Bosphorous Restaurant, a Turkish Delight

Last Thursday (8-14-08) was a day for celebration for Ken; he was sworn in as a US citizen. (Just in time to vote for one of the fabulous people running for president of this great land).
I was lucky to get the day off to celebrate this momentous occasion with him.
The day started when we went down to the convention center in Orlando for the ceremony. There were over 800 persons sworn in that day and about 1200 family and friends there to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment. After it was over, and he registered to vote, it was about 11:00 AM.
My niece was on her way back to south Florida with 4 of her friends on the 12:30 PM Amtrak train that afternoon, so we had decided earlier that we would go to the station to see them off and we would then go to lunch. When we got to the station we were told the train had been delayed by at least an hour, so we decided to take them all to lunch with us.
Right across the street the train station on Park Avenue in Winter Park we found Bosphorous.

This restaurant was very simply, but nicely decorated and we thought we liked the menu well enough to stay.
While we waited for the girls to arrive, I enjoyed a Mango Mai Tai and Ken had a Melon Green Tea-ni.

We started lunch off with the stuffed grapes leaves as an appetizer. It must be a Turkish tradition to serve them chilled versus the Greek style of serving them warm. They were delicious but I think I prefer them served warm and not chilled. With the grape leaves we had some Lavas bread which was very interestingly served as a bread dome, almost souffle style.
The bread was good.
Ken ordered the Adena Kebab (skewered lamb) - hand chopped lamb flavored with red bell peppers, light hot peppers, slightly seasoned with paprika and grilled, served with rice and garnished with red onions, red cabbage, a spicy banana pepper and carrots. Ken thought his meal was good but would have preferred if they had served it hot and not barely luke warm.

Gisele (my niece) and I both had the Beyti Wrap which consisted of lightly hot-seasoned ground lamb in a flat bread wrap topped with yogurt served with rice, red onions, red cabbage, a spicy banana pepper and carrots. We both though that was delicious although it could have been warmer also.

The rest of the table enjoyed 2 each Chicken Kofte ( minced chicken blended with onions, garlic, parsley and special spices served with ...yes you guessed it, rice, red onions, red cabbage, a spicy banana pepper and carrots); 1 each Bamya ( a fresh okra dish, cooked with green peppers, onions, garlic in a light tomato sauce, served with rice; and one Falafel wrap ( a mixture of chickpeas, celery, parsley, onions tossed in spices.

For dessert we enjoyed 2 each Kazandibi (baked and caramelized light milk pudding); 2 each Baklava ( a Turkish version made of many layers of paper thin dough filled with crushed pistachios) and one Sutlac (an oven baked rice pudding). The most common comment about the desserts was they they could have been sweeter.

The service was excellent and the prices were moderate for lunch.

We wish the food had been warmer though. The place was not crowded and they may have been able to manage our dished better so that they were all served hot.

Overall, we recommend Bospshorous (that is the name of the strait that separates the European side of Istanbul from the Asian side) just make sure you ask that your food be served hot.
We give Bosphorous....................................................3.25-Forks