The new Ottoman Kebab & Grill is helmed by Turkish native Head Chef Ali Kose, who has over ten years of culinary experience, two of which saw him as the Sous Chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Michelin-starred Maze in London. Located within Bedok Mall, Ottoman Kebab & Grill proffers a concise menu of Turkish favourites such as homemade Pide Flat Bread cooked over lava stones, creamy Homous (chick pea dip), Cheese Borek (spring rolls with feta cheese), hearty Iskender Mutton Kebab, sweet-and-buttery Kunefe, and velvety Sutluc rice puddings.
An authentic Homous ($6) is oft-considered the hallmark of a good Turkish restaurant, and Chef Ali’s rendition of this chick pea dip is gratifyingly creamy with a deft balance of tahini (ground sesame paste), lime juice, and garlic. This is best mopped up with the pillowy homemade Pide Flat Bread ($2) which is cooked over lava stones for a characteristic char-grilled aroma before serving. For a healthy and refreshing salad, pick the Tabouli ($6.50) which is a riot of colours with bulgur, chopped parsley, tomatoes, onions and diced cucumbers. Other moreish starters to share include the Cheese Borek ($6 for 6 pcs) Turkish spring roll of feta cheese, and Falafel ($5 for 3 pcs) which are deep fried patties made from ground chick pea and fava beans.
The substantial portion of the Iskender Mutton Kebab ($18.50) makes it a satisfying main course which can be shared comfortably between two diners. Minced mutton patties are grilled and arranged atop a bed of crispy pide croutons, then generously slathered with a rich sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, celery, carrots, shallots, and dried mint; spoon over a dollop of tangy yoghurt before tucking into this rustic dish with gusto.
Doner kebab is a quintessential aspect of Turkish street food and here at Ottoman Kebab & Grill, the meats – chicken, beef, and mutton ($6.50 to $12) – are first marinated with celery, onions, garlic, coriander, tomato paste, and milk before they are roasted on a vertical rotating spit. Diners can enjoy the doner in several delicious combinations – as a wrap using lavash (a thin Turkish unleavened flat bread), stuffed in a pide, with a tabouli salad, or with pilav rice (rice cooked in broth with vegetables such as carrots, peas, and corn).
Shish kebab, another archetypal Turkish classic whereby meats and seafood are threaded onto metal skewers and grilled, is available as individual skewers ($7.50 to $12.50), or served with bread and pilav rice($13.50 to $18.50). Ottoman Kebab offers a choice of chicken, beef, mutton, and seafood (fish fillet and prawns); as well as the all-encompassing Ottoman Shish Platter ($29) which comes in a combination of chicken, beef, and seafood, alongside pide and pilav rice.
Here’s what our hungry food contributor Sheron has to say!
“Everyone have a “second” stomach for desserts. Kunefe ( $8.50), is a freshly prepared upon order dessert. This ambrosial traditional Turkish dessert is made with Nabulsi goat cheese encased within shredded kadayif phyllo pastry, and is then pan-fried with butter to have a golden finishing; it is then drizzled with sugar syrup and topped with crushed pistachio. Crispy on the outside and soft from the inside, the texture of this dessert is just plain perfect. Don’t get intimidated by the ingredient – sugar syrup, it is not as sweet as you think. The sweetness of the sugar syrup is well balance with the taste of the Nabulsi goat cheese, which brings the sweetness level to a whole new BALANCE level, it’s JUST RIGHT .
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Overall, the ambience of the restaurant makes you feel at home. You don’t really see a lot of Turkish decoration around except for a few posters that were hung on the wall. Instead of using a normal round black tray to serves you the coffee or apple tea, they used their look-alike traditional weighing scale – Turkish coffee tray to serve! This serving tray blends into their theme and I really love the image of the exquisitely designed porcelain cup sitting onto the copper Turkish coffee tray.”
Ottoman Kebab & Grill is one of the few Turkish restaurants in Singapore to serve authentic Kunefe ($8.50) that is freshly prepared upon order (20 minute preparation time). Not for the faint-hearted, this ambrosial traditional Turkish dessert, which comprises stretchy nabulsi goat cheese encased within shredded kadayif phyllo pastry, is pan-fried with butter to a golden hue, then drizzled with sugar syrup and crushed pistachios before being served. Striving for perfection, Chef Ali has even imported the traditional kunefe cooking pan from his homeland as its unique aluminium base allows the heat to be distributed evenly during cooking. Relish this ethereal finale with a sweet Apple Tea ($3), or a dainty tasse of Turkish Coffee ($4, black or milk) which is boiled the time-honoured way in a copper cevze pot. For little ones, order the Sutluc ($3.50) rice puddings which come in milk and chocolate flavours.”
Weekday Lunch and Dinner Sets
Bringing even greater value to its customers, Ottoman Kebab & Grill offers affordable weekday sets for lunch (11am to 2pm) and dinner (5.30pm to 9.30pm), all of which include an Apple Tea and a Daily Soup; customers can also supplement each set with a Sutluc rice pudding for just $2.50. Prices start from as low as $8.50 for the Doner Wrap Lunch Set (choice of chicken/mutton/beef/falafel) to just $20 for the hearty Shish, Pilav, Bread & Borek Dinner Set (choice of chicken/beef/mutton).
Address: 311 New Upper Changi Road, #01-75 Bedok Mall, Singapore 467360
Tel: +65 6702 4031
Operating Hours: Daily, 11am to 10pm
Weekday set lunch – 11am to 2pm
Weekday set dinner – 5.30pm to 9.30pm
Reviewed by Sheron