CloverEats: Istanbul Cafe in New Haven
I absolutely love the decorations and blue tile and wooden bar that reminds me of a grape vineyard. There’s little cubby seats, tons of decorations on the walls, and they even have hookah and belly dancing on Friday and Saturday nights!
Ayran, a cold salted yogurt drink
This yogurt drink was actually perfect, basically a thin yogurt that was a little sour and savory, kind of like drinking liquid cheese. It was super refreshing and great with our food, especially when Fred accidentally bit into a spicy pepper.
The bread was amazing!
Hunkar Begendi (Sultan’s Delight): tomato-marinated chicken and creamy smoked eggplant, a ‘classic Ottoman dish’
I don’t know how they get the eggplant to be so creamy and smooth, while the meat was a little bit dry, I highly recommend this dish for the fantastic eggplant!
Soquk Meze “Cool Spread”: Nohut Ezme, Patlican Salata, Antep Ezme, Ispanak Ezme, Yaprak Dolma and carrot salad
It’s always nice to have a dish composed of several other dishes. My favorite here was the Patlican salata, which is eggplant with lemon, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil.
Sütlac
This baklava was some of the best baklava I’ve ever had! It was so fresh and warm…amazing!
Baklava
Things were a little on the slow side because there was only one waitress, who I think might have been one of the owners, for the whole place on a Friday night. She greeted many of the patrons by name, and they, her. Overall a great, authentic Turkish meal! Check them out on Yelp or at their website!
Clover Eats! 