My husband and I recently moved to Roscoe Village after living in Lakeview/Wrigleyville for the past 5 years. We haven’t had a chance to try many of the restaurants around our new neighborhood, so I suggested we try Turquoise, a Turkish restaurant on Roscoe Ave.

Turquoise is a nice but still casual restaurant with some quaint tables for sidewalk dining. Since it was very hot and humid out, we decided to sit inside. Unfortunately inside was not much cooler, but not a big deal. To start, the servers bring you a basket of warm, delicious bread with a yogurt sauce, similar to Greek tzatziki. I admit, it’s hard not to eat the whole basket and the fact that I had a couple pieces more than likely contributed to the fact that I could not complete my dinner.

Unfortunately I don’t recall the actual name of the dishes we ate,
but I can’t seem to find an online menu. At any rate, we started with a
feta cheese-dough stack. We were expecting this to resemble something
of a Greek tyropita or cheese pie, with buttery, flaky phyllo and
cheese. However, it was a much softer dough, almost like a wonton or
ravioli pasta consistency, layered with feta. It was light and
delicious. For dinner I had the yoghurt kebap, which was seasoned lamb
grilled with vegetables and served over pida (crispy bread chunks) with
yogurt sauce and tomato sauce. It was absolutely delicious. Probably
the best Turkish dish I have ever eaten (though to be fair I have only
eaten at Turkish restaurants 5 or 6 times). Extremely flavorful, albeit
a little heavy on the pida (I know, did I really just say something had
too much *bread*?) I got a side of rice pilaf, which I would forgo next
time. I think I was expecting something a little more than plain
basmati rice (maybe something with vermicelli or some pistachios or
pine nuts on the top, though I am not sure if that is authentically
Turkish or not) for $3.

Interestingly, many of their entrees seem to be more Italian
than Turkish. My husband actually had some sort of seafood ravioli with
a saffron sauce. This was funny because at the beginning of the evening
I asked him if he felt like Italian or Turkish and he said Turkish. I
guess he changed his mind? He liked the saffron sauce and said his dish
was good, though I did not try it. I would have to say that the kabobs
are probably their forte as the one I had was delicious, and Turquoise
has a fairly long list of different kabobs.

We decided to skip dessert and pick up some gelato on the way home.

The service was a little slow, and toward the end we were
waiting a little too long for our bill. However, the waiter was very
friendly and overall our experience was a good one. I would say the
prices are fairly average for a sit down restaurant, and the portion
sizes are definitely adequate. Our two entrees, a side of rice pilaf,
appetizer, iced tea and Stella beer ran us about $55 after tax but
before tip. So, I would say about an average dinner out for us.

Overall, we really enjoyed the restaurant and I’m sure we
will be back again. It is conveniently located, reasonably priced and
has great food. I would definitely recommend giving it a try if you are
in the area!

Turquoise Restaurant

2147 W. Roscoe Ave

773-549-3523