Brookline Family Restaurant

[randomness]

As anyone who has spent any time with me knows, I get food cravings. And because I like tasting new things, sometimes these cravings are oddly specific. This time, I wanted Adana Kebab.

At first, I thought Cafe Anatolia might have it, so I made bedfull_o_books drive me there. Sadly, despite their name, they don't actually make much Turkish food. A search for Turkish food in Boston turned up the Boston Kebab House, which I'll need to write up sometime, because it was a favorite lunch place for cmeckhardt and me, back when our work locations made it convenient. Unfortunately, Boston Kebab House closes at 8PM. But there was another alternative listed: Brookline Family Restaurant! Open until 11. And their online menu said they served Adana Kebab!

Brookline Family Restaurant
305 Washington Street
Brookline, MA 02445
T: Green Line D Branch to Brookline Village
phone: +1.617.277.4466
fax: +1.617.277.4140
http://brooklinefamilyrestaurant.com/
Mo-We: 0700-2200
Th-Sa: 0700-2300
Su: 0800-2200
Cards: MC/Visa/AmEx/Discover

True to its name, Brookline Family Restaurant does have an unassuming family restaurant sort of way about it: with padded booths along one wall and tables in the center, like a thousand other family restaurants all over America. But the food is something else entirely.

It's probably because there just hasn't been that much Turkish immigration into the States that its food has been overshadowed by its neighbors Greece to the west and Iran to the east. And it does share some similarities with both, with kebabs and rice featuring prominently on the menu. But it would be a mistake to assume that's all there is to Turkish cuisine.

Brookline Family Restaurant gives a good sample of the variety of Turkish food: while the standards, like doner, kofte, and shish kebab are all on the menu, there are also items like alabalik, a whole brook trout, char-grilled or pan-fried, and sebzeli guvec, a vegetable casserole served with rice.

We both started with cups of lemon chicken rice soup ($2.95), which had nice, bite-sized chunks of white meat in the thick lemony soup. It arrived with excellent Turkish bread, as well as a bean salad with diced tomatoes and cucumbers.

I got the Adana Kebab ($13.95) which comes as two long strips of minced lamb, mixed with crushed red pepper and , lying across two beds: one of rice pilaf and one of bulgur wheat, garnished with parsley, and served with sliced onions, quartered tomatoes, and shredded carrots. A couple of grilled green peppers laid along side the lamb completed the attractive presentation.

Adana Kebab is, in its home town of Adana, in Southeastern Turkey, often a spicy dish, but its level of heat can be reduced as you go north and west. Here, the kebab has just enough bite to keep your attention, but isn't by any means wildly spicy.

bedfull_o_books ordered mantı, from the handwritten specials menu. These little pasta pockets are a bit like tiny curled up tortellini, and were served lightly tossed in a red sauce, with a generous dish of yogurt that one could top them off with. (I stole some of the yogurt for some of my Adana Kebab, too.) They were served with the pasta still nicely chewy, and I found them delightful, with little bits of flavorful ground meat within.

For dessert, we shared a sweetened pumpkin slice, garnished with what bedfull_o_books identified as ground almond ($3.50). We almost couldn't finish it, as we'd already had too much food.

Turkish tea ($1.50), served in the traditional tulip-shaped glasses and drunk with sugar, was the perfect accompaniment to our meals. Beer and wine are also available.

Comments

[redbird]

That does sound tempting. Thanks.

[kmhoofnagle.livejournal.com]

I don't know Turkish so much, but my Iraqui brother-in-law introduced me to a little hole in the wall that did real Kurdish food and then it closed so I now have something seriously regionally specific and impossible to find that I crave. Only I'm too ignorant to know its proper name.

It's a rice dish with apricot, some variant on a pilaf. But its balance and perfume were *gorgeous*. Anyhow, there's no such thing as Kurdish restaurants here in DC that I can find.

Congrats on your turkish find.
k.

[quezz.livejournal.com]

I go here all the time -- it's a great place. The place next to it, Sichuan Garden, is rated as one of the top Chinese restaurants in the country, and it's very good if you like Sichuan food.

[orichalcum.livejournal.com]

I largely agree with the people who argue that most Greek food (excepting islands food) is less interestingly spiced Turkish food.

I've been having a massive craving for Iskender kebap - know any places in Chicago?

[tcb.livejournal.com]

mmm! must try them out! there's also a good russian place right around where that sounds like it is in brookline

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Would that be Stoli, on Washington St.? bedfull_o_books and I have been meaning to try that place for a while. We'll bump that up a notch now that we know you've been there and liked it. :)

I remember noticing their extensive vodka menu when I looked in a while ago.

[silk-roses.livejournal.com]

Delicious!

...but now I miss Turkey. Le sigh.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

I go here with certain friends more than I deserve, since I'm living in Somerville. I work out there two evenings a week. That restaurant is great. In fact I was there Thursday. I get something called a grilled mixed plate or something. It has three or four grilled meat substances and lots of rice and veggies. Verrrry good.

Dessert was this custard square on a plate with torched sugar on top. Looks unassuming, but really good.

Yay! More people for the cool restaurant.

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, Turkish food. Not only do you get food cravings, but you instigate them in your friends too.

[sea-bound.livejournal.com]

Did I ever introduce you to Rebecca? She's one of the other fellows and is in Istanbul for her current placement. Remind me to get her to give me some restaurant recommendations to add to your list.