Pidekeyfi | Jumeirah Village Circle
Ever since my holiday to Turkey last summer, my love for Turkish food has increased multi-fold, and I always find myself on the lookout for Turkish restaurants that match up to the real flavors. So then you can imagine how elated I must have been to discover the hidden gem Pide Keyfi.
Located in Jumeirah Village Circle, this cozy restaurant has outdoor seating as well, and is blessed with the occasional visit of a feline, making for a complete Turkish experience.
We kept our food choices simple and instead of ordering too many items, we stuck to one pide, one doner and one kebab. But since we wanted just one pide and were confused with their variety of toppings to choose from, we decided to split the toppings into 3. Just like you would split a pizza into half and half, our kashkaval cheese pide came with a) Pide Keyfi – their signature variant loaded with pepperoni, pastirma, tawouk and an egg in the center; b) Hot Dog – a rather deconstructed version of corn dog topped with sweet corn and sliced hot dog; and c) Chicken & Mushroom – my favorite combination featuring chicken, mushroom, tomatoes and green capsicum. What I loved the most about the pide was how fresh and hot off the oven these were made. And the attention to detail on the toppings was immaculate.
As the name suggests, Pide are their specialty, but that in no way means their other dishes don’t match up to the standards that Turkish fare boasts of. In fact, out of all the dishes we tried, there wasn’t a single, yes really, not a single thing we didn’t like. It was one of those rare occasions when despite being stuffed, we managed to finish every thing off the plate.
Our next dish was the one that doubles up as one the representatives of Turkish cuisine – Iskender Kebab. To be very honest, if you took me there right now and told me to just have one dish from the menu, this is definitely what I would choose. The thin sliced rotisserie meat was so tender and juicy, plus topped with all that hot butter, it simply melted in our mouths. The bread base had a good balance between crisp and mushy, making for the perfect carb accompaniment to the meat.
Our third dish was almost going to be a mixed grill, but because I am in love with Adana Kebabs, I chose to go with the latter. I don’t think any Turkish restaurant can ever go wrong with Adana kebabs. They have the most basic ingredients put together on a skewer, but when combined, they create one of the most delectable varieties of kebab I’ve ever had. These spicy kebabs feature a mix of ground lamb and beef, which is cooked with lamb fat, and served over thin bread alongside burghul, peppers, tomato and corn salad.
We were honestly trying to escape dessert, because after licking off those plates clean, there was no way we could down anything sweet. But Razan (who invited me to the restaurant) had already planned for us to try the Chocolate Souffle. And judge me all you want, but it was so good, we ended up finishing that as well. The souffle was like a molten cake with a gooey center. The actual chocolate taste was quite different, but I liked the outer cake more than the melted chocolate inside. The Turkish touch of crushed pistachio garnish was just right. We paired this along with the classic Turkish tea.
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Turkish food is increasingly making a bigger and bigger place in my heart, and this is one of those few places to get on my repeat visit required list. I honestly loved their Pide. While we split it in 3, now I know my fav and next time I’ll order the entire pide with that topping. And the iskender kebab OMG. If you skip that, you’ll be missing out on a lot. I can still feel the taste of that doner meat on my palate. So so good.
Pide Keyfi
Location: Shop 1, Ground Floor, Hassani Building 1, Jumeirah Village, Dubai
Contact: 04 5260406
