Tulum
Those in the know long knew that Balaclava’s modern Turkish restaurant, Tulum, was one of Melbourne’s best, but a recent refresh of both looks and direction has elevated it even higher.
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217 Carlisle St, Balaclava
(03) 9525 9127
Those in the know long knew that Balaclava’s modern Turkish restaurant, Tulum, was one of Melbourne’s best, but a recent refresh of both looks and direction has elevated it even higher.
Coskun Uysal, whose cooking takes Istanbul training and mixes it with a Melbourne sensibility, has evolved his destination diner into something more accessible.
The new-look room is beautiful, comfortable and sexy, with dark panels and exposed bricks, timber, marble and leather all adding good looks.
The lighting is flattering, the Anatolian pop infectious, the staff welcoming, knowledgeable and efficient. And the food?
Better than ever.
You can still take a seven-course tour of the Turkish regions, but the new menu is more mix-and-match mezze in which nothing save a few bigger plates breaks the $20 mark.
It’s generous in the you’re-a-guest-in-my-house way of the Middle East, with hospitality encoded into the staff’s DNA.
Grab a group, for there is so much you’ll want to try across both the menu and tight wine list with its focus on Turkish labels and varietals at order-another prices.
A supremely clever take on icli kofte sees spiced lamb mince served in pie form, the slice rich with walnuts and cumin.
A pond of yoghurt sauce sprinkled with parsley dust and dotted with salgam, a red pickle juice served on the streets of Istanbul, finishes a classic reimagined with true class.
Even better, local calamari, sliced into slivers and blanched and soaked in buttermilk until silken, is served with lemony breadcrumbs and a lick of harissa for a terrific take on a traditional noodle dish.
Huge Clarence River prawns are chucked on the grill before resting on tarhana, a fermented grain soup, and finished with the namesake soft tulum cheese, while meaty sardines come splayed and served with batons of raki-soused cucumber.
There’s more wiping-the-bowl-clean action thanks to the burnt butter and garlic yoghurt sauce that comes with the manti, tiny meat-filled dumplings that are at once delicate and dexterous.
A puff of smoked eggplant cream that tops tahini ice cream, or walnut and semolina halva with pomegranate granita, is all you’ll need before leaving, beaming.
With high-end cooking smarts highlighting the heritage of his home now in an accessible format at unbeatable prices, Tulum is an overnight success three years in the making.
Must-eat dish: Eriste
Cuisine: Turkish
Chef: Coskun Uysal
Price: $$
Open: Dinner Tue-Sat 5pm-late; lunch Sat 12-3pm
Bookings: Yes
Instagram: @tulumrestaurant