Gulluoglu
by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
October 15, 2009
BAKLAVA
982 2nd Ave
@ 52nd St
New York, NY 10022
212-813-0500
1985 Coney Island Ave
(Ave P & Quentin Rd)
Brooklyn, NY 11223
718-645-1822
Celia Cheng
The brand new Midtown branch of Gulluoglu, the famous Istanbul bakery and café, is attracting a lot of attention with its signature baklava in all 12 varieties. Since it opened a month ago, there’s been a steady stream of traffic both for dining in and take-out.
The baklava are showcased up front by the register, the savory pastries at the back counter, and the seating runs the length of the café between the two. I’m a savory girl, so I love all the meat, cheese and spinach rolls and pies. And the simit! At last there’s an accessible Manhattan bakery that sells the ring of sesame-seed topped bread that I fell in love with in Turkey.
Celia Cheng
And Gulluoglu’s menu has much more, including a variety of breakfast dishes served all day, kumpir (Turkish baked potato), salads, soup, sandwiches. And the full roster of desserts and pastries.
On each visit, I try something different. Once, I sampled a bit of every savory pastry, deeming the potato and meat gul boregi rolls my two favorites.
Though the classic kumpir, with its sausage, Russian salad, pickles, olives and corn, sounded to me like Turkish chop suey, I tried it — with trepidation. I didn’t love it, but I recognize that this common fast food must be a trip down memory lane for those who grew up eating it.
I also enjoyed both pastirmali yumurta (eggs over easy with Turkish beef pastrami) and cilbir (poached egg with yogurt and paprika-flavored olive oil) from the breakfast menu. As for baklava, there’s truly something for everyone. I find the sour cherry too sweet, while the kuru (dry) and the sobiyet (pistachio and cream filled) are my current top picks.
For anyone who loves Turkish pies and pastries, Gulluoglu is a welcome treat, with an extensive variety of layered su boregi, the rolled dough coils of gul boregi, and more. While there are Turkish restaurants like Taksim and Sip Sak close to Gulluoglu, they don’t have the same pastries and café food.
I always find the Turkish warm and hospitable, and Gulluoglu is no exception. They never rush you and are more than happy to offer more tea. Maybe it’s because they’ve been serving customers in Istanbul since 1871. While there’s nothing fancy about the 2nd Avenue café in terms of décor, the warmth and yummy phyllo pastries invite me to sit all afternoon, sipping tea and sampling baklavas.
Also in Bread, Cheese, Meat, Midtown East, Sweets, Turkish
