Where: 1561 US-46, Parsippany, New Jersey

What: Turkish

Rating: 4.5/5

After taking a bit of a break from checking out restaurants, my entourage and I decided to go to one with more familiar cuisine. Elmas opened a mere few days ago, so you can be assured that the service is still in the best possible phase many new restaurants employ to draw in regulars and hope to generate recommendations. We were initially greeted outside and asked if we had ever been, which we had not, and let inside. While it’s not the largest restaurant, nor the smallest truthfully, there’s a large area in the back for events and parties where they setup the lunch buffet. Of course, we decided to peruse the menu rather than to take the buffet and were seated promptly.

To start off we were given water and olive oil with olives and spicing along with Turkish pide in a basket. Nothing to complain about, the pide was warm and the olive oil certainly tasted like olive oil.

The waiters were very friendly, bringing us more pide as we endlessly requested for our various appetizers and recommending that we look at the event area. I was asked if I was Turkish once again (a common question I get from Turkish people for some reason) and explained I was not, but rather another nationality from around that region. It’s the friendly sort of service you can, in my experience, often get when frequenting Turkish establishments.

We first received our cold appetizers, a common salad known by many different names depending on the country you’re in, hummus, and cacik. My mother said the salad was incredible and the tomatoes soaked up the flavors well; as for me, I’m not too big on uncooked tomatoes and mostly refrained from partaking. She also loved the hummus, saying there was more of a chickpea taste than a tahini one and even buying an extra serving to take to my father.

The hummus was perhaps the best of the cold appetizers in my opinion, the cacik itself was cacik, but I always expect the taste of labneh and am disappointed. I ended up asking for some lemon slices and adding lemon juice to try to replicate it to no avail. Those cucumbers continue to impede me!

Next was the hot appetizer, sigara börek, always a delicious treat. Absolutely no complaints, I ended up eating almost all of them sans the bite my mother took of one. If you like phyllo dough and feta, this is the appetizer for you.

Of course, I had to get sour cherry juice to drink. Sour cherry juice is one of the drinks Turkey is known for, and as a big fan of sour cherries I had to get it. The drink tasted exactly like the 100% sour cherry juice I buy from the Turkish market, so I can vouch for its taste. Don’t be driven away by the word sour, it’s not overly sour, there’s a natural sweetness that balances the flavor out.

For the main course we ordered the mix grill to share for a bit of a few things. I didn’t end up eating any of the koftah or similarly mixed ground meat variations, though my mother was a fan. The chicken tasted very nice, moist and charred just enough to give it a bit of the taste. The lamb was also very good, though once piece was a bit too chewy, that happens now and again. I wasn’t too big on the barley, I personally prefer it in soup, but the rice was good.

During our meal one of the women from the front of house came over and asked us about our meal, chatting with my mother about paella and things. Everyone there was very friendly and kind, a nice atmosphere to be in. We were also informed everything was made that day in the kitchen, they did not save things from the day before to reuse and the meats and fish were fresh in the night before.

To finish, I ordered the kazan dibi, a caramelized milk pudding. There were four blueberries in each corner, a pistachio crumble in the middle, and raspberry sauce going across it. My mother said it tasted like flan, but as someone who is not a fan of flan, I enjoyed it. There’s a lighter semi-different taste to it that those who might not enjoy flan could find agreeable. We were also given Turkish tea to go along with it, the familiar cups used for tea I’ve had in Lebanese restaurants many a time used to serve them.

We ended up taking home some rice pudding for my father, with myself also eating it with him later that evening. The top was sort of solidified and browned, as if it were lightly baked, while the inside was regular rice pudding. It was very good, this time no overwhelming taste of rose to be found.

Altogether, a good experience I would recommend to those who want to try or who enjoy Turkish food. The prices were fair, service kind and a good enough speed, and the food well made. The only reason it’s not a 5/5 is they do not have pita yet, something we were told they would be adding when they were able to. I hope to return again soon.