I’ll be honest – I’ve never really fancied trying Alla Turca in the past. In fact, I’d always been a little perplexed by the Pitt Street establishment with two signs above the doorway – Alla Turca and Alla Italia sit under the same roof, apparently. However, when Ruth found a deal on 5pm which took £10 off their set menu I was more than happy to try them out.
Glass of wine in hand, we were presented with a little appetiser of olives, pita and humus whilst we perused the menu – a nice little touch, if you ask me. Although there are five starters on the set menu, we chose to add a £1.99 supplement per person and ordered the Mixed Mezes House Speciality 10 Tapas to share between the three of us. This allowed us to sample six hot mezes and four cold, and was a good way to get a measure of various aspects of the menu. I avoided trying the Sarma – stuffed vine leaves – as it’s one of the few foods I just can’t stomach at all, but sampled each of the other nine options. My favourite was most definitely the Borek – crispy little filo pastries filled with sharp, creamy feta cheese. The Falafel were also pretty nice, with the sesame seed coating adding a crunch to the otherwise soft bites. As the only member of the group who likes seafood, I ended up with extra helpings of the Kalamar – not something I would usually complain about! This, unfortunately, was not the most impressive calamari I’ve ever eaten – a little over cooked on the inside with a soggy batter, this was one meze option which let Alla Turca down. The Hellim (grilled halloumi to you and me) was also a bit take-it-or-leave-it for me – slightly rubbery and overly salty, it’s rather hard to turn this popular cheese into anything more than it already is. The final hot meze was Sucuk – slices of Middle Eastern sausage, similar to chorizo or salami, were smoky and salty, if ever so slightly over cooked.
I’ve recently discovered that there is a lot to love about Turkish and Middle Eastern humus. It’s far smoother than it’s Mediterranean counterpart, but just as full of flavour and just as moreish! Alla Turca’s version was indeed silky smooth, with a good balance of sesame, garlic and lemon flavours. The Cacik (or Tzatziki) was fresh and creamy, and both this and the humus were lovely when eaten with the pitas which accompanied the platter (although I would have liked the pitas themselves a little thicker and fluffier). Alla Turca’s Tubule was rather different to any that I had tried before, with the couscous taking more of a back seat and letting the mixed vegetables and herbs come to the fore. Last up was the Kisir – a Turkish salad made with bulgur, parsley and tomato. To say the parsley was strong in this one would be an understatement – it was pretty much all I could taste, and it was hard to discern the presence of the ground bulgur in particular. I think parsley is a totally overrated herb, so I didn’t go back for seconds of this particular meze!
For our main courses, Ruth and I both selected the Adana Style Kofte Shish with Bulgur Rice, Cacik and Salad, while Anna opted for the Barbequed Chicken Shish with Rice and Salad. Both dishes came as generous portions, with a good quantity of meat. The kofte did have a good strong meaty savouriness, and was lightly spiced. When accompanied by the slices of flatbread and the zingy Cacik, this made for a nice combination. I also particularly enjoyed the bulgur rice – the fluffy pearls of rice had been beautifully cooked and seasoned. My main complaint about the dish was that both the meat and the rice could have been a bit hotter – an issue I’m finding is cropping up more and more, especially in restaurants specialising in kebabs and Middle Eastern cuisine.
All pretty stuffed from our first two courses, Anna and Ruth selected the Trio of Ice Creams for dessert. I also tried to go for a lighter option, selecting the Chocolate Mousse, but my plan backfired slightly. Although what arrived was really quite tasty, it was an altogether more decadent dessert than I was expecting. The gooey, sumptuous dessert was more akin to a chocolate delice, so although it probably did have elements of mousse it mostly consisted of a thick, set chocolate ganache. I was grateful for the accompanying scoop of vanilla ice cream, which helped to cut through the heaviness of the chocolate. A tasty dessert, but not one I would order after so much other food again!
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Alla Turca. I’ll admit that I went in not expecting very much, so everything good was a pleasant surprise. We paid £12 each (plus supplements) for three courses and a prosecco cocktail; the usual deal on this menu is £19.95 (Sun-Thurs) or £22.95 (Fri-Sat). I’ll be honest and say that I probably wouldn’t want to spend quite this much on it – there are other places nearby which do just as good food for less – but if you can grab a wee deal like we did, you could do far worse than pay Alla Turca a visit.
Glasgow Food Girl 