Eda Turkish, Glasgow
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As you may have gathered I love Kebabs… Adana Kebabs, Raishmi Kebabs, Kobedah kebabs, Golafi Kebabs, Iskender Kebaks, Shish Kebabs, Seekh kebabs, Lalulya Kebab and many many more.
So once Ralfy Foodwala who was a Electronics engineer in Brighton and I were talking about our favorite kebabs and our we hatched a plan to visit our favorite kebab shop in…Istanbul!!
So immediately I told Benzee Foodwalee that I had to go and see Ralfy for a important matter and I booked a Easyjet flight for London, when I reached central London I met Ralfy at Paddington Railway Station and we we set off for Heathrow Airport, within three hours of our telephone conversation I had flown down to London and Ralfy had booked tickets to Istanbul.
After a brief layover in Munich we arrived in Istanbul, as you can imagine we were famished and we asked the Turkish taxi driver to take us to Sur Ocakbaşı as fast as he could ,as it was going to close in 45 minutes and was 55 minutes from the airport, the taxi driver looked at us blankly and did not seem to understand English, so we showed him two 200 Turkish Lira bank notes and all of a sudden he said in perfect English…
“I will get you there is 40 minutes!!”
He started his jalopy Fiat taxi and started to drive like a man possesed, we hung on for dear life as he zoomed passed other crazy turkish drivers, it felt like a episode of wakey races, while he drove with one hand he chain smoked some foul smeeling turkish cigarettes and also managed to dring apple tea from a flask while swearing at other drivers and gesticulating wildly.
We eventually reached the Kebab shop with a few minutes spare and we ordered a huge platter of mixed kebabs…. and they were heavenly!!!!
We had travelled almost 10 hours, 2000 miles and risked life and limb in a turkish taxi not to mention the fury of Mrs Foodwalee (when she found out I was in Istanbul and not in London) to enjoy the kebabs and it was definately worth it.
We sat silently and eat our Kebabs as the Hajia Sofia and the Topkapi palace lit up, and as the night fell and the lights of Istanbul twinkeled in the azure light.
Now you know the lengths we go for our kebabs, we take our kebabs very seriously .
I was in need of a kebab fix so I decided to visit Eda Turkish on the High Street under the shadow of the Tollbooth Gallowgate.
Admitenly not the most sulubrious part of Glasgow, the Restaurant was in what I can only describe at a Turkish Travelodge type of building, however the interior was warm and welcoming with beutiful antique lights and carpets.
We kicked off the proceedings with some Turkish Humus and warm flat bread, the accompning tapenade was delicios with the right amount of spice and the the chilli sauce and yogust sauce made great bed fellows, the humus was more thicker than its Lebanese counterpart and lest zesty, but tasted great.
next up was Suçuk, spicy Turkish beef sausage, the generous slabs of sausage were sauted in a pan and was delicious with a on point umami/spicy flavour, usually Turkish restaurants buy in commercially made sausage, however this looked modemade.
Up next was the Lamb Iskender Kebab, slivers of lanb were mixed with torn up flatbread and then smothered in a turkish tomamto based chorba and topped off with dollops of creamy turkish yogurt and drizzled with brown butter.
The Iskender Kebab, which originates from the heart of the Turkish dairy area of Bursa, was tasty, but the meat was slightly dry in my opinion and the tomato chorba was not as tangy, possibly due to the type of taomato which was used.
I would have prefered the molten butter to be poured at the table to take the Iskender Kebab to the next level, however a great effort.
My favorite kebab is the Adana kebab, the lamb is ground with white tail fat using a scimatar like knife, the kebabs are then mounted on sword like skewers and cooked on a open coal ocakbaşı grill, the fat then melts and drops on the hot coals and this gives the kebab a fantastic smoked flavour.
This kebab was a good effort, but i felt the kebeb was a little dry, and could have been more spicy.
Not the best Adana kebabI have had, not the worst.
In Conclusion.
In conclusion , Eda was very compitent, the kebabs were cooked with love by the old unkle who manned the ocakbaşı grill, and conducted the kitchen like a meastro, however the meat was slightly on the dry side, I would have prefered the Adana kebab on a bed of flatbread, so that the bread could soak up the delicious hot juices.
The service was efficient and friendly. The waiter was Turkish and added to the enjoyment of the experience, the chefs were also Turkish.
The price point was high compared to the prices charged in London.
Top marks for the effort
A meat lovers Paradise.
Honorable Mention
In my opinion, Eda was above average for Turkish food but how does it compare with its brethern in London and Istanbul,
Mangal ocakbaşı in Dalston, London is by far the best Turkish Mangal restaurant in the UK , followed closely with the Gokyuzu and Antepliler Doner in Green Lanes Harringay.
Further affield in Istanbul, the home of Kebabs I love the Sur Ocakbaşı to name but a few.
Further still i Love the Bosphrous and Kaftan in Dubai.
Halal Rating
All meat and chicken is HALAL,
Alcohol is served at the restaurant
Pork is NOT on the menu
Eda Turkish
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8.6/10
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7.6/10
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7.7/10
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7.9/10