IT felt a bit wrong going into Turkuaz’s dark interior at 8pm on a Tuesday evening after work when the sun was still blazing on one of the warmest days of the year so far. Still, it was probably a better way of spending our time than watching England draw 0-0 with Slovenia. And the interior was actually rather nice, once our eyes adjusted.
The Turkish restaurant is in the same building where Loch Fyne once was – a beautiful old timber-frame house on Jewry Street. After a (very) long refurbishment, Turkuaz opened its doors to customers on December 22, and recently asked the to come along for a review. My dining companion and I sat down indoors – the internal courtyard was full – on one of the plush blue sofas that line the walls.
The menu had a good selection of gluten-free options and you can choose from a range of lighter tapas-style starters or some the meatier Turkish classics (or both in our case). We ordered some Turkish wine to stay on topic – a first for both of us – the white Kavalklidere Cankaya from a vineyard near Ankara, which was distinctly quaffable. The service was smooth throughout and our waitress, Gila from Uzbekistan, was more than happy to answer all of our pedantic questions about the food.
Which brings us to the starters. We thought we would try the sauteed calf’s liver – a Turkish dish called Ciger Tava – and the scallops. These were the only dishes all evening which were a little disappointing.
Gila told us the scallops were defrosted.
