The 5pm blog headed to the newest Turkish restaurant to open in Glasgow, Bosphorus, on Dundas Street (behind Buchanan Galleries and next to Queen Street Station) and was treated to a feast of Turkish delights and a welcome atmosphere from host and restaurant owner Ahmet.

A hospitality milestone was gained by Ahmet when he opened up the first Turkish restaurant in Scotland in 1981. He’s since had restaurants across Glasgow including one on St Georges Road and opened up Bosphorus in early 2016.

With a decor to transport you to Turkey for a few hours, brass tea sets and traditional rugs straight from Turkish bazaars, the restaurant also occasionally has belly dancers to entertain diners.

We tried the Sultans Sofrasi menu: four courses with tea/coffee,  liquor and Turkish delights – available to book on 5pm Dining for £25 per person.

To begin

To start our table was filled with a range of cold mezes including stuffed vine leaves, stuffed cabbage, humous, tashi, cacik and lots more served with flat bread.

Hot mezes

On to round 2 and more plates on the tables, this time hot mezes. Cheese wrapped in pastry, roast vegetables with garlic mayonnaise,  lamb souvlaki and even more

A maze of note was the fried lamb’s liver with red onions or arnavut ciğeri in Turkish, a dish rarely served in the UK but with a history from the Ottoman era.

 

Banquet

With a little room still left in our bellies we moved on to the main course, a platter of meats from the grill including pork chops, lamb shish, chicken and kofte.

The meats were served on a bed of delicious Turkish rice and vegetables that had absorbed the flavours of the meats, and a traditional Turkish side salad.

Baklava, fresh fruit and cream were served for dessert and everything was finished off with traditional Turkish banana and peppermint liquors and of course, it would be an authentic experience without Turkish delight.

Bosphorus is available to book  on 5pm Dining.