Bab Arabia in Panampilly Nagar serves authentic Turkish cuisine in Kochi

The 140-cover outlet also sports a hookah bar 
Bab Arabia in Panampilly Nagar serves authentic Turkish cuisine in Kochi

Istanbul has always stayed in the popular imagination. Famed for a great many things—including being a tourist spot and minor things like its streets being a haven for cat lovers—the city’s strategical location, straddled by the Bosporus strait, makes it a center for the fusion of various culinary traditions including that from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Isn’t it enough to say that the meme icon Salt Bae (chef Nusret Gökçe) is from Turkey?

All this plays in our head as we visit House of Alibaba’s latest offering to the city—Bab Arabia, a 140-cover outlet serving Turkish fare in Kochi in a plush setting with low chandeliers and leather upholstery. The highlight? The menu has been created under the first-hand supervision of an Istanbul-based chef. 

“Even though we have outlets including Hoja Mukku across Kerala, Bab Arabia has an exclusive card. With a little help from our consultant chef who has over 25 years of experience, we’re bringing authentic dishes such as kabak tendir beef,” informs managing director Siddique M.  

Dig in deep
To begin with, we’re served a whole oven-baked pumpkin! A circular portion on top is then pulled off at the dinner table, revealing the aforementioned platter. I ensure that I scrape off a morsel of the lightly sweet pumpkin along with the long-grain rice (with a strong rosemary infusion) topped with moist shreds of beef.

As we contemplate on what dip to use (among variants like baba ghanoush and ali nazik, a smoked eggplant puree), we’re tantalised with another stuffed delicacy, ananas tendir tavuk—a gooey mix of chicken and rice served with fruity notes of a pineapple. FYI: Both of these dishes, need to be pre-booked. 

As more and more dishes are brought to the spread, it feels like a communal dining experience with us huddling around a table loaded with platters of beef ribs (tender and with a mild spice-rub) and mix pide (housemade bread topped with thick mozzarella along with meat dusted with red paprika). 

Kebab call
As we discuss how a lot of ingredients needed for authentic platters are shipped in from abroad, we’re served their beyti kebab. Their take of this Turkish creation involves chicken filling within a sesame-dotted bread, served alongside yoghurt coated with crushed pistachio.

As we near a food coma, expecting only a dessert to wind up, the establishment brings our their trump card—a metre-long kebab which the multi-continental country is famous for. As the wooden paraphernalia for plating the dish is still on the way to this week-old property, it took a small army a few minutes to serve us the parsley and garlic infused chicken kebab.

Although we consider a paan rasna hookah to help break down the humongous meal, we settle for kanafeh which hides a squishy textured sweetness under its thin crispy top layer.

Open till midnight
 

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