Returning to Gengiz Khan

The daughter lobbied for a return to Gengiz Khan Mediterranean Grill, on MacDill Ave. at Interbay Blvd. from the moment our January visit ended. The husband and I were reluctant because our past experiences told us we'd need to reserve a whole evening for the meal. I am pleased to report that previous service issues were 100% absent last night. We enjoyed a delicious, well paced, efficiently served meal in about an hour, from ordering to all but licking our entree plates. It will take a few more visits to see if they've completely worked things out, or we just got lucky. Either way the food is consistently good, with some dishes worth ordering over and over.

Our dinner:

We started with Haydari and Sigara boregi. The Haydari, a yogurt dip thickened with garlic which we spread on freshly baked flat bread, was truly exceptional. The bread, a favorite from past visits, has been flattened to just a tad thicker than a pita and comes straight from the oven.

We like to use the Haydari to spread on the Sigara boregi too. Phyllo is rolled around a cheese filling and baked until golden. The cheese has a salty tang that could be a bit much if one person ate the whole plate of five "rolled cheese pies" as they are described on the menu. The saltiness is just right with the Haydari, or alternatively the yogurt Gengiz Khan serves with some meat dishes. Just ask your server for a ramekin full of the yogurt sauce.

Meat dishes at Gengiz Khan feature some pretty large portions. We are a family of carnivores, but we can't eat that much, so the three of us ordered just two entrees and put them in the middle of the table to share. Kus basi, beef kebob, and the Gengiz Khan Special. The special includes Doner kebob (ground lamb), Chicken Adana (chopped chicken seasoned and grilled on a skewer), chicken kebob, beef kebob, and a baby lamb chop.

I won't say much about the meats, they were all superb. If your meal doesn't come with the yogurt sauce, get some. It is a wonderful cool accompaniment to the seasoned meat that comes hot off the grill. All kebobs are removed from their skewers before service and served with rice. The daughter and I could make a meal of the rice by itself. The Mediterranean style grain is thicker, plumper, and not as sticky as the rice you'll find in Asian cuisine. After I finish this entry I'm going to spend some time searching for a recipe to start trying to duplicate this dish at home (my highest praise for a restaurant). In addition to rice, entrees come with a choice of vegetables or fried potatoes. We ordered both and really appreciated the freshness. They are obviously made to order, not prepped and then microwaved, or worse yet, held under heat lamps or on a steam table.

A word about the dining room. The decor is simple and quite fashion forward for a start-up ethnic restaurant of any variety. Turkish music plays lightly in the background. Just exotic enough to be fun, but not harsh on western ears. I do wish the hanging pendant lights had been placed after they set up the tables. One hangs a bit low, and is placed rather unfortunately off center at what would otherwise be the best table for 6 in the house.

It's also a bit unfortunate they don't serve alcohol. The Sigara boregi cries out for a nice red counterpoint to the cheese. That could be solved by calling for takeout as most of last night's customers did. We were too full for dessert but the daughter swears she will drive down there and eat by herself if that's what it takes to try their baklava. (Noted as home made on the menu.)

Gengiz Khan is open for lunch and dinner. Closed Mondays.