A La Turk – 3443 Yonge St, North York, ON M4N 2N1
Country: Turkey
Seating: Indoor dining with limited patio
Must-try dish: A La Turk Vegetarian Plate
Dinner guests: Young Matt & Copper’s Family
The high: The smoky flavours added to the dishes from the wood burning oven
The low: Cig Kofte

Turkish food gave a great first impression at Best Istanbul Restaurant in Kensington Market, so when it was proposed to check out another Turkish spot in the city, Mandrea Bike jumped at the opportunity. Takeout was the preferred vibe of the evening, but there’s a patio if you’re feeling a break from your home. 

The interior of the restaurant is decorated with a modern Turkish flair. The wood oven was immediately spotted with appreciation because of all the tasty dishes that are cooked within it. 

Since the numbers for this dinner were at seven, it seemed like a lot of the menu could be ordered. One thing that will lead Mandrea Bike back to A la Turk is the Stuffed Eggplant dish, which unfortunately isn’t takeout friendly, but sounds unreal as it’s baked in their wood oven, topped with ground beef, walnut, pomegranate paste, and spices. But let’s get to what was ordered and enjoyed for dinner:

• Cig Kofte
• Dolme 
• Chicken Fillet Kebab
• A La Turk Adana Special
• A La Turk Vegetarian Plate
• Manti
• Lamb Chops
• Mixed Pide
• Kunefe Large

The Dolme (stuffed grape leaves) packed big taste and they were enjoyed enthusiastically by the group. The Adana Special was delicious, and the Mixed Pide is always crowd pleaser. Manti was another dish that was close to being crowd the must-try dish of the night as several dinner guests were putting up good arguments as to why these incredible Turkish style dumplings with ground beef, topped with garlic, yogurt sauce, and butter deserved to be tasted by all. 

Although the competition was very close, the dish that took the number one slot for the must-try dish of the night was the A La Turk Vegetarian Plate. It was packed with  flavour and the absence of meat was not missed, you could go as far to say that the lack of a strong meat flavour helped all of the other spices and components shine through. Professor Brown noted that this dish reminded him of Moussaka – a Greek specialty focused around eggplant. A laTurk’s dish had the eggplant, but was also beefed up with garlic and yogurt topped with sautéed soybean, walnut, mushrooms, and vegetables.

The only disappointment of the night besides the lack of the Stuffed Eggplant was its replacement dish Cig Kofte because it didn’t offer the same wow factor that the rest of the meal presented. Additionally, the Kunefe didn’t give us the same reaction this time around, but this is likely attributed to it being best served hot. Kunefe remains a favourite desert of Eat the World TO, so this won’t be the last time you see it on order. 

If you live in the neighbourhood and haven’t been to A la Turk, it should move up on your dinning bucket list, and if you don’t live in the area, it’s very much worth the drive. 

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)