After raving about my first time breakfasting at Gozleme Cafe to work mates a couple of weeks ago, we organised to have lunch there one weekday. A selection of gozleme and borek were ordered to share between the four of us. Forks and knives were provided by the wait staff, however no plates were given, so we weren’t sure how to proceed with eating. Hands it is! All gozleme are served on thin wooden chopping boards. The mince meat gozleme ($8) was served still steaming. Filled with a thin scattering of herbed beef mince, onion, parsley, pepper and sprinkled with lemon juice, this was a great start to lunch. The gozleme skin is so soft to bite in to. I would have preferred some more mince in my greediness, but the flavours were all there.
The chicken gourmet gozleme ($8) is filled with free range roasted chicken, red roasted capsicum, mushrooms, Kalamata olives and mozzarella. I usually avoid olives (I’m the type that picks them off my pizza) but this ended up being my favourite gozleme of the day. All ingredients are finely chopped and there was just a brilliant blend of all ingredients. I must admit that the olives provided a nice tanginess too.
Next was the cheese and spinach gozleme ($8) which was a close second favourite. Fresh warm fetta that had melted and mixed into the spinach. I find squeezing lemon juice on top makes this taste even better. A classic combination and fresh ingredients made this a winning meal.
The chilli baked potato borek ($5) was next which I had as a take away item the previous time I was here. It has a spicy kick to it but I had a glass of water at the ready.
We also ordered the cheese and spinach borek ($5) but it didn’t taste as nice as the gozleme. Perhaps because it wasn’t as finely chopped or as soft as the gozleme. I found it was a little dry too.
Turkish apple tea ($2.50) was ordered by all and came served on a beautiful silver tray that our waitress held while placing down our individual tea cups. This was an extremely sweet Turkish apple tea – much sweeter than how I make it. There must have been a lot of sugar/tisane in the small cup. I poured a little more water from my glass into it to thin out the tea’s sweetness. I do love Turkish apple tea.
What I’d been looking forward to the most was the chocolate gozleme ($8). This looked so appetising with melted chocolate piped on top. It’s filled with finely crushed walnuts and more melted chocolate. I thought the gozleme was a little saltier and crispier than the non-dessert versions, providing some crunch, and a wonderful balance between sweet and savoury. Shared between the four of us, this was a great dessert – not too heavy and at the same time providing me with my chocolate fix. If you’re like me and use your hands to eat this, be prepared to lick the gooey chocolate from your fingers.
The bill came out served on a gorgeous covered dish.
This place was packed during lunch. There aren’t many tables so it’s not too noisy inside but there are many people coming in and out to order take away as well. Gozleme Cafe offers simple tasty food at cheap prices for both breakfast and lunch. Worth checking out!
Foodgasm 7.5/10
