Walking along the beach at La Mer, kids running up and down in the sand and suddenly hunger strikes!!! Is that a familiar scenario…? I’m sure it is 😊 At this picturesque beachfront property by Meeras, one is often spoilt for choice of cuisine and restaurant. If you’re in the mood for Turkish food, then head to O’Doner, located in central La Mer close to Laguna Waterpark.
Beautifully set with a typical yet modern Turkish interior that is brightly lit and a nice outdoor seating area, O’Doner serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The classic Turkish tiles are very appealing and makes a good backdrop for pictures. I visited with my small family for lunch on a weekday and I was impressed to see the crowd even at that time.
We started off with fresh Watermelon juice, Strawberry Mojito and the non-alcoholic national drink of Turkey, Ayran. Ayran is prepared daily and stored in a huge container near the dining area and poured as and when required.
For starters we chose to have Turkish Mousakka with Meat. I’m particularly fond of eggplants cooked with meat as the flavour and melt in the mouth consistency is pure bliss. But I did not get that feeling here, there was less meat and it was too oily for my liking.
The menu is quite extensive and since each dish is pictured, it is easy to choose what we want. So by looking at the pictures and the descriptions provided, we chose to have a Mix Kebab Platter and Pineapple Kebab. The Mix Kebab Platter consists of Lamb Chops, Adana Kebab, Chicken Wings, Lamb Skewers along with Bulgur Pilaf and a salad. The meat was tender and cooked well. Loved the flavour of the Bulgur rice too.
The Pineapple Kebab is aesthetically pleasing. A whole pineapple, with the insides taken out, is stuffed with rice and lamb leg that is cooked for almost 5 hours rendering it tender and flavourful. The portion sizes are huge, and we loved both these dishes.
As the saying goes there’s always room for dessert. I chose Antakya Kunefe and hubby chose Turkish Coffee with Ice-cream. The Kunefe is a traditional Turkish sweet made of fried vermicelli and stuffed with cheese. This was then topped with cotton candy, garnished with chopped pistachios and blow-torched at our table and then doused in sweet syrup. It was good but I have had better ones before. The Turkish Coffee with Ice-cream was a bad choice on our part. Both the components would have tasted better on their own. Lesson learnt.
Ended the meal with a glass of piping hot Turkish Tea. Overall it was a good experience and the staff were friendly and courteous and service was quick.
Lizbethology 