Exterior
The welcome at Turquaz was warm and friendly. I took a seat at one of their simple tables, and was immediately brought a menu. I asked what their soup of the day was, and was told there was a choice between lentil and tomato.
I checked the menu, just to verify that they had borek available, then placed my order, opting to match it with the lentil soup.
Soup
Borek, a Turkish filled pastry dish, comes in many shapes and sizes, with as many different recipes and approaches as you could imagine. This one featured the classic spinach and feta filling, with the pastry wrapping like a thin, crisp wrap shell.
Accompanied by a simple salad, and a neat little mound of traditional tomato rice, the borek filling was generous and extremely tasty. I wasn’t completely convinced by the pastry, as I prefer the lighter filo-style pastry that you often get, but I was still really pleased by the dish.
Borek
The soup wasn’t quite so good, mainly because it was very under-seasoned. Once I’d applied a good shake of salt things did improve, with the spicing of the soup was quite enjoyable. It was suitably wholesome and nourishing.
So overall, I enjoyed my stop at Café Turquaz. Service was just lovely, with all three counter people proving full of smiles and friendly words, while handling things very efficiently. The food on offer was good, too, with the generous filling of the borek particularly good. I’ll need to come back and try their Turkish coffee and apple tea, to see how they match up. I’d happily recommend that you pay it a visit, too, next time you’re passing.
Scores
Blythe scores Café Turquaz
3.5/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 14/20
Today’s quester was: Blythe
I ate: lentil soup; feta and spinach borek
I drank: water
I wore: www.tieclub.co.uk tie
Total bill: £8.20
