Café Mediterranean Hyde Park

Restaurant: Café Mediterranean Hyde Park:  website
Location:  3520 Erie Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Date Visited:  November 18, 2015
Rating:  9 of 10 stars

Turkish tea was authentic and elegant.

Remarks

I was invited here by a colleague who was throwing a promotion party.  One word: Fantastic!  The owner, Fahri, is originally from Turkey and the food is very much Turkish influenced.  As a bit of background, my family has been in Istanbul and it was one of our favorite places to visit and had some of the best food we have ever eaten.  Café Mediterranean is certainly on par with the better restaurants we ate at in Istanbul.



Food:



The highlight of the meal was that it was pre-ordered and served family-style for me and my office colleagues.  Of special note were the Turkish-style burek (in contrast to Balkan-style), the appetizer plate and the skewers of mixed, grilled meat.  The burek had a smoky taste that was really unusual.  The appetizers were solid and the Turkish coffee and baklava were a perfect ending to the meal.  All in all this restaurant scores high on the criterion "I couldn't make this at home."



Look at that appetizer sampler.  Everything was really well
seasoned and the presentation was excellent.

Ambiance:

The joint was classy with linens and a well-lit restaurant.  The wait staff was prompt, polite and attentive.  I was able to talk to the owner, Fahri, which added a lot to the experience - a really great guy who loves to talk about the food in his restaurant.

Price:

I didn't pay.  My colleague did.  But I looked at the menu and it is not cheap, but is probably fair based on the high quality of the food.

Desert Platter.  The baklava stole the show.