There aren’t that many Turkish restaurants in Abu Dhabi, so our interest was piqued by the open-plan décor of Kosebasi at Al Wahda… and the smell that was wafting through the mall.
As you walk into this eaterie, the colourful Turkish décor combined with the open brick oven give the restaurant a homey feeling. Kosebasi focuses on South Anatolian cuisine, which we hadn’t tried before so we went in with open minds.
The clientele is mixed. While families frequent the restaurant, there were also groups of young people- though it wasn’t noisy or busy.
Luckily for us, the chefs had enough insight to have examples of the various starters on display. The friendly staff tried to help us choose however the terms were a little confusing. So after a fair amount of deliberation, we settled on our starters and mains and enjoyed the ambiance.
We weren’t completely sure what we had ordered but it smelled good. First came the courgette dip. It was flavoursome and delicious. We loved the hot and fresh balloon bread that comes complimentary and had to resist filling up on that alone.
A little strangely, the staff brought out one of the mains next, then another starter and then the other main so we were left with a table of food and were unsure which of two of the dishes were mains or starters.
The sebzeli guvec was a warm tagine-type dish however it was only small, hence the confusion of appetizers versus mains. It was, hands down, the best meal of the night. Potato, beans and aubergine in a spiced tomato sauce – the flavours were great and the vegetables were cooked just right.
We had a tavuk koze kebap, obviously a main, which was chicken kebabs with Turkish spices and a side of bulgar wheat. It was a warm and hearty dish which we enjoyed.
We also had a sogurme which was smokey mashed up aubergine. A small taste yielded an unfriendly flavour and the consistency was oily. This one remained untouched for the rest of the meal, however it was the only dish that was.
The staff continually provided replacement bread baskets during the evening, the bread hot and inflated coming straight from the open oven, a nice touch to enjoy with the variety of dishes and the waiters were quick to serve us, despite seeming a little shy.
For dessert, we were recommended a traditional kadayif. It is a sticky, rich pistachio dessert. We gobbled it down, despite being full.
All in all, it was a relaxed meal for a good price. We would go back to try other dishes and see what surprises come out.
The bill (for two)
Kabak salatasi Dhs19
Sebzeli guvec Dhs18
Sogurme Dhs17
Tavuk koze kebap Dhs39
Kadayif Dhs22
Total (excluding service) Dhs115
