Ben Macmahon
It’s not every day you enter a restaurant with a motley crew of strangers and emerge hours later as friends, united over intimate home-style dining, anise-flavoured raki, salty șalgam (fermented black carrot juice) and singalongs to a strumming baglama. The traditional Turkish string instrument is one of many family heirlooms dotted throughout Mini Lokanta, the 10-seat restaurant which opened in January in a heritage-listed home in North Adelaide.
Every Saturday evening, husband-and-wife duo Enver Tuğrul and Gökçe Özbecene welcome diners into their living room to share flavours and customs from their homeland. The little restaurant is a nod to meyhanes (Turkish taverns) the pair frequented before moving to Australia four years ago. The eight-course set menu begins with cold appetisers, a tradition dating back to Ottoman palace kitchens. Girit ezme, a sphere-shaped medley of aged feta, fresh herbs and pistachios, are served with a tale about their introduction by Cretan Turks in the early 1900s.
More storytelling is delivered with acili ezme, finely chopped roast red capsicum, tomato, parsley and shallot salsa with southeastern Türkiye roots and a flurry of complex Mesopotamian spice. Like the hand-stitched beaded tablecloths, antique copper pots and keepsakes gifted by family members, each dish evokes memories. Özbecene creates moments of soul-soothing beauty informed by her mother Șenay, and grandmothers Nafiye and Türkan’s recipes.
As Tuğrul delivers his wife’s handiwork, he explains the menu’s journey through Mediterranean, Balkan and Middle Eastern flavours. Warm appetisers draw on Ottoman cuisine, such as lightly fried Kadinbudu kofte and paçanga böreği – a combination of Turkish pastrami, kașar cheese and capsicum wrapped in crisp fillo pastry and pan-fried. The feast continues with Turkic nomad comfort food in the form of manti (tiny beef and onion dumplings with garlic yoghurt, burnt butter and tomato sauce).
The main event is far less delicate. Rich hünkar beğendi (aka “Sultan’s delight”) of slow-cooked beef stew, smoky eggplant purée and béchamel delivers its titular promise. And to finish, muhallebili kadayif (smooth, creamy Ottoman inspired milk pudding crowned by crisp shredded pastry) is a hug in dessert form. At its core, this is exquisite home cooking, its beauty enhanced by the warm welcome, the story-fuelled delivery and the wholesome setting. Mini Lokanta started largely unnoticed but has since gathered word-of-mouth momentum.
Nine months on, demand for a seat at one of the three tables is insatiable. A spot on the waitlist, however, is a reminder that patience is a virtue with heart-warming results.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
