Ottoman Cuisine, Barton, Canberra

When we got there, a party had just arrived ahead of us and a number of people were bunched up at the bar having a drink while others stood around, apparently waiting to be shown to a function room. It took a while for a staff member to arrive/for us to get a staff member’s attention but after that slow start, food and service proved to be excellent.

We ordered the pide (Turkish bread, AU$3), which is baked in-house. The metal basket was stuffed full of sliced bread, served slightly warm. The bread was sprinkled with sesame seeds and nigella seeds. It was a rather appetising golden brown colour on the outside, with crispy charred edges. It was soft, fluffy and chewy on the inside. I’ve eaten pide before and I really like it, but this was dangerously moreish! I was wary of filling up on bread and during the two savoury courses I battled constantly against the urge to just keep eating the bread.

For her starter, Jac ordered ciger tava – lamb’s liver (AU$21). It was a very generous serving. The strips of fried lamb’s liver were served with a red onion salad dusted with sumac. Jac’s eaten some pretty revolting liver at restaurants (not cleaned properly and served with membrane intact, overcooked and rubbery), but these liver strips had been well trimmed, coated in seasoned flour and panfried to a perfect, juicy medium well.

My starter was imam bayildi – an eggplant boat topped with sliced capsicum, onions, tomato and herbs, then braised in olive oil (AU$18). The eggplant was tender, the vegetables on top beautifully softened and sweet. It was delicious and I was in ecstasy the whole time I ate it. I found myself eating it slowly so I could savour the taste. I would happily eat this eggplant dish again and again.

For her main course, Jac ordered kulbasti – thinly sliced veal (AU$33) seasoned with mild Aleppo chilli and chargrilled, served with baby spinach leaves and drizzled with a creamy mustard sauce I immediately wanted to dip my finger into. The veal had a wonderful charry flavour and was buttery soft. The mustard sauce was delicious. The chilli was very mild indeed. I had a taste of the veal and wanted more!

For my main course I chose pilic – chargrilled spatchcock (AU$33), marinated with mild chilli and lemon. It was served with spinach and cracked wheat pilaff. The spatchcock was flavoursome and succulent. Jac had a taste and wanted more!

A dish of rice was brought to the table at the same time as our main courses. The rice was as moreish as the bread! It had been cooked in stock and was deliciously savoury.

We enjoyed our dinner so much we were keen to finish things off with dessert. Jac ordered the trio of homemade ice creams (AU$16). The three flavours were, below – left to right: cardamon, raspberry and pomegranate (topped with fresh pomegranate seeds. Did you know the sweet juicy casing around the actual seed is called the aril?). The ice cream was garnished with a crisp lattice tuille and a smear of chocolate sauce. Jac loved the raspberry and pomegranate ice creams but found the cardamom flavour much too strong. I tried her ice creams and had to agree.

It was a night for boats – I’d eaten an eggplant boat, and now our desserts were served in boat-shaped dishes. :) I ordered the sorbet (AU$12). They were, below – left to right: honey yoghurt (also garnished with pomegranate seeds) and strawberry. The strawberry sorbet was refreshing and just utterly wonderfully strawberry. It smelled of fresh strawberry, tasted of fresh strawberry, and as I ate it, I crunched on real strawberry pips. The honey yoghurt sorbet was creamy and delicious, but the star of the show was that strawberry sorbet. No tuille with my sorbet – I had to be content breaking pieces off Jac’s lattice tuille instead. Both Jac’s ice cream and my sorbet appeared to be sitting on very finely ground pistachio dust.

After the initial waiting around at reception, the service was very good. The restaurant was practically empty when we arrived for our 6.30pm booking, with just the private function about to begin, but by the time we were deciding on dessert the dining room was half-full with lots of delicious smells all around. Three private functions were going strong.