Over the past decade, Coskun Uysal’s Balaclava restaurant Tulum has redefined Turkish food in Australia. The chef translates the flavours he grew up with in Istanbul into creations like lamb kofta reimagined as a delicate slice or fava bean pâté moulded into the shape of Australia.
But he’s always been drawn to the simpler, more rustic side of Turkish cooking – and so, it seems, have his customers. “Even now, after 10 years, people say, ‘Don’t you have dips? Don’t you have lamb?’” he says.
At Kismet, a new meze bar in the restaurant’s former private dining room, he’s giving them exactly that. The candlelit space is moody and intimate, with bottles of wine and Turkish rugs lining the wood-panelled walls. It suits cold winter nights, though the roof can be opened in warmer months. At Saturday lunches a live qanun (a 78-string zither) player plucks out “soft, elegant Ottoman palace melodies”.
Dishes change regularly on the $69 set menu, though dips are a constant, with three on rotation at any given time. When Broadsheet visits, there’s a sharp, saline taramasalata; a hummus crowned with chickpeas glossed in date molasses; and labneh topped with whole chargrilled peppers, some carrying a hit of spice. They’re served with house-made simit – a sesame-crusted ring bread glazed with date molasses, plus pide bread and pickles. It’s generous enough to pass for a meal in itself, and it’s only the opening course.
From there, hot meze might include grilled kofta or zucchini-and-feta fritters, followed by a choice of main – perhaps braised lamb with green tahini, or barramundi baked in parchment with lemon and sumac – plus sides to share.
Drinks largely mirror the main dining room selection, with a considered wine list that leans heavily on Turkish producers, alongside cocktails and tea, including a fragrant apple variety.
Kismet is the Turkish word for fate, destiny or fortune – when things unfold as they’re meant to, guided by an unseen hand. For Uysal, it felt apt.
“I’m working on my second cookbook, which is all about fewer ingredients, easy one-pot dishes, very simple, homestyle cooking,” he says. It’s the kind of food he’s been gravitating towards, and increasingly, the kind of work finding him. He’s also exploring a television concept around the same idea. “It’s all come together somehow. It is kismet.”
Kismet
217 Carlisle Street, Balaclava
(03) 9525 9127
Hours
Tue to Fri 5pm–late
Sat 12pm–3pm, 5pm–late
tulumrestaurant.com.au/kismet-mezze-bar
Dining and Cooking