Friday, March 07, 2014

Ottoman Kebab & Grill

Long overdue post. Seems like with this pregnancy, I'm more keen to prepare or cook food, than talk/blog about them.

It was a Friday, the one day every week where my colleagues and I didn't pack any lunch (a 'cheat' day of sorts). As we were planning on where to go, my boss called us up and excitedly told us that Bedok Mall is already open and it's hee-yuge!

Erm… Boss, ah. I been there many times, already leh…

So when there, we were wondering as to where to eat. Given a chance, we would love to go back and sweat ourselves out at our old favourite, Ayam Penyet Ria. However, we now have a new colleague who's a strict vegetarian and I guess we gotta' reconsider that option.

That's when our boss recommend that we try out that new 'Turkish' place.

It's finally open! Back then, while many restaurants have opened their doors, this one remained closed for some time.

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The menu

Quite an decent spread.

Sets

Each set comes with the soup-of-the-day and drink (go try the apple tea!). With additional $2, you can get dessert in the form of Sutluc/Sutlac, a Turkish-style Baked Rice Pudding.

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Nice interiors

Contemporary, chic yet still carry subtle Mediterranean accents… Love it!

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Tabbouleh

Mid-Eastern salad made of 'bulgur' (cracked wheat), tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped parsley, mint, onion and garlic. Seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Sometimes the 'burgur' is replaced with semolina.

Very refreshing starter/appetiser.

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Fried calamari

Yeap, we ordered this in a mid-eastern restaurant and guess what? They did a pretty good rendition of it!

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Doner chicken wrap

2 of my colleagues had this. Very savoury. Chicken was nicely marinated and tender.

Another colleague ordered the Mutton version but was later told that they've ran out of mutton so she replaced it with beef instead.

The beef tasted awesome! Its taste reminded us of Satay. I think it's because of the cumin, which is prevalent in most mid-eastern meat dishes.

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Shish Adana mutton skewer

My order. Spicy, marinated minced meat, grilled on skewers that looked a lot like little swords. At least here, they remove the skewers, prior to serving. One restaurant I went to, served the skewers as well.

Sooo dangerous! Hurhur. 

 This also tasted awesome. The tender meat was nicely marinated and beautifully charred at the right places.

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Ottoman Shish Platter

A large platter of grilled meat - beef, chicken & seafood, sitting atop some 'Pide'-Turkish flat bread. There's also grilled veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and red peppers.

Strictly for sharing, because it's indeed a large portion.

The meats here came in generous chunks. However, they carried less taste and depth as compared to the meats in the doner wrap or even the skewers.

Maybe, unlike the elaborate marination process for the other types of meat, these were simply sprinkled with salt and pepper before being tossed onto the grill?

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Rice Pilav

I this this came as an accompaniment to my Shish Adana mutton kebab. But why are there 2 lumps? Didn't manage to ask the staff.

The rice comes off a a bit tasteless, if you ask me. I thougt pilav/pilaf rice is cooked in some kinda' seasoned broth or something?

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Tomato soup & hot apple tea

One of my colleague had the set and these are the accompaniment to her Doner wrap.

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The skewers of meat on display at the entrance

Enticing, isn't it? There's another display fridge showcasing all the desserts. Sadly, I can't find the famous Turkish sweet, the Baklava.

Oh, yeah I totally forgot to mention my vegan colleague. After all that meat-fest above, you must be wondering, "Just what did that poor girl eat?"

Initially, I had confidently introduced the Falafel to her. I told her just how similar falafel is to Masala Vadai, a staple Indian snack. Save that, instead of just lentils, falafel are made of ground chicken and maybe fava beans.

She agreed on the Falafel Wrap. While waiting for our food to arrive, we were later told that they've ran out of Falafel. Can you believe it? We were like, "Erm, it's too late to leave, right?"

We were at loss as to what she can eat. Luckily she was sharp enough to notice Prata Wala next door and true enough, these two eateries are actually affiliated. They gave her Prata Wala's menu and she easily chose herself a Paper Masala Dosai.

When it arrived, I was so amazed by the size and how beautifully done it was. And forgot to snap a pic. Pfft.

Ottoman Kebab & Grill
311 New Upper Changi Rd
#01-75 Bedok Mall

1 comment:

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