365 Places: Turkish Delight

Day 25: Turkish Delight, Canberra, Australia

Today’s place I love is another local Canberra treasure – Turkish Delights. It is situated in Weedon Close in Belconnen and is a fantastic place for eating in or take away. This restaurant’s claim to fame is that it is the first Turkish restaurant in Canberra. Their website says:

Turkish Delight Restaurant has been a pillar in Canberra’s Turkish community for more than thirty years, standing as Canberra’s very first Turkish restaurant. Our precious restaurant first opened alongside one of the late waves of Turkish migrants in the 1980’s and in that time, became a second home to Turkish people newly settling in Canberra. Over the years our restaurant has been both a second home to Canberran Turkish people as well as a symbol of lasting friendship between Turkish and Australian people.

To eat in the restaurant is a true delight, as the decor and music takes us right back to Turkey. Many ornate lamps hang from the timber roof, the walls are lined with Turkish Kilims and other objects d’art including pictures in ornate frames, musical instruments, coffee pots and copper bowls complete the look.

The food is equally delightful. Tonight we feasted on two of my favourites – Borek and Dolma plus a “Chicken Deluxe” Pide. Borek is basically feta cheese and parsley rolled up in filo pastry and deep fried until light and crispy. It is a much lighter variation on the Croatian version of Borek I have tried. Dolma is also known as Vine leaves – rice with herbs rolled into grape leaves that are soaked in lemon juice and garlic and served with herb and garlic yogurt – just delicious! There are lots of vegetarian options on the menu, so this is a great place to take friends who don’t eat meat. For the carnivores amongst us, you can’t go past the grilled lamb chops or the kofta balls – nom nom!