Tulum review, Balaclava, Vic: A true Turkish delight

Tulum 2.0 is a different animal, one I can honestly get gushy about.

Tulum restaurant, Balaclava, Vic. Picture: Jesse Marlow

Ever wanted to love something but just found it, you know, a bit of an ask? A city? A piece of music? A car? A restaurant? I’m not alone here, I know it.

When Tulum opened three years ago on the bustling inner Melbourne strip of Carlisle Street promising contemporary Turkish food, I really wanted to love it, and I’ll tell you why. One, I’d attended a dinner years before where Tulum’s Coskun Uysal was guest chef, and the food was outstanding. And two, I doubt Uysal ever met anyone he didn’t leave impressed; he’s just a nice, gentle man with an infectious smile.

Tulum – named for a goat’s milk cheese beloved by Turks – was nice enough. Glimpses of brilliance. But I couldn’t love it. It seemed to me a contemporary cuisine with Turkish accents. Very pretty, but almost too subtle, too worked, too far removed from its roots. The space was unemotional; the soul of traditional Istanbul food was missing.

I wonder if the same thing occurred to Uysal. Because Tulum 2.0 is a different animal, one I can honestly get gushy about. A redesign has given it intimacy, atmosphere and mood; it genuinely reminds me of places I visited in Istanbul last year. More importantly, Uysal has inverted the food approach: it’s now more Turkish food with a contemporary approach, not the other way round.

Things like a shallow dish of cold, garlicky almond soup with a great puck of roasted kohlrabi in some kind of tangy dressing, crusted with whole-seed spices like fennel, with red-wine pickled red grapes, toasted smoked almonds, feathers of fresh dill (a leitmotif) and parsley oil. It’s a beautiful dish that says plenty about the Tulum approach.

Ditto the golden borek, a lovely spice-crusted pastry roll filled with potato, leek and feta, dotted with hung yoghurt and dill fronds, served with pomegranate sauce, a tzatziki-like yoghurt puddle and powdered green capsicum. You can see the traditional trunk, but the branches are individual. It’s also really delicious, satisfying, real.

Heirloom tomatoes in a sweet/acidic dressing are accompanied by more of those whole spices and dill fronds, dehydrated black olive, red onion, watermelon mousse and a central core of feta “pudding”. It’s another outstanding distillation of Turkish staples, imaginatively served.

Tulum takes Turkey’s icli kofte – bulgur wheat balls stuffed with minced lamb, fragrant walnut and cumin – and turns it into pie of sorts, served by the slice, accompanied by a parsley yoghurt sauce speckled with salgam, the red pickle juice served on the streets and in the amazing pickle shops of Turkey. It’s another hit.

Still from the mezze list, fleshy whole sardines (pictured) are served with a bay leaf tarator sauce, preserved lemon slivers, raki-pickled cucumber, red onion slivers and lots of dill and wild fennel on top; a chive-speckled bonito broth is poured at the table. Earthy, yet new, and light, refreshing.

Finally, a piece of swordfish is served grilled on a zingy lemon gel with a bit of modestly warm walnut harissa, pea and mint “salad” and a burnt butter sauce with more of that green capsicum powder.

A dessert of eggplant mousse with tahini ice cream and a cumin-laced caramel is more interesting than irresistible. Melon granita, feta, raki and mint oil may have been a better choice. Small bira.

Staff are good, the prices for everything reasonable, the food special. In the words of a musical hero, Beck: “Think I’m in love, but it makes me kinda nervous to say so.”

Tulum at a glance

Address: 217 Carlisle Street, Balaclava, Vic

Contact: [phone]; tulumrestaurant.com.au

Hours: Lunch Sat; dinner Tue-Sun

Typical prices: Mezze $17; main $34; sides $10; dessert $16

Like this? try... Stanbuli, Sydney; Yagiz, Melbourne

Summary: Turkish delight

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars