Experience a delectable spread of Turkish delights at the food festival held at The Raintree

If looked at from the eyes of a layman, the cuisines of Turkey and India have lots of similarities. After all, both are influenced by a myriad of flavours brought in by different cultures that settled in their respective regions over time. Yet, they could not be more different.

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For many Indians, Turkish cuisine starts and ends with the Baklava, while the Turkish ice cream trick would've landed on one's social media feed at least once. But there's more to what the country bordered by Syria and Bulgaria has to offer and we tried the lot, from Spinach Fatayer to the delicious Kunafa/Knafeh, at The Raintree ahead of the launch of the 'Turkish Delights' food festival.

We started with the Mercimek Çorbası (Turkish Lentil Soup) that was rich, crunchy and even had vermicelli in it. The cold mezze dishes we tried immediately after were the Zeytin Salatasi and the Turkish Cig Kofta, both which were delicious.

They were followed by the Spinach Fatayer which was light and crunchy, the utterly delicious Shish Tavuk and the Beyti, the lamb minced kebab wrapped in lavash bread, easily the star of the hot mezzes. For mains, we gobbled up the Sehriyeli Pilav which was made with saffron-flavoured vermicelli rice, not too different from some of the rich pulavs from here, Dijaj M'Qualli, a chicken, olive and lemon tagine, and the flavourful lamb chops that simply melt in your mouth.

But the best dishes were saved for last, as we were served two types of Baklava and a Kunafa along with a cheese cake. As one might have already guessed, the Baklava stole the show with the butteriness and soft texture, definitely not like the knock-offs sold elsewhere in the city.

While we tried a select number of dishes, the buffet spread is quite large with up to 28 dishes on offer, while live counters will be operational as well, should the dishes on offer not be enough. Guests will get to see and taste something different on each day of the food festival (we are told) where different varieties of bread like Pita, Kuboos and Lavash, varieties of Shawarma, 10 different salads and six different types of Kunafas will be on offer.

Executive Chef Neeraj, said Turkish food has its own kind of charm, but with a similar palette to our cuisine. But he and his team decided to keep things authentic nonetheless. "Most of the basic spices like sumac, za'atar and Ras El Hanout and some ingredients like Arabic lemon, pomegranate molasses are imported, but the meat and seafood are locally sourced. One can experience dishes that are out of the bag at the food festival," he added.

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INR 1,600++ (Monday to Thursday) to INR 1,750++ (Friday to Sunday). Starts today. On till July 23. 7 pm onwards (dinner only). At Colony, The Raintree St Mary's Road.