Over the last few years, there has been a stable of Turkish restaurants that have emerged, mostly in a simple setting that offers a good value for money, and many made popular by the "disappearing ice cream" act that never fails to put a smile on even the most expectant audience. However, only a few could every qualify as date places and Cappadocia at Hotel Rendezvous branch certainly qualifies as one.

I decided to go with the set menu, which gave me one starter of bread with dip, a kebab as a main course, a dessert and a tea. All this for about $29++. I was hungry so I figured that this should not be a problem for me to handle.

The dining experience started out on a negative note when I realised the "bread with dip" appetiser was actually humus with bread. Not realising this, my partner ordered a separate plate for us to share and so we ended up with one large portion and one "set-dinner" portion on the table which was too much for us to handle. I was disappointed that the waitress did not inform us that we were ordering an appetiser that would have been provided in the set meal I ordered. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the humus, which brought back some memories as it was a staple for me during my college days.

For my main course I had the Chicken Kebab which was a little dry but otherwise tasty. The fried rice that accompanined the kebab though was excellent and I wished I had a tad more to go with my chicken.

The winner of the dinner was the Tiramisu, which was refreshing as it was neither too wet nor dry. It was served slightly chilled, the right temperature for the dessert to compliment the otherwise heavy meal.

Overall, I did enjoy the experience and when I do have a craving for Turkish food I certainly know where to find one!

Ho ho ho and so you think ONE dessert at Absolute Haven is the be all and end all? No way man! And don’t you belittle these 2 petite gals with voracious appetites way bigger than their tummies …coz they traipsed down for another round of desserts keke at this place after a nice stumble on the way to lunch venue.

Itching for some exotic chow, they ordered the Baklava, crispy filo pastry stuffed with crushed walnuts and drizzled with honey syrup and crushed pistachio nuts ($6.50) coz The Friend had an inscrutable obsession with it lol. Served warm, and though it was my maiden endeavor crack at this dessert, I thought I liked it coz of the flaky pastry, aromatic with distinct notes of butter that spews forth under the fork. Wasn’t too cloyingly sweet for me…hmm…maybe coz my palates are already tweaked for sweet foods. :)

We also got duped mua haha O_O coz we were so rapturous upon our unearthing of this Turkish café we had to also get our hands on that exotic sounding Cappadocia Classic ($6.50), which so happened to be stated in the menu as Pistachio, Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream. And so it came showered with crushed pistachio. Looked attractively gawdy, but didn’t taste as kinky as it appeared to be. Upon further investigation, we realized that the Not-So-Turkish Turkish ice cream is actually just “normal” ice cream. O_O So one tip here: Go get the authentic gluey icy treat from the restaurant at Robertson Quay!

With so much food desserts in tow, the boyfriend came to help pick at the food but neh most of it was whacked by us of coz mua haha. He only managed a few morsels.

Had also the Turkish Exotic Cherry Juice ($4.50). Tasted like err…cherry juice?

Snug ambiance with an ermm…Turkish? aura, this cozy café seems like a comfy spot for an after work meet-up or a one-to-one date with your love one or close companion. There’s even shisha pipes! Certainly on my dining radar coz there seems to be very alluring Turkish food here that got me so enthused. Set lunches are very affordable going for less than $12 for a main course and drink. From the ala carte menu, the Hummus dip with Pide bread ($8.90), Ispanakli pide ($13.90) ~ spinach feta cheese and egg pide, Sutlac ($5) ~ baked rice pudding, Tiramisu ($7) *again!* beckon. >.<

Hmm….maybe I shouldn’t be in this HGW community…
coz…*2-D -> 3-D* keke

We went there for dinner at the suggestion of another couple, who has been there for the past 3 times.

It was a very quiet evening for the cafe, as we were the only customers there that night. Service was prompt and polite, and even though they had no liquor license, we were allowed to open our bottle of wine that we brought along. (no corkage)

We ordered the sampler, lentil soup, farmer's salad, beef kofte, grilled eggplant, beef wrap and the chicken dishes. I apologise for not remembering the exact name of the dish, Turkish names are quite mind boggling to me. :-P (note to self, that if i want to do better reviews, i better rem the names of the dishes next time!)

The sampler was quite good, with 4 different types of starters - the rice wrapped with vine leaves, was surprisingly good and so was the hummus.
My friends' loved the lentil soup, which was light and subtle. I found it ok, as i have never been a big fan of lentil.
The mains were all good, especially the grilled eggplant, which came with a serving of rice. The eggplant was grilled just nice, with a good topping of tomatoes on it.
The meaty dishes were generally good with just the right amount of seasoning to make it authentic.
Serving size was decent and the mains were enough for an average 75kg male.*

Overall, the meal was pleasant and service was good. This would be a place i wont mind coming back again if i was in the area.

*A slightly sedate male, who hardly exercise was used as a benchmark for this review