Restaurant Review: MADO, where Turkish history comes alive

A land harbouring the spirit of rich heritage, valour and splendour, a home to the Ottomans, Turkey breaths true life into the word ‘fusion’. With a heavy influence from the Middle-Eastern, Balkan, Mediterranean, Eastern European, Armenian, Central Asian, and Georgian cuisines, it’s not just food on your plate, but an exquisite taste of history.

Located in Bluewaters Island, Dubai, MADO brings to you an indoor, modernly furnished restaurant right by Ain Dubai, the world’s tallest and largest Ferris wheel. With trinkets of Turkey all around the place, you will feel the culture as you settle into the cozy vibe.

Kicking off the meal with a leafy delight, their Gavurdag Salad comprising cucumbers, walnuts, apricots, pomegranate, tomatoes, rocket leaves and sauces, gave us the perfect healthy start to our dine-in journey. Turkey is famously known for their lavish meat dishes and MADO’s Grilled Chicken Platter and Sac Kavurma definitely do justice to that. The platter had a side of mashed potatoes with it and corn sprinkled with salt, beautifully presented on a dark industrial stone plate. The latter is a famous dish in Turkey made with sautéed lamb meat and spices, with a side of rice and bread. Seeing pastas on the menu, a dish usually associated with Italy, we knew we had to try the Turkish version of it.

That is how Manti came into the picture. It contained traditional dumplings made from ground meet, topped with creamy yogurt, tomato sauce and butter mint sauce. Keeping us refreshed and going, Minted Ayran, a Turkish yogurt blend with fresh mint, which was heavenly on the tongue and light on the gut, graced the table. To top it all off, their dessert menu offers a wide range of options to choose from. MADO’s platter served with Baklawa and Kesme ice cream sprinkled with pistachio made it onto our list. You must have seen the famous Turkish ice cream viral videos. Well, while tasting this melt-in-your-mouth sweet, the waiter gave us an interesting piece of history behind how, traditionally, it used to be made by mixing layers of snow after preserving them with branches and then adding fruit extracts to it on hot days. All in all, MADO treated us well, with its food and service, as we were transported off to Turkey on a sunny afternoon in Dubai.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai