Hum: Tava Turkish Cuisine puts regional twist on celebrated favourites

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Tava Turkish Delicacies

7B Kakulu Rd., 613-435-7888, tava.kitchen

Open: Wednesday to Sunday midday to 9 p.m., closed Monday, Tuesday

Costs: major programs $22 to $33, combined kebab platters $59 and $99

Entry: one step to entrance door

On the menu at Tava Turkish Delicacies in Kanata South, the magic phrase is “Antep.”

For those who’re extra worldly than I’m, you may know that Antep casually refers back to the Turkish metropolis of Gaziantep, which is thought to be having the nation’s most celebrated delicacies. Perhaps you even knew that UNESCO in 2015 designated Gaziantep a City of Gastronomy.

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In a Kakulu Highway strip mall, Tava, a 30-seat eatery, offers Antep flavours pleasure of place on its neatly curated menu. I attempted chef-owner Fatih Anderoglu’s restaurant thrice in February and was constantly impressed, particularly when the dishes I selected have been Antep specialties.

Antep beyran soup ($12) was a dynamite starter on a chilly winter day, full of slow-cooked, fall-apart shredded lamb and rice in a sturdy lamb broth flavoured with garlic, paprika and Antep pepper flakes.

Antep lahmacun ($20) was a tremendous instance of that skinny, crispy Turkish flatbread, topped with a minced-lamb unfold.

A plate of Antep kebab skewers ($22), product of merely flavoured, charcoal-grilled, juicy knife-minced lamb, accompanied by essentially the most toothsome bulgur I’ve had at any Turkish restaurant, was the centrepiece of a tremendous lunch particular ($29). It was preceded by a easy however impeccable lentil soup and adopted by a chunk of baklava not like every other I’ve had in Ottawa.

At Tava, the baklava (two for $7) is soaked in a lightweight milk syrup, topped with cocoa powder and served chilled. It’s additionally the one dessert that’s not made in home. It’s imported, from Antep, in fact, the place in 2013, baklava grew to become the primary Turkish product with a European protected designation of origin and geographical indication.

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I beforehand visited Tava within the fall of 2022. Then, it was half its present measurement, a no-frills however commendable bakery that was geared to takeout orders. It specialised in pide, the boat-shaped Turkish flatbreads loaded with totally different toppings, which have been likened to pizzas. Anderoglu nonetheless serves greater than a dozen sorts of pide even when all are usually not listed on the menu, and the spinach and cheese pie ($18) we had, made with feta and mozzarella, was exemplary.  

Final yr, Anderoglu took over the slender area subsequent door to the bakery, the place he added a charcoal grill, a protracted counter with seating, and tables alongside the wall. The result’s a horny, fashionable restaurant that stands out amid the wave of Turkish eating places which have opened in Ottawa, from Orléans to Kanata, within the final two years.

Most of Tava’s friends, reminiscent of Turkish Kebab House in Kanata and on Financial institution Avenue, or Sultan Ahmet Turkish Cuisine on Bank Street near the Queensway, are bigger, high-volume eating places, with very comparable, kebab-centric menus. They observe the identical system they usually usually do it properly.

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However Tava is a extra intimate, distinctive place and Anderoglu says his menu will change frequently and have Turkish specials that gained’t be discovered elsewhere in Ottawa.

Nonetheless, Tava greater than holds its personal in the case of the combined kebab platters that many shoppers will go for when going out for Turkish fare. Anderoglu’s totally loaded platter for 2 to 3 individuals ($59) was heaped with a spread of completely grilled and frivolously smoky meat, together with Antep kebabs, subtly spicier Adana kebabs, plenty of kofte lamb and beef kebabs made in response to Balkan preferences west of Turkey and chunks of moist, marinated rooster breast.

I additionally assume very extremely of Tava’s kebab dishes that nestle their meats in a thick and irresistible sauce of smoky eggplant purée blended with garlicky yogurt. Whereas lamb kebabs are typical for this preparation, Anderoglu says he made a model with chunks of rooster breast ($29) on the request of shoppers. 

To begin, you may not enhance upon a trio of dips ($14) together with muhammara made with roasted purple peppers, walnuts, pomegranate molasses, garlic, bread crumbs, hummus and roasted beet mutabbal.

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To conclude, each dessert we had was a winner. Rice pudding ($9) was wealthy however refined, and heavy on the cream. Anderoiglu’s favorite Antep dolama ($12) was a heat phyllo-dough pastry stuffed with pistachios and clotted cream topped with ice cream. Trilece ($12), a milk-soaked sponge cake standard within the Balkans, should share culinary DNA with Latin America’s tres leches cake.

One other enjoyable, cross-cultural reality: Every time I ate at Tava, there have been Chinese language clients at different tables. The reason is that Anderoglu’s enterprise associate and front-of-house individual, Baykal Deli, is a Turk who lived in China for greater than 20 years and who speaks Mandarin. Apparently phrase of mouth, in Mandarin, acquired out about Tava’s meals and Deli’s Mandarin proficiency, and Chinese language regulars now are available droves.

However you don’t should be from China, or from Antep, to get pleasure from Tava’s meals. I’d wager that it’s going to win you over with its cut-above fare and pleasant, hospitable service, even in case you’ve by no means tried Turkish meals earlier than.

phum@postmedia.com

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