The Exotic Tastes of Turkey at Mosaic, Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

This week, delight in the exotic tastes of Turkey at Mosaic, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur as three specialty guest chefs from Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum, Turkey are in town to cook up a feast. Led by Chef de Cuisine Murat Donmez, the talented trio will be creating a delicious spread of authentic Turkish delicacies for hotel guests to savour, for both lunch and dinner, from 19 to 25 March 2018.

For starters, diners can indulge in an assortment of Turkish cold appetizers or mezze such as fava (mashed broad beans with dill and red onion), hummus (mashed chickpea with tahini),  Türk Peynir Aynasi (traditional Turkish cheeses), Zeytin yağli pirasa (Aegean style rice stuffed vegetables)' just to name a few.

If you're a fan of eggplant, I highly recommend both the Imam Bayildi (eggplant in olive oil with onions, garlic and tomatoes) and Patlican salatasi (roasted eggplant salad) - so so good! 

 Turkish cheese

Hubby had a little of everything... so delicious and fresh!

There will be a selection of Turkish soup, including Düğün çorbası (wedding soup with lamb and yoghurt), Ezo gelin (spicy lentil soup), Tavuk çorbasi (lemony chicken soup), Tarhana çorbasi (traditional villager soup), Yayla çorbasi (yoghurt and mint soup), Mercimek çorbasi (red lentil soup) and Domatesli şehriye çorbasi (vermicelli soup with tomato).

Diners can sample and explore the robust flavours of Turkish cuisine through a plethora of main courses on offer. The friendly, knowledgeable Turkish chefs will be around to explain the dishes to you, such as the Pastirmali kuru fasulye (white bean stew with air dried cured beef), Çoban kavurma (lamb casserole with onion peppers and tomatoes), Karni yarik (fried eggplant bed stuffed with minced beef), Firin ağzi (slow roasted lamb chops with tomatoes, peppers, and onion), Pastırmalı kuru fasülye (pastrami and dry beans), Fırınlamış tavuk but (baked chicken leg), Firinda sebzeli tavuk (roasted chicken with vegetables and sauce), Perde pilavi (baked dough filled with oriental rice) and more. 

Moist and juicy poached chicken drumsticks with potato and carrots (Tavuk Haslama)

Tavuk Etli Bezelye (peas with chicken, carrots and potato)

Icli kofte (Oriental beef and walnuts stuffed in cracked bulgur)

Sebzeli tavuk rulo (Vegetable stuffed chicken roulade)

Karides guvec (shrimp casserole)

You will also find a line-up of some of the well-known dishes of the country, including a hearty kebab selection with a garnish of lavash bread, grilled tomatoes and pepper; Kuzu tandır (slow roasted leg of lamb with oriental rice) and Tuzda bütün levrek  (salt crusted slow cooked whole sea bass with olive oil, garlic and herb sauce). In addition, diners can also sample traditional oven-bake Turkish pide (flatbread) with choices of ground beef, beef cubes, cheese, egg, and spicy cured beef.

The lamb loin kebab were grilled on skewers - best eaten straight off the grill! Absolutely loved the doner kebab too - so juicy!

Wrap up your Turkish culinary adventure at Mosaic with a wide selection of decadent Turkish sweets, such as Şekerpare (semolina cake soaked in syrup), Fırın sütlaç (oven baked rice pudding), Kabak tatlısı (roasted butternut squash in syrup), Zerde (traditional saffron and turmeric pudding with grains and blackcurrants) and of course, Güllüoğlu baklava çeşitleri (baklava, a traditional sweet dessert made of layers of filo pastry). Turkish coffee, tea and a special ice cream station will also be available to complement this culinary journey.

Lunch is priced at RM 168 nett per person while dinner is at RM 208 nett per person. For reservations, please call 03-2179 8881 or email mokul-mosaic@mohg.com.

Location: Mosaic, Lobby Level, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2179 8881

GPS Coordinates: 3.15568, 101.7120


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Turkish Food @ Mangal Restaurant, Cologne, Germany

We've eaten German, Peruvian and burgers in Germany - what's next? The Unc offered to bring us for either Korean or Turkish food in Cologne, and we chose the latter since we can easily get good Korean food in KL. We settled for Mangal Restaurant, since it was a hot day and this restaurant was air-conditioned. We were told that this street that the restaurant is on is known to the locals as the "Turkish Street" as you will find many Turkish restaurants and shops here.

Some Cologne sights, on the way to the restaurant 

On the less busy side of Hohenzollern Bridge (where you will find the love locks)

On the menu, they have English translation next to their German and Turkish names, though some of them may be incorrectly translated so better to check if you have a German-speaking friend around. There are lots to choose from, as their menu has over 160 items. We decided to order one appetizer to share, and a main course each.

The restaurant interior is modern, with an open kitchen at the front of the restaurant as well as their meats on display in the chiller

Kebab

To start, we ordered the Karisik Meze, which is translated as Mixed Appetizers Plate (€7.50). We were expecting different Turkish appetizers (there was an illustration of different items on a plate) but what arrived was some flatbread with five different dips. It was nice enough, but we would have ordered a small portion if we knew they were serving this as we didn't even manage to finish 1/4 of the dips even with 4 adults.  The dips include Carrot, Beetroot, Parsley, Tomato, chilli powder and special sauce, as well as Herbs and garlic.

The main courses made up for the boo-boo with the appetizer. All main courses came with a side salad and rice (bulgur and pilaf rice).

Our friend, Debi had the Tavuk Sis (€11.50) which is marinated chicken shish kebab. The chicken was moist and juicy.

The Unc had the Kuzu Sis (€13.50), a very tasty lamb shish kebab.  He also ordered a couple of glasses of ayran (€2.20), a cold yogurt drink mixed with salt. It is considered the national drink of Turkey.

I had a look at the chiller and spotted some lamb cutlets and they looked good, so I ordered that. They were cooked to a beautiful pink in the centre, with a nice char on the outside. I shared this with the kids and they enjoyed it too :) By the way this was described as chopsticks on the menu.

Kuzu Pirzola (€13.50)

Hubby had the Iskender Kebap (€10.50), which is doner kebab served with flatbread and yogurt. The waiter came with some melted butter and asked if Hubby wanted some on his kebab. Remember to tell him when to stop! :P

After lunch, we had some Turkish tea (kucuk Cay - €1). It comes with cubes of sugar, apparently they like their tea super sweet. Overall, we had a great meal here and service is good, so would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a great Turkish meal in Cologne. :)

Open 24 hours.

Price: Total bill €75.00 for 4 adults (inclusive tips and drinks for 6).

Location: Mangal Restaurant, Weidengasse 58-62, 50668 Koln, Germany

Tel: +49 221 29883420

Website: http://www.mangal-restaurant.de

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