Temel, a Turkish restaurant in Fairfax, is a culinary gem that you won’t just stumble upon.
It’s tucked away in a strip mall along with such businesses as a karate studio and a paint store. This area is no Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan, and it’s almost 20 miles west of Washington, but despite the distance and the setting, it is well worth a visit.
Temel’s food and service are excellent and its decor elegant and refreshingly free of the predictable Turkish kitsch (tea sets, brass, posters of Istanbul, etc). Instead, classic friezes and a wall-mounted waterfall add to the establishment’s serene ambience.
For starters, the yogurt soup, a mild rice- and peppermint-laced soup served hot, didn’t disappoint: creamy, yet light, and subtly flavorful.
Another starter, which allows the guest to sample several Turkish-Mediterranean dishes, is Temel’s platter of mezes. For the not-so-hungry, it may even serve as an entree.
On the oval dish are nicely displayed pairs of dolma (marinated vine leaves filled with rice, pine nuts and raisins), humus, a chunk of delicious feta cheese, a couple of slices of fried zucchini, Temel’s cigars (phyllo rolls stuffed with feta, parsley and dill) and falafel.
Everything on the plate is delightful, but the dolmas were a favorite. What a perfect summer food — they’re served cold, have that unique marinated-vine-leaf flavor and aren’t terribly filling.
Entrees range from the very Turkish kebab dishes to the not-so-Turkish filet mignon and Outer Banks crab cakes.
This menu offers something for everyone, including vegetarians. Along with spinach pie and salads, the restaurant also serves vegetable noodle and pizza dishes.
We chose the shrimp and scallop Bosporus — grilled seafood and vegetables on a skewer. The portion is generous and the dish well-prepared.
The mixed grill plate offers a taste of four different kebabs, chicken skewers and lamb chop dishes.
The chicken is wonderfully lemon-infused and tender and is served on a skewer with tomato chunks and peppers. The Adana kebab — originally baked around the blade of a sword — is flavorful ground lamb marinated with paprika and peppers and served on flat bread.
The shish kebab is a delicious lamb loin marinated in olive oil, paprika, garlic and pepper and grilled on two skewers. It’s simple, but so good. The mixed grill offers a tasty oregano- and olive-oil-tinged lamb chop.
We also ordered a side of doner kebab — a weekend-only treat of lamb and beef. Chef Ismet Gezgic prepares this and other meats so they are tender on the inside and yet crispy on the outside. It’s perfect.
The doner kebab, which along with other kebabs, often comes covered in yogurt and tomato sauce, is served as is at Temel, possibly to allow the guest to savor the perfection of the meat.
But being big fans of cacik, the Turkish answer to the Greece’s tzatziki, we couldn’t help but order a serving of the tasty yogurt sauce with diced cucumbers, garlic and dill. We found the refreshing cacik to be the perfect dipping sauce for both the freshly baked bread and the meats.
The entrees from the grill come with a choice of side dishes. We picked seasoned potatoes, which came with the not-so-traditionally Turkish lima bean — a little strange, but quite tasty.
Temel’s desserts are fabulous. We sampled kunefe, shredded Turkish phyllo stuffed with a mild cheese, walnuts and sugar, and baklava — the all-time Mediterranean dessert favorite — a sweet, stringy pastry with walnuts that’s doused in delicious honey.
Finally, we tried sutlac, the Turkish rice pudding, which done Temel style is elevated from porridgy comfort food to a delicacy. It’s a creamy, melt-in-the-mouth dessert.
All of this called for a cup of Turkish coffee. It was perfectly Turkish, all the way to the last sip above the strong, sludgy coffee grounds.
Temel has good prices and selections of wines and beers, including Efes, a Turkish beer.
Along with the great food, Temel offers very good service. No waits, no wants. The staff is knowledgeable and courteous.
Temel serves solid, excellently prepared dishes (our only disappointment was the tasteless tomato used as garnish — not much of a complaint), great service and ambience.
Don’t let the drive be a deterrent because this culinary experience could be one of the year’s best — especially for the price — even for the most blase restaurant-goer.
RESTAURANT: Temel, 3232 Old Pickett Road, Fairfax; 703/352-5477
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and to 11 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
PRICES: Starters $3.75 to $11.95; main courses $5.95 to $21; desserts $3.25 to $5.75.
CREDIT CARDS: All major credit cards
PARKING: Off-street parking available
ACCESS: Wheelchair accessible
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