21 October 2011

Cira Turkish Cuisine and Samir Abla Pastry ~ Dulwich Hill


Back to the wonderful Turkish old gents' hangout, Cira in Dulwhich Hill, followed by a walk on the slightly naughty side at Abla's Pastry around the corner.





What drew us into Cira is an ever-present bunch of old Turkish blokes that hang out here. Where there's old Turkish blokes, there's got to be good Turkish food. We fell in love with Cira when we first visited for breakfast in March.



Yogurtlu Beyti Kebab - $18. Slices of adana kebab cooked over hot coals, wrapped in flat bread with a crunchy toasted top, then smothered with yoghurt and fresh tangy tomato sauce. You could say it's s a fancy version of rissoles in bread with sauce. You could say it's bloody terrific. Or you could shut up and eat before Alison scoffs it all.



Hoochimama it's good. So good a bunch of passers-by took one look at our dinner then stepped inside to order one for themselves.



Comes with plenty of salad and grilled veggies.



Adana kebab plate - $12. More lightly spiced mince cooked over charcoal and served over flat bread quickly grilled in meat juices. Oh mama.



For sweeties we hit Alba Pastisserie just around the corner. The place doesn't look too welcoming (or even open) from the outside, but inside it's a world of smiles. The ladies in charge are super friendly.



Lebanese sweeties from a dollar, let me in!



Shawn just spent $1,500 at the dentist, should he really be here?



There's plenty of room to eat in. A coffee and a Lebanese pastry or three is the perfect meal finisher.



Huge trays of Lebanese pastries...



A sea of sweeties.



We get a little fancy with a 'Damascus Rose' - Alison orders it just for the groovy name. Ricotta cheese sandwiched in crispy filo pastry with a splash of sugar syrup and a dollop of ground pistachio on top. We find ourselves saying "Oh My God" without thinking.



A sandwich of semolina slice with a creamy filling topped with a blob of ricotta cheese, sugar syrup and crushed pistachio. Another "Oh My God" ensues.



The ladies will make you up a lovely basket of fresh sweets in any size you like for only $22 a kilo. That's enough to feed a a whole office, or three stoners.

We can't believe we've never visited Abla Patisserie before, we thought we had to travel way out west to find such a great place.

We can see ourselves eating out in Dulwich Hill quite a bit when summer kicks in. There's a few good looking restaurants and we're sure more are on the way. It's a quiet, laid back place, a bit grungy without the noise and traffic of Newtown. Gentrification here we come!

Samir Abla Pastry is at 425 New Canterbury Rd, Dulwich Hill.

Cira Turkish Cuisine is at 532 Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill.

Cira Turkish Cuisine on Urbanspoon

8 comments:

  1. Oooh I like! I used to go to Ablas at Merrylands before I became a Diabetic lol. I'm so going to Dulwich Hill, I'm seeing Ali scoff it down lol

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  2. Give us a yell when your there!

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  3. Hubby and I could spend all day at Cira's! Bye bye waistline! Their eggy sausage pide (If I remember correctly) is a Gift to Humanity.. And when we visit Cira's, its allllll mine ;-)

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  5. I walked by Cira today (January 12) - it's all open and still old Turkish blokes hanging around outside shooting shit. Yay!

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  6. Sorry but Cira is definitely shut now. It is empty but has signs up announcing sushi coming soon.

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    1. We did a drive by on the weekend, Cira is still going strong. The 'sushi coming soon' sign is on a different joint, the former chook & kebab shop on the corner of Canterbury Road.

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Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).