Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Turkish Delight: Avesta Café

There is a dim little place next to Cacao 70, where you can always see a lady making bread in the window. This is Avesta, a quaint Turkish café/restaurant with discreet decor and interesting food. If you have never had Turkish before, you're in for a real treat! 


The menu may be a bit hard to understand at first. First, they have a wide selection of mezzes, which are small-portioned appetizers. You can get them individually, or in a combo. We had the 2 mezzes with 1 börek, for 8.99$. 



Our Stuffed Dolma Leaves were nice and fresh, and rather different from the Greek variety I am used to. The flavour was good, though I found it lacking a bit of a kick. We also had the Walnut, Pine Nut and Pomegranate Paste, which you dip with the complementary crispy flatbread. Really liked this one... Only wish they gave more, since we ran out of paste before we finished all the bread. For our third selection, we chose the Spinach and Feta Börek. It was a crepe-ier version of spanokopita, soft and spongy. Tasty!

The other side of the menu contained their main courses. They had sandwiches, specialty dishes and full meals.



M tried the Beef Tava Kavurma, for 12.75$. The dish itself is essentially sautéed onion, beef and eggs -- not worth going to a restaurant for, according to him. The side of bulgur (a type of grain similar to rice) was very good and well-flavoured.


I had the Manti for 13.99$, and boy was I in for a treat. This dish is their specialty! It is essentially dozens of tiny dumplings drenched in yogurt, then drizzled with herbs and pepper oil. The dumplings are ridiculously cute and small, and have a tender, well-spiced beef filling in each one. Each one is handmade by the lady in the front, and the flour shells are really thin! The yogurt itself was tart and flavorful, though near the end, I was a bit overwhelmed by the sourness. That's no reason to get you down though, because this dish is just simply amazing.


All in all? Great place. A bit pricey, but totally worth it if you are in the mood for something new. Next time, I will be sure to try their Turkish tea and some desserts! And I actually think they do have Turkish Delights. 

2077, St-Catherine Ouest
(514) 937-0156

Avesta on Urbanspoon

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