Turkish goodness in Singapore: Arkadas Cafe

For me, Turkish cuisine is always interesting. The Mediterrenean dishes standout, and I love the kebabs and hummus.

I was recently introduced to this interesting Turkish restaurant, right in Fusionpolis by my good friend Dr. Mycroft. Arkadas Turkish Cafe is situated in one small corner of the building, on level 3, but come lunchtime, it gets pretty crowded. The chef used to be, we were told, the personal chef of the Turkish Ambassador to Singapore, so we figured, that must count for something...at least, he knows Turkish food. And indeed he did!

We started with some pita bread...which was rather not what we expected...we had thought pita as a thin, unleaven bread with a pocket within, but this was fluffy, rather like a pizza.

Used to dip the hummus..which was superb

The hummus was very good. Almost as good as the one I had in the mountain top in Beirut some years ago. The light spices, olive oil and the chick pea hummus...yum...shiok, delicious.

We also tried the auberginbe salad...which is eggplant tossed with virgin oilive oil and lemon juice.

Also rather nice, but nowhere near the awesome taste of the hummus...spelt in the menu as houmus.

And onto the mains

There were 4 of us, and we each ordered something different, so we can cross sample.

I had the adana, which is minced mix of beef and lamb, much like the kubidah in Persian cuisine:

The minced mixed meat is used to coat a sword (at least they used a regular soldier's sword in the early days, as this had started out as warrior cuisine) and barbecued that on an open fire. Hence the shape looked like it had been formed on a sword. The meat was a bit on the tough side, but full flavoured, very robust taste. I enjoyed it very much. The accompanying rice is also superb...nice long grain basmati, with a touch of butter and almonds.

The Shish kebab of lamb

This was the star of the mains. Very tender lamb, beautifully marinated and expertly cooked over a charcoal fire. Superb.

The chicken Shish kebab was also superb

Looks and tastes like a very tender, juicy chicken tandoori. Magnificent.

And lamb meatballs

For me the least successful of the 4 mains we had...such was the goodness of the other dishes, that this perfectly nice meatball dish is relegated to last position. The meat was rather robust, but flavourful. I suspect the seasoning is different from my Adana. Nicely barbecued.

Superb food, and rather reasonable prices. Mains range from $11 to $15.

Arkadas Cafe
1 Fusionopolis Way
Connexis Tower #03-02

6449918