KISMET

217 Carlisle St, Balaclava (Inside Tulum)

Press PLAY to hear Kara Monssen’s full review of Kismet

More people should be talking about Kismet. Why? The bang-for-your- buck Turkish restaurant in Balaclava has an incredible value-for-money, three course set menu for $69 per person. (Do the math, that’s $23 per course- which is a steal in this climate). Plus the portions are so generous you’ll find yourself silently unbuttoning your jeans before the mains hit the table.

Owner and chef Coskun Uysal opened the mezze bar back in April, ten years after launching his first restaurant Tulum in 2016.

Kismet, which means destiny or fate, is hidden away from it all inside a cosy room at the back of Tulum. Expect white-clothed tables with flickering candles atop, a whiff of incense in the air, and old Turkish films beamed from a projector onto a wall. The main difference between Kismet and Tulum is the style of cooking. Tulum is Uysal’s modern interpretation of the cuisine through a refined lens, while Kismet is more casual and homely. While Tulum offers both a la carte and set menus, Kismet only has the latter. The menu changes weekly, but you’ll always be served a cold and warm mezze, followed by a main. Specials and desserts are options at an extra charge.

On this visit, we started with a spread of cold mezze: honeyed tahini butter to gloss over warm sesame-studded Turkish pide bread, chunky eggplant and red capsicum dips, and a silky hummus wrapped in a prosciutto collar. Warmer dishes include a lamb dolma, which is rice and mince-meat stuffed red peppers, as well as a grain salad.

Mains may include a slow-braised molasses and cinnamon lamb shoulder, perked up by pickled green peppers, with a rice salad and double-fried white potatoes buried beneath a blizzard of cheese. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was dessert. A Tulum classic, the chocolate dolma sees dehydrated red peppers piped with a chilled, aleppo pepper chocolate pudding: it’s hot, it’s cold, it’s a Katy Perry song. This is $16 well spent.

On drinks, you’ll be taken all over Turkey with a swag of indigenous grapes on pour by the glass or bottle. My pick is the Kalecik Karası, a fragrant red bursting with red cherries, strawberries and raspberry notes that’s not dissimilar to pinot noir and will go great guns with food. There are also signature raki-spiked cocktails, well as beer and mocktails. Kismet is undoubtedly one of the best value for money set menus in Melbourne. You won’t leave hungry, or broke.

Images: Supplied