Most Australians experience Turkish food at Kebab joints after a night out with their mates or at lunch breaks when they forget to bring their lunch packs from home. Like the Italian pizza and the Chinese takeaway, the kebab has become quite a fixture in Australian fast food landscape, almost as Australian as a meat pie pizza.

Of course the question comes to the mind: Is this what Turks eat every day Turkey? What could a more authentic sit-down meal at a restaurant in Istanbul or a humble home in Ankara consist of?
I was lucky to have a chance to find answers to some of these questions last week. Brisbane is home to some 3000 Australian Turks, and although I wouldn't call the city as the best place for a really authentic Turkish meal, there are a few decent and consistently run Turkish restaurants around. An affordable one, too: the patrons of this gorgeous Turkish restaurant on Given Terrace were so generous, they fed me lots of mixed char grilled lamb and beef pieces on plates of rice, freshly cooked Turkish bread, garden salad and dessert for just $30.

Given Terrace at Paddington is famous for its lifestyle and the number of classic Australian food joints such as Kookaburra Cafe which was the original destination of our food odyssey. We noticed this colourful, authentic Turkish themed shiny restaurant right next to Kookaburra Cafe and after having a quick look inside we made our decision. The restaurant features a rich bar filled with various Turkish and European spirits and beers. Most Turkish restaurants are either BYO or do not really have a vast variety of Turkish drinks so the irresistible urge to try these exotic Turkish drinks, you could say, was the decisive factor.

Turkey is the Neo-Ottoman Empire; she was once a big country with many ethnic groups and sub-cultures. The borders stretched from Iran in the east to Austria in the west, Russia in north to Somalia in South. Today there are nearly 40 countries where Ottomans once used to rule. Turkish cuisine reflects this, bringing together rich flavours from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa.

We started with a platter of mixed mezzo which is a great example of how rich a cuisine can be: Cacik (shredded cucumber with garlic yoghurt, dried mint and olive oil) is the original version of Tzatziki, and Baba Ganush (charcoal grilled eggplant mashed in an tomato and olive oil-rich sauce) definitely brought to mind the Mediterranean. Tahini-mashed chickpea mixture hummus and Olive Oil mix (a mezze made from green beans) might feel at home in the middle-east, while the Russian salad and mücver(soft vegetable patties made from minced potatoes, cheese, egg, minced courgette and dill), recalled Eastern Europe.

The kebab and the charcoal grill still feel like the heart of Turkish cooking, and of the menu at Harem Restaurant. When asked, the Restaurant owner Murat Icer said "in Turkey, the cuisine consist of mostly vegetarian dishes but here in Australia, people love meat based dishes hence we have a huge selection of kebabs in our menus". Fair enough, being already impressed with the mezes we couldn’t resist the kebab menu and tried their $30 a head mixed grill banquet, a selection of mouth watering kebabs, salads and seafood.

Pretty much all Australians are familiar with chicken shish kebabs from more everyday kebab joints or Sunday BBQs at home, but Harem's kebabs were very well-marinated and fresh off the charcoal grill. Pieces of koftes (meatballs) and lamb shank tasted homemade Anatolian, juicy and rich with fresh herbs. The prawns were cooked in traditional tomato sauce and went down like peanuts.The side dishes were very rich as well - lots of fresh pide, dips and fresh Mediterranean salad. The size of Harem's portions are very generous incredible, and having filled ourselves with beautiful mezes upfront, we were full after the mains and the salads.

We then decided to try some Turkish drinks. I wanted to try Raki, which looked similar to Greek Ouzo while my friends opted for Turkish beer "Efes". Raki was very strong at first and I wondered how people could enjoy this. A fellow Turkish customer came to my help. I was told that the Raki is often drank mixed with either water or some sort of juice. I mixed mine with Sourcherry juice - my God ! So strong yet so nice! Imagine Long Island Ice tea where you first taste coke-lemon flavour and then feel hit by the mixture of 4 strong spirits! Raki with Sourcherry juice (which is of course Turkish) made my night! I was also told that Turks never drank their alcohol solo, Raki had to be accompanied by meze!

As we were finishing our mains we heard the Turkish drums banging and all of a sudden, a lean, risqué figure jumped to the stage: Narissa ! Such a great dancer!I have seen many belly dancers before and I must say there's a big difference between a woman in belly-dancing costume dancing and watching a real belly dancer move her body in a sensual and flirtatious way. Narissa is beautiful and has an excellent physique and she knows how to make everybody dance. She approached this old gentleman (60-65 yrs old) and made him dance. The man was over the moon and danced with Narissa like a teenager. Narissa's smile and costume brought all the mystery and illusion and the combinations she displayed was truly stunning.

Venue Info: Harem Restaurant Brisbane

282 Given Tce, Paddington Brisbane QLD Harem Restaurant is open for dinner 6 days (Tue - Sun) until late. Harem is open for lunch on the weekends. Take-away, bookings : (07) 3368 3141.

After the dance show, we ordered baklava and Turkish coffee. The baklava was served with ice-cream - a combination that makes baklava more edible. Crispy fresh baklava went down really well with Turkish coffee. Great contrast: sweet and bitter. As we were enjoying our coffee and desserts overlooking beautiful city lights (oh, did we mention Harem Restaurant's terrace? Breath-taking view!). Our host Murat Icer approached our table with an Oud (a guitar-like instrument) and asked us whether everything was okay and we were happy with the service. We invited him to join our table; he pulled a chair and started playing the Oud. As he was singing and playing relaxing Turkish melodies, we were wondering how much it would cost to hire live music, belly dancing at our table and eat as much as you can at an ordinary restaurant - at least twice as much as we paid at Harem Restaurant of course!

We thanked our host and his staff and left the restaurant smiling.