After our 4-hour lunch at Li Li and Market Café that Saturday afternoon, Bubba and I sauntered off towards Rockwell for some Saturday stroll and grocery errands. We left Power Plant Mall past 1030pm and headed towards Combos Turkish restaurant that Spanky tipped us off earlier that day.
When Spanx paints a picture of how good a dish is, most of the time I can feel like I can already taste it. You know how normal ladies get goosebumps over scary movies (apparently I don’t get scared that easily growing up with all VHS tapes of horror movies I can borrow from my Tita’s video rental shop) and Jennifer Lopez’ goosies over Jessica Sanchez’ over the top performance? My skin prickles when my exhilaration over food rises.
Yours will too, hopefully, after reading this. The place was a bit offbeat, not totally hole-in-the-wall, but has that quaint charm.
On the Table
Chicken Kebab Pasta with Butter PHP 200
The plate arrived visually arresting from the play of white, brown, red orange and green colors of the components. Pillows of al dente pasta mixed with a bit of tomato sauce, paprika, yogurt and grilled chicken, finished with roughly chopped parsley garnish.
Initially, the name of the dish didn’t sound that appetizing but who ever stands up against butter? It is the holy grail of French cuisine and anything glorious in food after all. Chicken Kebab Pasta was no exception as there are provocative flavors of smokiness, spice and buttery goodness.
Iskender Kebap PHP 500
This came highly recommended by the wait staff when we probed what is their specialty. Iskender Kebap is a famous traditional dish from Turkish Cuisine. Grilled lamb sliced very thinly layered atop diced bread carefully crammed like a base. The meat was grilled with its natural juices still very intact keeping the flavor rankling inside, titling with hints of mild tomato sauce and butter.
Bubba said the best way to enjoy this is to get a block of the bread carefully while detaching the decadently rich lamb meat on top. By now, the bread is slightly drenched by the lamb’s sweat. I whip a tiny scoop of the white Yogurt blob that’s creamy and tangy with that same fork and mmm… did original sin taste like this?
I wish I drink beer because in my imaginative palate, it’s probably the best drink to wash it down with. The bitter taste of beer taming the bouncing savory strong flavors. I know what I’m coming back to next time I’m in Rockwell –or just at the outskirts.
Combos Turkish Restaurant
5911-B Matilde Street
Barangay Poblacion, Makati
(632) 553 3371
Operating Hours: Mondays-Sundays, 1pm to 1am
Directions: From Rockwell going to Makati Ave. via Kalayaan St., go pass Grilla restaurant. The first block, turn right to that street, you’ll see Combos Turkish restaurant signage.
thanks for this tip, janey! my family loves turkish food. my son learned the word/taste “savory” (umami) at school and has since been using that to describe his favorite food. that’s my favorite word too. =)