Divan Delivers Turkish Delights

Dining at Divan Turkish Kitchen wasn’t Adam Erace’s first choice but the Center City South restaurant rewarded him anyway.

Chef Sadi Cetiner is particularly gifted in the meat department. Piled over a hill of fluffy rice, the shavings of spit-roasted doner were dry, but all other selections carnivorous blew me away. You could drown in the meaty juices locked inside the shish kebab’s smoky, skewer-grilled cubes of chicken and lamb. The lamb adana kebabs massaged with Turkish pepper paste delivered the same tender experience, accented with a glimmer of heat, and beef joined the fray in the succulent, savory kofte, mint-flecked patties of ground beef and lamb. (Could you imagine them on a burger bun? Delicious sacrilege!) The meatless manti, dainty dumplings filled with buttons of spinach and cloaked in garlicky strained yogurt, were equally flavorful and pacified the vegetarian at a table stacked with skewered meats.

Divan Turkish Kitchen [Philadelphia Weekly]