit of gaminess, with a taste that first is quite beefy, and then transitioning to lamb later. It's seasoned well and thinly shaved with some crisped areas on the exterior. Similarly, the chicken doner is thinly shaved. It's quite tender and juicy, with some fattier bits that adds additional flavor and texture. Both the chicken and beef shish are seasoned well, with great flavor and moist interiors. The char taste on the exterior is fantastic and the beef is cooked medium. Finally the chicken kebab is colored with turmeric, and has a bounce to it with no gristle (5/5).
The meal ends with two pieces of Turkish kunefe. It's different from the typical Lebanese kunefe you can find around Dearborn. Instead of solid piece of cheese on the bottom, there's a thin layer of cheese in the center, surrounded by crunchy strands of shredded phyllo. It's drizzled in what appears to be simple syrup (no perfumed taste of rose or honey detected), and topped with crushed pistachio. While there wasn't any cheese pull from this kunefe, the differing textures of the cheese and phyllo made this a delicious treat (4/5).
Overall, I'm glad I took the risk and ate at Turkish Village. I have no idea how the other reviewer had such a bad experience, but I certainly found the restaurant welcoming and the food delicious. I'm not sure I would go for their regular menu, but the half sized portions we got for $40 was definitely worth the money.
Note: There is a ~4% discount for cash payment.
Overall rating of the food this visit: 4.5/5