Efendy

Foremost, my abject apologies for the (ugh) quality of the photos. No excuse, I was too weak (from hunger perhaps?) to:

a. insist to the waiter we be seated at a better lit table

b. resist from saying to my fellow famished dining companions - "can you *bleep* wait till I finish *bleep* shooting before attacking the *bleep* food?"

See? It doesn't pay to be weak, does it?

Cevizli Tavuk - shredded chicken, walnut and dill

Peynir - turkish cheese with herbs and turkish white

Gozieme - thin yufka pastry filled with lamb, fetta and parsley

Kadayifli Kadafes - kadayif wrapped king prawns on muhammara

Baliq Cik Kofte - sashimi-grade salmon, bughur, spices, lemon olive oil serve on bed of rocket

Efendy Begendi - 4-hour slow-cooked "yahni" style beef-cheeks in a olive, smoked eggplant and kasar puree

Kadinbudu Ordek - traditional "ladies thigh" duck kofte served with green beans, sumac and parsley salad 

Turkish coffee with delight

Alright, the short version of the preamble - the six of us wanted to hit The Malaya for evening bites, couldn't get in, hit Efendy, and scored a table. Voila! 

It wasn't difficult getting to Efendy but you'd have to be on cozy terms with the goddess of parking to get a nearby spot for your car. Otherwise a taxi might not be a bad idea. The venue looked to be of a fair size, no I didn't get the chance to explore the place, and tables are dotted all over, an evident attempt to extract every rental dollar efficiency per square feet as possible. Don't be like me expecting belly dancing a la Shakira for entertainment. You can however, if you are so lucky like us, be treated to a plate clanging down the stairs, without breaking mind you. 

Now what about the food you might ask. I have to be honest. I wasn't overly impressed. And this probably have a lot to do with my ignorance of the cuisine. I know nothing about Turkish cuisine apart from Turkish delight which by the way in the Efendy version, comes embedded with pistachio nuts, very yummy. I also thought the presentation of the food was a bit of a letdown, nothing at all like the yummy versions I seen on their website. Of the five mezes we had, only the prawns made any sense to me and I thought the peynir was totally in your face salty. As for the mains, again my dining companions were polite and finished off whatever that was on their plate giving praise to aspects of their food. For example the eggplant puree in the Efendy Begendi was great but the "yahni" style beef cheeks were quite ordinary and that probably sums up my virgin dining experience at Efendy - a bit of this and a lack of that. 

Nonetheless, don't let this post prevent you from checking out Efendy yourself. After all the test is in the tasting and you should be the judge of what makes you salivate, or not. So when you go to Efendy I wish you Afiyet Osun! (enjoy your meal)

Efendy Restaurant Mezebar

79 Elliot Street

Balmain NSW 2041

+61 (02) 9810 5466

www.efendy.com.au