Levinsky market (photo: Ido Shaham \ editing: Ran Zimat)
It is indisputable that the Turkish cuisine is one of the greatest there is, and also the most loved here.
And although there is no disputing or disputing this fact, even if you search by candles you will not find proper Turkish restaurants.
Mutpak and Babjim are there of course, and also Turk Lahamjon;
All of them are completely worthy but more gluttonous than restaurants.
There used to be a Stamboul here, in Florentine, but it was closed.
So is Tika in Herzliya.
Restaurateur Yaki Kabir took up the gauntlet a year and a half ago with Maris, a not bad Turkish restaurant at all, which also didn't last long.
Kebabs are made everywhere;
Lehmajon became a citizen here a long time ago;
But hardly a real Turkish restaurant.
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How happy I was, therefore, when I heard about the opening of Mest in Levinsky market in Tel Aviv.
The kitchen is in charge of Miles Castoriano, who immigrated to Israel from Turkey about five years ago and managed to work in several restaurants in Tel Aviv, and the concept is the Turkish "Meihane" - a popular restaurant-bar, with small to medium dishes that are accompanied by a lot of alcohol.
Simplicity is needed.
Set
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An Arab wandering between the food and drink houses in the small alleys is really heartwarming and reminds me of very pleasant Mediterranean volumes
Mast is located in one of the alleys stretching from the Levinsky pedestrian street, which in the evening seems livelier and busier than ever.
An Arabic stroll between the food and drink houses in the small alleys is really heartening and reminds me of very pleasant Mediterranean places, which are fun to walk around in the evening (think Athens).
Mast has a small and basic interior space (hummusia used to operate in the same space) and there are tables on the street, backed by outdoor ovens.
We sat outside and were happy to discover on the menu several mouth-watering versions of the Turkish classic, many of which caught our eye.
We were disappointed to find that the promise of the "Mihana" didn't exactly have a lot of coverage in the alcohol column on the menu.
I was hoping for an equal price for my people, but I still left the house with a proper bottle of wine, as backup.
We used it, because the offer on the menu didn't do it, and was few and far between.
Who needs cool?
When you see what's happening in Tel Aviv, you better leave your money here
To the full article
Statement of Intent for Authenticity.
Mast (photo: Hadas Ezra)
At its best, this dish provides perfect simplicity resulting from a winning synergistic of flavors, and in the best Turkish stew restaurants you can find versions that have the power to bring tears of excitement from the diner's eyes
A bread basket (NIS 28), imam bayaldi (36) and a salad with feta cheese (33) were the opening set.
The traditional balsam bread was served with olives, roasted hot pepper, homemade pickles and muamra.
The bread itself wasn't bad - perhaps a positive statement of intent for authenticity - but the toppings didn't rise.
The little one to make the Muamera, the one known as the Muhamera from the Arab-Shamic cuisine.
We had the chance to eat here several versions that were much better than the flat of flavors that was served to us here.
The rest of the plugins just dragged into banality.
Imam Beildi is also a Turkish classic, which means "the imam fainted".
A cold roasted eggplant was served with sautéed onions in a tomato sauce with herbs and raw tahini.
At its best, this dish provides perfect simplicity resulting from a winning synergistic of flavors, and in the best Turkish stew restaurants you can find versions that have the power to bring tears of excitement from the diner's eyes.
In the dish we received, there was an eggplant that was poorly roasted, somewhat bitter, a completely bland tomato sauce, quite tasteless, and a feeling of too many not good enough raw materials that did not combine to form a cohesive taste.
The salad was a salad.
It did not show the exceptional quality of really good vegetables.
Only the feta, probably purchased at one of the market's excellent nearby delicatessens, Yom Tov for example, was of high quality.
Arousing anticipation.
Kadaif Tulum of Mast
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No one comes to eat at a Turkish restaurant to maintain their figure, but these dishes were not part of the rules of the genre
It wasn't a promising start, but nevertheless we arrived full of anticipation for the following dishes, which a glance at on the menu aroused quite a bit of desire - Kadaif Tulum (66) and Pachanga (62), both from the hot oil section.
The kadaif, in two large rolls stuffed with Turkish Tulum cheese, was served with a honey and thyme sauce.
Nothing in it worked properly.
The noodles were much oilier than expected.
The good cheese itself was not heated enough.
Parts of it were almost completely cold.
The sauce was too minor and did not give any balance to the saltiness.
Imbalance and a lot of oiliness, that's what was there.
As if we didn't have enough excess oiliness from the kadaif, the pechanga arrived - filo leaves stuffed with mozzarella and homemade pastrami - and leaked more oiliness, until it wasn't enough.
True, no one comes to eat in a Turkish restaurant to keep their figure;
Oil is the genre.
But in both the Kadaif dish and the Pachanga, the fat worked against the flavors of the dishes and it is no longer part of the rules of the genre.
Besides, we hardly felt the pastrami.
We really enjoyed the melted mozzarella and the tomato salsa served on the side forgot to season it.
lone star
Mast's sojuk kebab (photo: Hadas Ezra)
We began to understand that between our fantasies and reality there is a gap that cannot be bridged.
The pricing makes sense, the generosity is authentic, the intentions are genuinely good but the execution, to put it mildly, seems somewhat amateurish so far.
The sojuk kebab dish (88) came from the main course section.
It had four grilled meatballs on a tortilla, with roasted green peppers, onions in sumac and lettuce.
Like all the dishes so far, it was also generous.
Unlike them, she was completely fine.
Good meat, properly seasoned, moderately juicy, to which the array of vegetables and herbs next to it added dimension and the tortilla underneath was well absorbed.
Simple, real and good.
It's a shame that none of the dishes that arrived at our table until it began to approach the qualities of this sojuk kebab.
We ended up with a really bad Mohalbi (44), not cohesive in its texture, not cool in its taste, even though it was clearly made on the spot it felt like a bought, almost industrial dessert.
On top of it were "crispy" kadaif leaves, i.e. one reminiscent of tulum-stuffed kadaif in its oiliness, alongside berries and roasted almonds.
on the paper.
The account in Mast (Photo: ShutterStock)
On paper, the set looked like a promise of truth to a traditional and real place, one that provides authentic simplicity at its best and is reminiscent of places of its kind in the country of origin.
In practice, we discovered a well-intentioned place that has great difficulty in delivering the wisdom of simplicity of traditional Turkish cuisine.
The intentions, the generosity and the reasonable pricing cannot hide the pure amateurishness of the kitchen at the place.
Beloved Istanbul has never seemed so far away.
We will continue to wait for a really good Turkish.
It's time to have one here that will also be able to last.
"Mest", Levinsky 39, Tel Aviv
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