Sultan Baba Iskender | Jumeirah

Holiday hangover is a thing, and more often than not you always end up craving that authentic food from your holiday destination. After my Turkish summer vacation, the food memories just didn’t want to leave my palate, so I ended up doing a quick recap of some Turkish favorites at Sultan Baba Iskender.

While there are a host of restaurants in Dubai that serve authentic Turkish fare, Sultan Baba Iskender is one I had always passed by, but never tried. Thank God for this time I did. Although well known for their iskender kebabs, this restaurant offers every Turkish dish you can imagine. Read on to find out about everything we tried.

While we picked the mains for ourselves, which obviously included the signature dishes from the restaurant, we started with the restaurant recommended selection of salad and mezze. We were first brought Ezme and Haydari along with a selection of homemade butter and a huge portion of Turkish bread. While the latter was a creamy mix of yogurt and cheese with garlic, the former was a more pickle-like dip made with bell peppers, onions, walnuts, pomegranate sauce and more. The two were a great contrast of flavors, and we had the occasional garlic butter with bread to balance out our palate. For salad, we were offered one of the bestselling items, which also happened to be my favorite – Gavurdagi Salad. A very wholesome mix, this one features lots of walnuts and pomegranate with tomatoes and onions. And along with these mezze and salad, we also had one of the famous appetizers from the cuisine – Cig Kofte. Although it is generally made with raw meat, this one was a slightly lighter version made with burgul and walnut and flavored with Turkish spices, garlic, pomegranate sauce and chili paste. So much walnut in all those dishes, ain’t it?

Of course, we had to wash all that down before starting with our mains, and for that we chose a glass of fresh orange juice and a brass cup full of traditional ayran.

Our second session began with Lahmacun. Another specialty, this pide was almost like a Turkish pizza featuring bread topped with minced lamb, tomato, onion, garlic and Turkish herbs. I love most pide and this one was one of my favorites from the dinner. After Turkish pizza, it was time for Turkish pasta. This signature ravioli dish called manti features pasta stuffed with minced meat and covered with a garlicky yogurt butter sauce, drizzled with sumac and dry mint. Next it was time for the star of the evening – Iskender Kebab. This signature dish, after which the restaurant is named, featured the most tender slices of beef and lamb spread over grilled pita bread and drenched in tomato and hot butter sauces. The yogurt side offered a sour twist to the tomato-ey meaty goodness. We almost thought this would be it, but we still had our last main to go. This one was Firin Beyti that features luscious beyti kebab wrapped in thin dough and filled with cheese and pistachio. Topped with hot butter and served with burgul and yogurt, this one was really delicious.

What’s a Turkish meal without their signature tea, right? So we most certainly had a small cup of Turkish tea alongside one of my new found favorite dessert – Baklava with ice cream. There’s something about the pastry, pistachio and Dondurma that makes the whole package so so good.

Sultan Baba Iskender

Location: Villa 848, Near Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Jumeirah Road, Umm Suqeim, Dubai
Contact: 04 3398495

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