Restaurant Review: Turquaz Kebab House

TURQUAZ KEBAB HOUSE 13310 137th Avenue | turquazkebabhouse.com Instagram: @turquazkebabhouse Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew

I don't venture "north of the wall" very often but when I do it's usually for food. Such was the case on a recent Saturday evening when I visited the seemingly undisputed hot spot in town for Turkish and Lebanese cuisine. Open since 2011, Turquaz Kebab House has become a unique meeting place for families of all cultures and a cornerstone in the community. You'll find the restaurant in the Pembina neighbourhood, and yes, it's quite far north. I kept hearing about Turquaz Kebab repeatedly! They were named as the Best Restaurant North of the Core on CBC Edmonton's Best Restaurants 2019 list. And they're an Edmonton Journal darling, winning Best Lebanese Restaurant 2020 and Best Middle Eastern Restaurant 2020, Best Middle Eastern Restaurant 2021, and Favourite Lebanese Restaurant 2022 and Favourite Middle Eastern Restaurant 2022. I had to get the full experience for myself! The first thing that I noticed is that the restaurant is very large! A palace of Middle Eastern cuisine! You can't possibly miss their giant glowing sign with flames on the side. The expansiveness continues on the inside with multiple dining areas and even a huge water feature. They even have a prayer room and a wudu room. You might catch a glimpse of the busy open kitchen while on your way to your table and the friendly and attentive staff is helpful and prompt. I especially loved all of the beautiful and colourful Turkish mosaic lamps hanging all around the space. Once seated in a comfortable booth, I noticed that the restaurant filled up quite quickly with customers at every table. I loved seeing the multicultural clientele - Turquaz is clearly an inclusive and special place for anyone who enjoys delicious food. Turquaz focuses on top quality halal meats and products and the menu is fairly easy to follow because each item comes with a picture. To place your order you must go up to the front (which was somewhere else in a different room) and then the food is brought to your table. It's a bit of a fast-casual concept with more of a lean toward table service. It was too late in the day for a Turkish coffee so I opted for whatever seemed the most authentic, which was a drink called Ayran ($3.75). I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know if it would be a carbonated beverage or something else entirely.

I didn't expect what I got (but I probably should have). It was similar to kefir, a cold savoury yogurt-based beverage. What I couldn't believe is how much of it I got - the cup was giant! I could never possibly drink it all myself! Imagine a thin, liquidy, unsweetened plain yogurt and you'll be on the right track to understanding this drink. It's quite tart but enjoyably creamy. You probably don't need an entire one all to yourself. We saw a few orders of Turkish Bead ($1.50 per piece) go by and we definitely wanted to have some of our own. I'd also heard that the Soup ($7.95) was excellent.

The restaurant bakery uses an in-house stone oven for fresh and steamy baked goods, and I have to say that the Turkish bread was a huge highlight. Served with haydari (similar to tzatziki) for dipping, I loved these huge pillows of soft, warm, oven-fresh bread. It was the size of my face and when I ripped mine apart I was absolutely met with the promised steaminess from within. Simple and delicious, I loved the tangy haydari and each bite of warm, chewy bread. The soup, known as ezogelin soup, or lentil soup, was like a warm hug. Hearty and made with bulgur and red lentils, I liked the flavour profile which reminded me a bit of a roasted red pepper type of flavour. Think of a pea soup but with more of a kick. The bread and soup combo would make for a really lovely lunch all on its own. As a kebab house, you would be correct in assuming that there are many different types of kebab meats on the menu, all grilled to perfection on real charcoal. Let's do a kebab roundup! Turquaz serves; beef, chicken, lamb, kafta (ground beef), adana (ground lamb and beef), and taouk adana (ground chicken). For my main dish I went full platter. Lamb is one of my favourite meats so the Lamb Kebab ($24.95) seemed like an obvious choice.

I love that each plate comes with so many different accompaniments, however, mine did not come with any pita bread. The lamb itself was tender and delicious. I could really taste the grilled charcoal flavour. I could have used for the pieces to have been cooked slightly less well-done but the overall flavourful experience was very good. I found the white rice to be fairly plain, although I was pretty happy about the fries! They were tasty and crispy, and even though their presence seemed a bit odd at first, I was happy that they were included. The hummus was excellent, as was the garlic sauce, and I enjoyed dipping both my lamb and fries into both. Be prepared to remove yourself from society after eating the garlic sauce though!! The salad was great to bring some freshness to the plate and I liked that there was parsley incorporated, which gave it a bit of an herbaceous tabouli feeling. Overall, the portion size was large and everything tasted great. I'm not sure that this dish was far beyond other types of Lebanese food that I've had in the city but it was very good. Next time I would really like to try the adana kebab for something a bit different. I was way too full to order dessert but there are a few options that sound pretty delicious (I see you baklava and rice pudding). Turquaz Kebab House is extremely popular and I can see why. From the welcoming atmosphere to the well-made food, they are elevating the kebab experience from something casual to more of a nice dining experience. Certainly one of the best places in Edmonton for Middle Eastern cuisine, our city is lucky to have them.