Rumah Makan Al Turkia — Restaurant in Mataram

We visited this restaurant due to our curiosity about its authentic Middle Eastern cuisine. The ambiance was full of Arabic lavish decorations, with red and gold colors everywhere. We were welcomed with orange juice as their welcome drink. Besides the Middle Eastern meals, they also have Indonesian menus, yet we opted for the Arabic food. We ordered lamb mandi (Rp72,000), kebab kabuli (Rp61,000), beef samosas (Rp25,000), chocolate canai (Rp23,000), tempe mendoan (Rp13,000), tamer float (Rp30,000), pineapple peach (Rp23,000), blue ocean (Rp20,000), and mineral water (Rp7,000). These have not included 10% of VAT and 5% of service charge. We immediately loved the beef samosas though they were a bit overpriced in my opinion. The pastry was puffy and easy to bite, especially for my child. The fillings were full of beef and chopped potatoes, yet the curry taste was not really accentuated like the one I tried in another restaurant. The tempe mendoan and canai were pretty tasty, though they tasted just as they were. The difference between the mandi and kabuli was only in the spices used for cooking the rice; kabuli used more spices than mandi, thus a richer taste. For those who like the lighter taste of your rice, you should opt for the mandi one. The lamb mandi came with a tender lamb, so it was easy to chop with your knife or even spoon. On the other hand, the kebab kabuli came with curly fries, which were confusing since the kabuli rice itself made me full immediately, let alone enjoying the fries. But I finally understood that I chose the kebab one, which means that the beef in this dish was intentionally shaped for kebab (the Arabic wrap), unlike the ordinary beef. So I was supposed to choose the kebab kabuli with Arabic bread instead of rice. But I enjoy every bite of this meal despite being so full instantly. Among the drinks, I loved the tamer float, which was basically a blend of milk and dates topped with vanilla ice cream. At first, I thought the float would feel heavy like ordinary fruit juice, yet it was super light and suitable for a sunny day. The pineapple peach was not too sweet, so we could enjoy it to its last drop. However, the blue ocean was so sweet that my daughter could not finish it; probably it was because the ice had not completely melted. Probably I will visit this place again to try...

The word “authentic”…I don’t think it means what they think it means. We ordered fūl mudammas (Fava beans) but we received something resembling chili. First, the beans weren’t even Fava beans, they were red beans (see photo), and then it was in a tomato sauce with a lot of caramelized onions. Would’ve been something you put on a chili cheese dog but not anywhere near Fava beans. We also ordered beef kabab wraps, which were something akin to cheap hot dog meat sliced into strips. All this for very overpriced menu. Take it from me, if you’re looking for anything close to authentic, this...

It kind of hard to give them a good rating if most of the stuff that’s on the menu is out. We wanted to start with foul mudammas and hummus. Both was not available. For drinks it tried to get a mango juice not available. When we wanted to order additional drinks they had no banana shake, no Pepsi, Nö coke, no soft drink at all. The food we ordered was really good and tasty, but why do they have a menu at all if half of the starters (no idea what about the others) are out and even the most basic drinks can‘t...