MANILA, Philippines - I remember Dogan (pronounced Dohan) as the jolly and friendly Chef in that short-lived Turkish restaurant in Timog where unfortunately, he could not see eye to nike dunk eye with a former Turkish partner. It did take a while for him to resurface and this time in Katipunan Avenue near the corner of Santolan in Project 4 with a restaurant bearing his name.I need not come back several times to review Chef Dogan's restaurant since I already know what to expect in his cooking style, which is rather straightforward. He is very particular about freshness as evident in his showcase of food that greets you as you enter the small dining area. His choice of meats and poultry are always newly processed because nothing will lie when you grill items, especially if you don't cover it with spicy or heavy glazes.So, I had dinner and started with his mixed salad. This was a mixed plate of Mutabel, which is grilled eggplant puree with yogurt and sesame seed tahini paste; humus or chickpea paste with Tahini and olive oil; Babaganuc or eggplant with tomato and chili and a Russian salad of cubed potatoes. We had these dips with some chicken livers sauteed in parsley and garlic (although in the menu it says deep fried) and chicken gizzards. These we had as starters with some Pita bread that Chef Dogan smeared with some tomato puree and oregano that I would consider very Mediterranean in style. He would be the only one Rolex fake doing this style of bread right now and actually highlighted the flavors of the appetizer.For the main courses, I ordered a Karisik Isgara or three sticks of kebab or grilled ground beef shish tavuk or grilled boneless chicken and Kusbasi or beef tenderloin. We had this with more of Dohan's bread and a Tebula or a parsley salad of tomato and burgul. The Tebula is a very fresh and green tasting salad which takes some getting used to and is a classic paired especially on that day with Dogan's homemade yogurt. The house yogurt is not the low-fat thin types one gets in the supermarket. This yogurt is thick and with an excellent mouthfeel and is good to calm down one's palate after taking in some of the homemade chili and garlic sauce on the meats. One can also request for replica jewelry watches grilled tomato and onion and some buttered basmati rice to go with the present menu.For dessert, I tried the sutlac or rice pudding but it did not really excite me as much as the savory dishes. I'd really like to see those syrupy Turkish or Middle Eastern desserts and knowing the Chef, he will come up with these as his restaurant is still quite new. In fact on weekends, he brings out his shawarma machine and has a shawarma roast in his al fresco area.You can email me at
Related articles:
Resto On The RiseSherry on topAussie specials on the plate and shelf
Other articles:
http://letai-hk.com/blog/Theres-nothing-merciful-about.html
http://shkobelco.com/blog/Chanel18.html