Turkish cuisine, if you’re not familiar, is one that you need to get well acquainted with. With perfectly chargrilled meats, marinated seafood, spicy dips and arguably the best form of bread going around, Turkish flavours are some of the best.
In Melbourne, we have a bunch of incredible Turkish restaurants that have been around for decades, spanning through generations, as well as chefs that are keen to put a fresh modern spin on classic flavours.
These are five of the best Turkish restaurants in Melbourne.
Marmara Restaurant
Windsor
Offering authentic Turkish cuisine on Chapel Street since 1980, Marmara Restaurant is all about family and tradition. Named after one of the seven regions in Turkey, Marmara highlights iconic dishes like the Iskender kebab and homemade pide. Their menu is expansive, serving up ten different types of pide, seven insane homemade dips (their caviar itarama is especially divine), meats and seafood, from pickled octopus, to seafood claypot, to kofta, made from juicy homemade mince. Truly, if authentic Turkish is what you’re after, then Marmara will not disappoint.
You can book a spot here or order takeaway online.
Pinarbasi
Coburg
The Pinarbasi family have been serving Turkish food to Melburnians for over 40 years, “made with love and passion”. They not only handpick their own fresh produce every day, but their suppliers are all local and you can truly feel the community energy that surrounds their Coburg spot. They do woodfired pide pizza, homemade dips, lamb off the spit, decadent skewers (including quail) and a really great vegetarian platter too.
To book a spot, you’ve gotta call (03) 9383 4966 or you can order takeaway online.
Tulum
Balaclava
Tulum is a hatted Turkish restaurant, tucked away in the bustling Carlisle Street, Balaclava. Headed up by chef and owner Coskun Uysal, Tulum is all about taking classic and traditional dishes, and reimagining them. He believes that you should “listen to the views of older generations, but not be crushed by them” and with this, he takes classic Ottoman recipes, and creates them in a new way, with Melbourne-based produce. Where diners would once criticise Uysal’s radical approach, they now applaud his boldness.
Tulum is the only Turkish restaurant to ever be recognised in the Gourmet Traveller Top 80 Australia’s Best Restaurants, and with creative dishes like Sardalya; marinated sardines, pinenuts, currants, bay leaf custard and smoked paprika, or Enginar; new season artichokes, peas, dill, lemon, chamomile broth and roasted potato foam… it’s not hard to understand why. The dishes are not only reimagined in a truly inspired way, but they look absolutely beautiful. If refined, fine-dining Turkish and pushes past traditional barriers appeals to you, then you can’t look past Tulum.
Book here.
Lezzet
Elwood
The food at Lezzet is colourful and moorish, and the decor is truly an experience; with clay whitewashed arches and Turkish rugs strewn across almost every surface. Chef Kemal Barut makes dishes like his mother used to make them, things like Anatolian lamb; melt in your mouth 18hr slow cooked lamb, with fig and date jus and pear cous cous, or grilled whole squid, with stuffed spicy pilaf, mussels, herb oil and garlic. YUM.
Book here.
1001 Nights
Mount Eliza
There’s no way to describe 1001 Nights, other than upmarket, trendy Turkish favourites. Set on the beautiful coast of Mount Eliza, 1001 Nights is adorned with modern Middle Eastern decor, complete with lanterns and intricate patterns painted on the wall. They have live music, dance nights, an incredible wine list and are open all the way through lunch and dinner. As for the menu, think claypots, chargrilled meat and rice, house Turkish bread and dips. They do a set menu or a la carte, and also have a great kid’s menu.
You can book or order online here.
Get the latest from Thrillist Australia delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe here.
