Chicken liver kebab from BABU

I am not fond of Kebabs in Hong Kong because they are different to the ones served in UK.
Here, they are wrapped in a roll with a foil wrapper but the ones in UK are open pita breads with the meats inside and lots of finely chopped cabbages, lemon sauce and chili sauce.


I tried this place because they had LIVER KEBAB which could be the only place in Hong Kong that serves liver a Turkish style kebab shop.

They had the option to choose pocket Pita bread for an extra $5, but stupidly I should have trusted my instinct that it would be served rolled up.

Anyway, it was too late or I would have ordered the Meat Lovers version which is just stir fried liver with salad or rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Liver Kebab:





There was so much chicken liver in the kebab which was good, but most of it was raw which was such a waste and a health risk.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Restaurant: BABU

Shop 5B, UG/F, Cheung Fai Buildiing, 

45-47 Cochrane Street, Central

Turkish delights! at Turkish Analya

Turkey Antalya (Mong Kok)

Thanks to 饞餵人 and Turkey Antalya restaurant for organizing this tasting.

Turkey Antalya is a private restaurant located in a commerical building right in the heart of Mong Kok.

Although the restaurant and kitchen is small, they were able to cater for a birthday party that day as well as our tasting.

Here was what we tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted Tender Chicken Stuffed with Red Rice in Mersin Style $236:



This was a whole roasted chicken stuffed with rice and herbs.
It is called red rice because of the herbs.
The chicken was tender with crispy skin and the rice was rich in herbs and spices but just a tad too salty in my opinion.
There was yoghurt and salad to complement the chicken as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mektup Böreği:
Fried cheese and yoghurt (pre-order needed)
$185


I loved the cheese and yoghurt which was wrapped in crispy pastry.
The cheese is not that strong and similar to cottage cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mussels and Rice with Tomatoes Sauce - Midye Dolma (pre order needed)
$236

The rice was similar to the rice in the chicken dish above but it did not taste that strong which was a good balance with the mussels because the taste of that was light and there were pieces of aubergines in it too.
It would be great if the mussels could have been detached from the shell or placed above the rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Turkish Grilled Meatball 6oz and Lamb Sis kebab 6oz
$396

This meat was a bit heavy for me and it was slightly dry and hard.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Manti (Lamb/Beef)
$185

These were cute deep fried wontons, which were really similar to the Xiamen style mini wontons.
http://static3.orstatic.com/UserPhoto/photo/4/38L/00N12OD825952CECB25164l.jpg
The turkish style ones were tastier as they had tomato sauce and yoghurt dressing.
Once you start on them, you can't stop.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Buttered rice

Simple but delicious buttered rice!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rose Pudding

It had strong rose flavour, perfect for rose lovers but since I do not like rose I can't comment but I just felt that the sweetness could be toned down.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Last chance for Turkish tapas by Chef Haydar Inal

Tapas Bar

I was really lucky to get invited to try Turkish food by Chef Haydar Inal ,executive chef of the Ankara Palas State Guest House in Turkey because this promotion will end on the 12th of October.

Due to Turkey’s strategic position on the 30-kilometre Bosphorus strait separating Europe and Asia, established trade routes gave the Turks freedom to experiment with spices and textures in their food, which has influences from Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines.

During the 12-day promotion, there is a range of traditional Turkish favourites. Popular böreks include Su Böreği (Traditional Turkish Cheese Pastry), Gül Böregi (Spinach Cheese Pastry), Fincan Böreği (Cheese Pie) and Puf Böreği (Cheese and Parsley Puff). Mezzes range from Cerkez Tavuğu (Circassian Chicken) to Saksuka (Dried Fried Aubergines in Tomato Garlic Sauce), Kisir (Bulgur Salad), Arnavut Cigeri (Spiced Mutton Liver) and Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarma (Vine Leaves with Rice and Mint Raisins Cinnamon).
Guests can also look forward to Tas Kebab (Lamb Stew with Vegetables), Coban Kavurma (Fried Beef with Vegetables), Kilic Balığı Sis (broiled Skewered Swordfish), Tavuk Beyti (Chicken Roll), Domatesli Karides (Tomato Shrimp Sacmpi) and Dalyan Kofte (Beef Meat Ball).

To end the perfect Turkish experience, there is a sweet note to the night with Revani (Semolina Cake Soaked in Light Syrup), Sütlac (Milk Pudding with Rice), Baklava (Layered Pastry with Pistachio) and many other Turkish desserts.
Lastly, you will be delighted with a complimentary box of Turkish Delight candy by checking in on FB and posting a photo of your favourite dish!

Overall, I really enjoyed the food there because I love strong spices and Middle Eastern dishes.

Here was what we tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
1) Su boregi (Turkish cheese pastry)
This was a square block of dense pastry with a strong salty taste but without the pungent taste of cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
2 gul boregi (spinach cheese pastry)

The pastry was light and flakey filled with spinach and cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
3 puf boregi (Cheese and parsley pie)

Compared to the gul boregi above, the pastry was firmer with a cheesier and stronger filling.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Saksuka (deep fried aubergines in tomato garlic sauce)
A nice medley of aubergines, courgettes and potatoes in a tangy tomato garlic sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
9 Arnavut cigeri (mutton liver)

Before I tried it, I was expecting it to be gamey but it was not.
It was really pleasant and tastes like the beef liver found in steak and kidney pie.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
zeytinyagli yaprak sarma
(Vine leaves with rice, mint, raisins and cinnamon)

It was my second time trying them and I liked the size of them because they were smaller.
It tasted so much better than the one I tried elsewhere because the rice was nice and savoury wrapped in delicious vine leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
hummus

The hummus was my favourite because it was the strongest tasting hummus I have tasted with strong cumin spices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
13 tavuk lslim (Chicken wrapped in eggplant)
The appearance of this was interesting, it was a big ball of shredded chicken meat with eggplant on the outside.
The chicken was tender and tasted similar to roast chicken with moist mushy eggplant on the outside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
14 coban kavurma (beef with vegetables)

The pieces of beef were really tender with a hint of spiciness from the sauce and the potatoes were gorgeous too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
15Kilic Baligi sis (swordfish skewers)

The swordfish was chunky and tender.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
16Tavuk Beyti (chicken roll)

This was my favourite because it was a chicken version of beef kofte which has lots of herbs in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
18 Tas kebab (Lamb skewer)

The pieces of lamb were nice and juicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
19 domatesli karides (Tomato scampi)

Delicious prawns in tangy tomato sauce accompanied by cute cherry tomatoes.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
20 bulgur pilavi (rice with lentils)

The rice was flavoursome with protein rich starchy lentils.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
For drinks there were two non-alchoholic mocktails:
Turkish Mint Delight (Apple Vinegar, Soda water, Mint)
-or-
Turkish Delight Fruit Cocktail (Pomegranate juice, Apple juice, Rose Water, Honey, Raspberries, strawberries).
I chose the Turkish delight fruit cocktail which was really nice and refreshing and it was blended extremely smooth.
I loved the tangy tones of the strawberries and apple.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thanks to Shangri La and a fellow foodie for this invitation and the Turkish delights.

Cold Meze platter @ Bahce

Bahce Turkish Restaurant (Lantau Island)
After the delicious food at China Bear, I walked past this shop and saw people having some dishes that looked delicious.

So waited a while until I was a little hungrier and tried this place.

I am not familiar with Turkish food so I didn't know what the dish was that I saw earlier, but since they had a Meze platter I ordered that instead.
There was either a hot meze or a cold meze so I chose the cold one because the hot one seemed a bit heavy.

The Cold Meze basically had: Hummus, Green beans, Kisir, haydari, dolma, eggplant, served with salad.

The pita bread was for dipping the Mezes.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hummus:

The hummus was ok, but not sour enough so after adding the lemon it tasted so much nicer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green beans:

The sauce that it was in was tomato puree, but the tomato tasted quite artificial.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Kisir:

Basically, this was couscous and I loved it because there was lots of cumin in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Haydari:

This was basically garlic and dill yoghurt dip, the dill was a bit too strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dolma:

This was rice wrapped in vegetables leaves, it was too minty and oily for my liking.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg plant:

This was my favourite dip, but there was not much egg plant taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The Turkish mediterranean warmth of Quarry bay

TAVA Turkish & Mediterranean Cuisine (Quarry Bay)

This hip Turkish restaurant is located on the quiet end of Quarry bay near the Island East Markets.


After visiting the market, I decided to dine there but it was closed.

Came here another time.

The decor of this place was nice and modern with circle themes.



I was a bit annoyed because not all the items were available during lunch even though it was on the menu.

The eggplant special which was traditional palace style mashed and dressed eggplant topped with lamb or chicken or vegetable saute served with rice was not available for lunch.


Anyway, as there was not much worth trying I ordered the beef roll and the noodle fusion.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodle fusion:
This tasted exactly like Vietnamese style Cambodian noodles in tomato sauce.
The chicken with chicken skin included tasted nice because it was roasted.
The only complaint was that it was too oily.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef roll:
The beef roll was just the usual Turkish fare.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Turkish Tea:
This was the usual Turkish tea served in a small Turkish glass and tastes like red tea.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sauces:
There was garlic sauce, chili sauce and mayonnaise.


Crispy onions:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★