For anyone inclined to grab some delicious Turkish food at The Sultan’s Table, let this review serve as a warning to avoid the fate that has plagued many visiting, including us, of being turned away without a reservation on a Saturday night. Looking like a takeaway joint from the outside, it is deceptively large with tables to dine in towards the back and a loyal and numerous clientele that already know the score. If you want to eat here on a Friday or Saturday night, it’s a good idea to book ahead by a few days.
This Saturday night we are in possession of a reservation. And a good thing too, for even as we’re dining early at 6pm, we watch a steady stream of people being turned away. For those of you that do find yourselves in the same situation, there are tables outside where you can eat your takeaway but of course it’s not quite the same.
Prices for dine in are mostly $1-2 more than for takeaway except for the plates of dips which are double the price. We presume this is to discourage people from ordering a plate of dips and sitting there for an hour. We start off with a plate of the colourful dips with Turkish bread and then order an eggplant fritter, the Sultans Kebab, Iskender Kebab, Guvec and a Kusabilli Pide all topped off with a baklava.
Service it has to be said is very charming and friendly. It seems the gruffer types are behind the counter dealing with the takeaway customers (and even then they aren’t that gruff it should be said) and the friendly ones are taking care of the restaurant. We muse that they probably split themselves up beforehand and said “Ok you like people, you deal with them, I don’t so I’ll just cook and do takeaway orders.”
Mixed dips (medium) $14 with Turkish bread $3 Clockwise from top left: carrot dip, jajik, spinach, babaganoush, chili, hummous, beetroot and spinach dip with eggplant in the centre.
We’re not waiting long for our dips-we have a spread of 8 dips including Hummous, Babaganoush, parsley, chilli, beetroot, carrot, spinach and jajik (yogurt) with some eggplant in the centre as well as a large basket full of warm and super fresh fluffy Turkish bread. I should confess that Turkish bread is my favourite bread ever and anyone watching me could probably tell, the way I was making out with it. The dips are delicious, particularly the chilli and babaganoush together. The babaganoush is one dip I usually don’t like as I find the smokiness to the eggplant too strong but this one is fantastic so I feel compelled to ask the waiter about it and he explains that they do their babaganoush differently than other places, using yogurt. I like the sweetness of the beetroot (minus the earthiness) and the carrot and the spinach dip too although none of us really go for the parsley dip.
Zucchini fritter $3.50
Our Zucchini fritter arrives and it is filled with zucchini, carrot, onion, parley, cheese and herbs and is quite a large patty indeed. It’s nice although more reheated rather than freshly fried and goes well when combined with the dips.
Sultans Kebab $15
Things tend to arrive when they arrive so we receive our Sultans Kebab next which has pieces of eggplant, tomato and meatballs skewered over charcoal with green chilis and flatter Turkish bread. The SMH review said that the meatballs were whoppingly sized but ours are just normal sized.
Underneath the bread
They are brought to a table with a flourish under a copper domed lid. It all has a deliciously smoky flavour to it and is surprisingly filling.
Kusbasilli pide $13
Our next main, the Kusbasilli pide arrives and is filled with kusabili diced lamb, tomato, fresh chili and peppers. It’s hot in both temperature and spiciness and not for the faint hearted or those fearing chilli.
Iskender Kebab $13
One of my favourite dishes ever is the Iskender Kebab. Unlike Doner kebas which are served in a roll, the Iskender features a bed of spongy Turkish bread pieces, a layer of doner kebab meat and then a layer of home made yogurt and a mysteriously named “red sauce”. It’s luscious, it’s gooey and saucey and filling and moreish. Eating it I turn into pure Nigella moaning and scooping it into my hungry mouth with an ecstatic fervour.
Guvec $13
Our last savoury dish, the traditional speciality Guvec, is served in an earthenware ramekin and takes longer than the rest to cook. It’s a casserole with pieces of eggplant, zucchini and tomato with slices of lamb meat with the most delicious rich tomato based sauce just made for mopping up with the accompanying bread.
Baklava $2.50
Somehow we manage to try and fit in some Baklava. It’s hit peak busy time and our waiter notices that we’ve been waiting about 10 minutes for our Baklava. He races behind the counter and gets a slice of baklava and a slice of Kadayif and with a flourish presents it to us saying “The best thing about waiting so long for your dessert is that you get it for free”. Yes, a sweeter than sweet ending for our meal (although my husband sweetly notes that he prefers my browned butter baklava).
Kadayif $2.50
The Sultan’s Table
179 Enmore Road, Enmore, NSW (corner London Street)
Tel : +61 (02) 9557 0229
Monday-Sunday 11am-11pm
Friday-Saturday 11am- midnight
Cash only
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31 Comments | Add your own
Nice photos! Good dessert for free
Very pretty dips and great variety of food!
Oooh my favourite. We get delivery from this place all the time, the leftovers are scrumptious. Never had a bad experience with Sultan’s Table … now I’m craving some jajik. Next time, try the chicken kebabs. They are unbelievably good.
We love this place! I love love love the Guvec and the Iskender.
What is not to love about inexpensive, good, take-out? It is like the perfect tri-fecta in my book.
Thanks for your recommendation. I always adore your photography.
-Francesca
YUM!
i’ve driven past here so many times, but i always just thought it was a take-away shop. the dips look fantastic… i’m a big turkish bread fan too
The chilli dip is to die for!! We often make a car trip there during our lunch hour to pick up the dips – they are so cheap if you takeaway! (As you said). Yummy.
gosh it looks fantastic! i love the hearty flavours and the smokiness of turkish food. would never have guessed that this place even existed!
I love Turkish food! I ate a lot of guveç with pilav when I was in Turkey. The dips look beautifully colourful, and you’ve got a great pide photo.
great review. a friend was just recommending this place last friday to me so it’s now on my wish list to check out when i get a chance.
simon
Oh, iskender kebab! Haven’t had that for ages..delish!
Your photo of the Sultan’s Kabab revealed made me blush!! My favourite restaurant back in the UK is Turkish (OK, second favourite, you can’t beat Indiam food), always good for a girls’ night out!
Looks wonderful…I now have a hankering for turkish food…I too love the bread and dips…that’s my favourite part!
Turning up on a Sat night without a booking!? You must be mad, woman! Food looks fab. I love turkish bread too, but probably not enough to ‘make out’ with it as you do
Wow what a strict reservations policy for what looks like a takeaway joint!
I am in awe of your mouthwatering photos!! You truly elevated an already beautiful feast to fine art.
It just occured to me that you are one girl who gets to ‘have her cake and eat it too’…! What a spectacular array of dishes – and what fabulous friends you have to encourage, support and collaborate on this incredible project you are running!
Mmm looks great! I love baba ganoush – the smokiness is my favourite part.
I have been turned away from this place on a Tuesday night because they have been fully booked. I really want to try it out, though often end up across the road at Faheem Fast Food. Next time though, I hope I’m organised enough to make a booking
Yum! Those dips look delectable, and I’m curious to try some of the kebabs – I don’t tend to eat a lot of turkish food, but this place is certainly appealing!
Hi snooky doodle-I know, that was very nice of them!
Hi Anita-I love how colourful they are!
Hi SydneyGal-Lucky you, I wish they delivered to me! I will have to go back-with a booking of course!
Hi K-yes they were sooo good! I’m drooling thinking about them
Hi Francesca-Exactly and even better when you can eat it in if you feel like it
Thankyou so much!
Hi Vita-hehe!
Hi Betty-I know, it looks like nothing special from the outside! I forget low carb when it comes to Turkish bread
Hi Christie -It is! I loved it mixed with the babaganoush. Yes, I wish I lived close by!
Hi shez-It was really good and such good value! I had no idea either!
Hi Arwen-It’s fantastic
Thanks so much! I’d love to learn how to make guvec!
Hi Simon-Thanks! Just be sure to make a booking
Hi Reemski-I tend not to eat it as I eat far too much of it!
Hi Angela-Haha really?
true London has great Indian food! It’s always so much fun sharing too 
Hi Alexandra-Mine too! especially when the bread is fresh and there’s a good variety of dips
Hi Y-Hah! I’m sure you’ve done the same at some time
And I’m sure you’ve made out with a bread and dip too! 
Hi justJENN-I know! Who knew? Apparently the 20-30 people we saw turned away in the space of 1 hour!
Hi Astra Libris-Thankyou!
that is so sweet of you to say! 
Hi Kyle-Hehe I suppose I am!
I treasure my friends, who put up with all the photo taking like troopers 
Hi Esz-Ahhh well I wonder what you’d think of theirs. It’s not very smokey at all (which is why I like it
)
Hi lili-Oh wow, on a Tuesday night too?
We rang that afternoon and were lucky, maybe because it was the Easter weekend 
Hi Chris-They are amazing, I’d definitely recommend sampling those and the kebabs were great!
i’m such a fan of these foods. however, i must say that i’m partial to the pita over what’s pictured here. that’s not to say i wouldn’t devour the turkish bread, ’cause i would.
I’ve never had Turkish food, but if there’s baklava involved I think I’d love it!
That’s funny that you figured out their plan of separating the friendly folks from the not so friendly! Those dips are colorful!
How lucky you are to have such variety in cuisine. When places like this open up here they close even before I can get to them. Those dips look wonderful and freshly prepared.
The kebabs look wonderful and so do desserts!
My Gordon Ramsay review is up and I am really looking forward to your feedback as you are the one person I know that had been there – I found your review when I was searching of what other people thought of the restaurant (it was the first to come up on my google search!!!)
Hi grace-you know it’s funny, but pita has never really done a lot for me unless it’s super fresh of course but give me Turkish bread and stand back and watch some scary scenes of bread consumption!
Hi maris-I love Turkish food but yes I agree baklava is a definite lure!
Hi Blond Duck-It just seemed so obvious!
Hi Libby-Oh no, really? That’s too bad
We have amazing places like this all over which I guess I take for granted sometimes!
Hi 5 Star Foodie-Thanks! Fabulous, it’s great reading about others experiences there!
It does sounds very delicious. Even the bakalava, though it find it too sweet for my taste, but that might just be the honey. I dont care for honey..
Hi Artemis-Ah yes it has a very strong honey taste. I think if you made your own you could use different flavours like rose or orange blossom water?
We went there with half a dozen burly footy players, out ourselves silly (we left meat on the table!) and it was only $20 a head! Awesome food.
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