Ali Baba Turkish Restaurant, Manhattan, NYC

I know I haven't been updating this blog as often as I would like to but life has been extremely hectic here. I don't know if anyone's still checking this blog out but I'll still update it periodically. Ali Baba Turkish restaurant is a pretty kick-ass joint (despite the cheesy name) for Middle-Eastern food in Manhattan.

Some warm oven-fresh breads were placed promptly after we ordered and I'm a sucker for warm soft Turkish breads.

The warm, soft and chewy breads went very well with the platter of spreads and dips that we ordered. The humus and yoghurt dip in particular were excellent.

Our hot appetizer of arnavut cigeri (fried tender veal liver) was indeed an indication of how good this meal was going to be. Fried till they were just cooked, these tender cubes of liver lightly seasoned with salt and pepper were just the thing to whet our appetites.

Since this was my first time here, I decided to get a sampler in the form of the mixed-grill because I could not make up my mind. All the meats were tasty and succulent but the donor kebab stood out in both flavor and texture.

The other main ordered was the spicy beyti kebab which consisted of minced lamb marinated with various herbs and spices including ground chili. This was pretty damn good too, I may order this the next time I'm here.

We ended the meal with a complimentary serve of baklava. Crisp but not too dry, flavorsome and not too sweet, an excellent baklava to end an excellent meal.

D