TOAST TO TRADITION

Other Middle Eastern cooks, however, are sticking to their guns, even though marketing their food as Turkish or Lebanese might not immediately ring a bell with diners looking for an approximate rundown of the Middle East’s greatest hits.

- Cherie Lok

For Mrs Ozlem Ozbilgili, owner of 27 Mezze Bar & Grill at Robertson Quay, it is about plugging a gap in the market for the kind of Turkish cooking she remembers from home.

“Arab Street has a lot of Turkish restaurants, but they are kind of a mix of Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine,” says the 42-year-old from the southern Turkish city of Adana.

In particular, she wants to show Singaporeans what an evening at a Turkish meyhane (“wine house”) looks like, lubricated by shots of raki (Turkey’s national alcoholic drink, made with 45 per cent alcohol) and plates of kebaps.

The menu at her restaurant, though strictly capped at 27 items, tries to cover as wide a swathe of Turkish cuisine as possible, drawing from seven regions, each with its own unique culinary traditions.

From her home town comes a lamb kebap ($37++) seasoned with only salt and ground paprika, unlike the heavily spiced iterations of other regions.