Sahara - Burwood

For a long awaited catch up with a friend who recently went to live in America, we tried to pick one of the quieter places on the main strip in Burwood. We ended up picking Sahara.

For starters, we had the mixed dips platter ($23.50). There was a mix of 6 dips served with super super yummy garlic turkish bread. I'm not sure what the 6 dips were... I could only tell out the tzatziki, the hummus, a beetroot dip and a bab gannouj... there rest were a mystery to me but they were all tasty enough! My friend liked these dips super much. I think he would have been satisfied just eating these all night!

mixed dips with garlic turkish bread - $23.50

We also shared the Shish Tawook ($24.90). These were two massive chicken skewers marinated in garlic and paprika and served with bread and a simple salad. The chicken was really tender and tasty, lightly char-grilled and really just quite awesome.

Shish Tawook - $24.90

For some greens to the diet, we also decided on a beef salad ($15.50). Nothing too special here - chunks of beef with lettuce and tomato and spanish onions.

Beef Salad - $15.50

Overall, it was a pleasant experience. The food was good and served in massive portions. We both left clutching our stomachs in fullness :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Sahara
100 Burwood Road
Burwood NSW
Tel: (02) 9747 4540

The Sultan's Table - Enmore

The Sultan's Table

Having heard fab reviews about this Turkish place - particularly the mixed dips, we decided to dine at the Sultan's Table - even when they made us eat at the early time of 6pm. Seated comfortably, this restaurant has a takeaway front, comfy warm indoor dinning and a chillaxy open dining area out back. Whatever suits I guess. Understandably, prices for takeaway are slightly cheaper than dining in.

We settled and ordered. Was a tough decision with all the choices available. As the mixed dip was highly recommended, a medium one was ordered ($14) with turkish bread ($3). Also, having heard fab reviews about the potato pide ($11), that was definately on the order, along with the Sucuklu ($12) which is a pide with sausage, cheese, parsley and egg. Lastly, we also decided on the falafel ($13).

The medium mixed dip comprised of a colourful array of 8 different dips. There was beetroot, humus, chilli, jajik, parsley, babganush, carrot and ... an unidentified one. LOL. Just too many really. Luckily, it came with a HUGE basket of turkish bread. Whilst the dips were varied and many and quite yummy (most of them anyway), the bread was very much awesome as well. The bread was warm, crispy and crunchy on the outside, and soft and softer on the inside. A perfect companion to the dips - and you get so much of it!

Mixed Dips (medium) - $14

Turkish Bread - $3

The falafel, I thought, was slightly disappointing. It could be that I'm not a deep fried patties of spiced chickpeas but I found these slightly too dry and crumbly and slightly tasteless, even when wrapped in pita-like bread and eaten with salad and hummus.

Falafel - $13

I almost fell out of my chair when the pides came. The four of us, all girls, were basically full after the dips and turkish bread and placed in front of us were two HUGE plates of pide - and I mean HUGE. The egg could be seen seeping out of the sucuklu pide whereas the turkish sausage was hidden within. One bite into a big piece of this pide saw cheese oozing out. Whilst tasty, cheesy, and toasty are attributes that I love - this pide was slightly way too salty. So much so that I could barely stomach the one piece.

sucuklu pide - $12

I decided to give the potato pide a go. This again, was cheese, potatoey and oniony with bits of spinach infused throughout. Again, if without the salt, it would be heavenly. Unfortunately, the chef's overboardness on the sodium chloride along with my stomach's limit following the dips and many turkish bread slices meant that it was a struggle to even finish one slice. Don't get me wrong though - the potato inside was cooked heavenly soft and yummy :)

Potato pide - $11

In all, Sultan's table is a bargain for your money. Lots of food for very affordable prices. Friendly staff who smile and yet, seem slightly on the go go go all the time. Maybe next time, we could ask for reduced salt pides? :)

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 30/40

The Sultan's Table
179 Enmore Road
Enmore
NSW, 2042
tel: (02) 9557 0229

Sahara - Parramatta

For a nice, relaxing catch-up, my friends and I headed for dinner at Sahara.

When we got there (around 7.30pm on a Friday night), the store was still pretty empty. And so, we were quickly whisked to a nice quiet table near the back of the store.

Drinks were ordered, and my friends and I decided to just order a few dishes to share.

Wedges were ordered for an entree (~$8... I don't remember exactly >.<). These came out fresh and hot (almost burning), and were crisp on the outside, potato fluffiness on the inside.

Wedges with Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli Sauce - ~$8

We also decided on two Pides and one Shish. There was the Bodrum Pide ($18.50), which was stuffed with grilled chicken, mushroom, and mozzarella cheese. Again, these came out nice and hot and crunchy. It was also nice how the restaurant did not jip us of the filling :)

Bodrum Pide - $18.50

The other was the Aegean Pide ($17.50) which was stuffed with baby spinach, feta and mozzarella cheese. Mmm... Soooo yummmy and tastey even though it was meatless. in my opinion, it was even tastier than the Bodrum.

Aegean Pide - $17.50

And even yummier was the Tavuk Shish ($21.90). The garlic and herb marinated chargrilled boneless chicken pieces were sooooo delish! especially when eaten with the bread and soaked in aioli. :) I'm not a fan of pilaf rice, but my friends were saying how they couldn't stop eating it, even when they were completely stuffed.

Tavuk Shish - $21.90

Although the waitress tried her best to convince us about dessert, we were all too full to fit anything else in.

In all, the service was average and the ambiance was chat-friendly.
I'd definitely come back for the chargrilled chicken drenched in aioli - or maybe I just miss the herbed mayo from Grill'd too much! :P

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Sahara Turkish Restaurant
Westfield's Parramatta
Shop 2185
Cnr Church & Argyle Street
Parramatta, 2150
Tel: (02) 9687 7898