Arab Street Turkish Restaurant (SG)

What an interesting dining experience, eating at Arab Street Turkish Restaurant in Yishun. Definitely fulfils the keyword “hidden gem”, as a uniquely decorated restaurant under a HDB block. Hope we weren’t too excitedly noisy for the residents upstairs. Though…that delivery rider’s music was definitely way louder than us 🤭

Honestly, I didn’t know what I was eating as the various dishes were served one after another. As someone who is unfamiliar with Turkish food, it’ll be great if the name of the dish could be announced as they were placed on the table. Definitely helps with learning, and better appreciation of what I was eating.

Though the staff was friendly and the food was generally good, I wondered if we were overcharged? I could be wrong of course as it was a whirlwind of unknown dishes one after another. There’s just that tingling feeling which I couldn’t shake off…

For example, I can’t help wondering, where’s the Pita Bread? Initially I thought it was the Lavash (Balloon Bread) that was served right after the Hummus. But the Lavash was charged separately. Did they forget our Pita Bread or did I miss the multiple portions of Pita Bread?

Anyway, my advice will be to check your dishes and bill if you’ll like to visit Arab Street Turkish Restaurant. I myself am struggling to reconcile the food I had vs the bill I see. Apologies in advance if I didn’t tag the photo with the right dish name. I’ll do my best though!

I didn’t get a chance to try all the dishes, though I did manage to snap a photo of these before they were devoured:

BabaGanoush (With Pita Bread) @ S$9.9

Falefel (With Pita Bread) @ S$9.9

Fattoush Salad @ S$8.9

Hummus (Chicken) (With Pita Bread) @ S$12.9

I did get to try the following dishes and I’ll start with those that I like:

Tagine Musakka Cheese (Lamb) @ S$15.9 was awesome! 👍 Because the cheese was amazingly stretchy. Only complain is I only got to eat 1 spoonful before it was whisked away, never to be seen again.

The lamb in Hummus (Lamb) (With Pita Bread) @ S$14.9 was super tender! 👍 Love this dish. Wonder how it’ll taste like when paired with Pita Bread…

The wow-factor of the meal with fire and “swords” is the below combination served on a large platter. Frankly speaking, everyone thought this is the Mix Grill 4 pax @ S$63.9, which was wow, value for money right.

But the longer I mull over the bill vs what I had/saw, I really think it’s more of a combination of the 4 items below, which totals to S$134.6. I may be wrong…who knows 🤷‍♀️ Only Arab Street Turkish Restaurant knows lol…The only thing I remembered saying is, the chicken is very tender 😂

Mix Grill 4 pax @ S$63.9 + Lamp shop @ S$35.9 + Tagine Lamb Shank Mand @ S$19.9 + Tagine Chicken Mandi @ S$14.9

I had Lavash (Balloon Bread) @ S$5.9 with Arab Street Turkish Restaurant’s Hummus (Lamb) and it was underwhelming. 🤷‍♀️

And I didn’t like Arab Street Turkish Restaurant’s Arayes lamb @ S$17.9 👎

I love desserts and was looking forward to a stretchy Kunafa after seeing its photo in the menu. But the Kunafa with ice cream @ S$15 served had no stretch and no pistachio. It’s my 1st time eating Kunafa and it tastes nice. However, the price tag of S$15 is too steep for me to swallow, especially when it’s made expensive by the scoop of ice cream… 🤷‍♀️

I didn’t try every piece of Arab Street Turkish Restaurant’s Baklava Pistachio 4pc @ S$8.9 but the one I had was too sweet for me. Maybe more for folks with a sweet tooth? 🤷‍♀️