I am back with another Magical Dining from Friday night! This time for Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine, which was located in Boxi Park (although there are other locations around Florida). Funny enough, this restaurant was located extremely close to our first Magical Dining experience, BACÁN, in the Lake Nona area.
Boxi Park
Matt and I didn’t entirely know what to expect when we arrived, but when we turned closer to where the restaurant was, there were people directing traffic due to pedestrians. The street parking is limited, but thankfully there is a parking garage super close! We ended up parking in the garage to walk over, and didn’t realize that there was a market event going on. It was considered “Wellness Weekend” with local vendors and music, which there was a wide variety of. Baked goods, jewelry, juices, candles, pet collars… it was a cute event for a Friday night!
Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine
It was funny because our first Magical Dining was on a Monday, and we ended up getting to sit down early with it being super stressless. Friday’s Magical Dining there was so much movement and chaos with how many people there was in the area, it was totally opposite. We got to the building, and was confused as to which door to enter through because the sign is on one side of the building and there was staff waiting around the corner on the other side. They were super nice and pointed us in the direction of checking in through the doors, which the staff immediately sat us down.
They didn’t have too much decor, with the location having entire windows to look over the outside seating. There was some pretty chandeliers and ceiling tiles for decoration, but nothing super extravagant (which is totally okay because it fits the vibe of Boxi park/Lake Nona).
This restaurant chain was originally on our list of locations for our rehearsal dinner, although it ended up changing (…and then was nonexistent due to the hurricane that hit days before the wedding). Ever since Matt brought it up I had been wanting to go, so this was the perfect opportunity to try it! For appetizers there is a choice of Sigar Boregi, which is crispy filo dough stuffed with creamy feta cheese and parsley, the Select Two Cold Appetizers, which is a choice of any two out of humus, sautéed eggplant, muhammara, babaganoush, ezme, haydari, cacik, or Falafel, which is a mixture of chickpeas, celery, parsley and green onions tossed in spices and lightly fried and served with tahini sauce. The main course has the options of Beef Sis Kebap, which is tender cubes of beef tenderloin delicately marinated and chargrilled, Lamb Shanks, which is lamb seasoned with their authentic Turkish spices and seasonings, braised slowly over 5 hours with a medley of fresh carrots, onions and bell peppers and rice pilaf, Shrimp Sauté, which is fresh shrimp sautéed with onions, red and green bell peppers, mushrooms and garlic in a choice of lemon, tomato, or rich cream sauce and rice pilaf, and lastly Special Beyti Kebap, which is hand-carved lamb flavored with garlic, hot Turkish peppers and parsley, then chargrilled on skewers and wrapped in their special pita and topped with house-made tomato and yogurt sauces. The dessert options were either Pistachio Baklava, which is their house made baklava with layers of crispy, thin pastry dough filled with pistachios and topped with citrus infused syrup, Dark Chocolate Mousse, which is a rich mousse made with Peterbrooke dark chocolate and a hint of Turkish coffee, or Chocolate Hazelnut Baklava, which is Peterbrooke chocolate, freshly ground hazelnuts, and flaky filo dough topped with citrus infused syrup. Each three course meal was $40 per person, which later on by the plate size I would say was worth it.
To start off, Matt had gotten some Turkish Tea because he is a major tea drinker, and I had gotten a glass of Sevilen Kalecik Karasi, which is a Turkish red wines. Matt’s tea kettle that they brought up was filled to the top (and he kept spilling it as he poured it), and came with sugar cubes to mix in. It was pretty good, as well as my wine (I was just trying to save it to eat with our meal).
Our appetizer choices were the Sigar Boregi and the Two Cold Appetizers, the humus and muhammara. The Sigar Boregi was fantastic, although I know that is what kind of pushed me over the edge because coming out with four servings, it was heavy with cheese. The way Matt described it, it was like a Turkish mozzarella stick, only much better. My humus and muhammara was okay, with the humus being kind of stiff and flavorless, and the muhammara being super red pepper tasting. Matt ended up mixing the two and honestly it tasted a lot better that way.
I had been eyeing their Lamb Shanks, because even though I’ve had lamb in gyros I have never had lamb by itself. Matt had his heart set on the Special Beyti Kebap. When they came out with our main courses, I knew I was in trouble with the size of the plate. It was a pretty good sized portion, with a lot of food piled on. The sauces on both of our meals actually surprised us, with them being more tomato based. My food fell apart when picking it off the bone, and the broth that it was in was really good, but I will say I don’t think lamb is for me. It wasn’t my favorite that I’ve had, but I am happy I at least tried it!
By this time, I was extremely full and kind of regretting dessert due to being stuffed. I had gotten the Dark Chocolate Mousse, and Matt had ordered the Chocolate Hazelnut Baklava, and we at least tried both of them! Matt and I had to switch due to the baklava being a little tough on his tooth, but they were both extremely good! The mousse was super rich, and kind of reminded me of a melted fudge block, and I can say baklava is honestly one of my favorite pastries. We didn’t finish them, but I am happy we at least tried them (it makes me sad I had a whole half of baklava leftover but I was full).
All in all, I am glad we tried Bosphorous for the Magical Dining experience, but I don’t think it’s a location we will go back to. We have closer options that we enjoy going to, but I am happy we finally went! We have another Magical Dining on Wednesday, so until then!