Update: New Kapadokia is now closed.

Atmosphere: 4/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5

Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Would like to

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My friends were going to a Star Trek Convention in Burlingame a few weeks ago (don’t judge) and I asked if they wanted to meet for dinner afterward*. I was feeling like trying something a bit different… I didn’t want your regular steakhouse or Japanese place or taco shop.

A Yelp search found New Kapadokia at 2399 Broadway in Redwood City: Turkish cuisine. Turkish food is sorta like Mediterranean cuisine, and though I wasn’t 100% sure it would be a great experience, I was sure that I wanted to try it. So I dragged the gang out to this cute (and previously unknown) area of Redwood City and out to New Kapadokia.

First impression: super cute. Small but not too small, cozy restaurant on a corner. Tablecloths. Wall hangings. Mute colors. Judging from the website and the Yelp reviews, I honestly expected a pretty serious hole in the wall. This place has class, no holes in these walls.

And because I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t print out a Restaurant.com coupon for $50 off a $100 purchase since I had no idea how much the food would cost and didn’t want to be stuck with a coupon in case it was cheap and we never went back. As it turns out, we spent over $200 on five people.

The food was really good. Really, really good. We had a vegetarian appetizer sampler of plops of no-meat mush that was fabulous and that the waiter picked out for us (“Let me make you a plate.”). Yum.

Some of the main courses at our table were Dolmas, Vegetarian Manti (pasta filled with spinach, poached and served with garlic yogurt and spicy butter), and some sort of meat kebab dish. I ordered three appetizers (which all turned out to be deep fried… I’m not really complaining…): Falafel, Sigara Böregi (fillo dough stuffed with potatoes, feta cheese, parsley and a touch of black pepper), and (I think) Mücver (zucchini, green onions, eggs, dill, and mint, deep-fried and topped with garlic yogurt).

Everything was very good and everyone wholly enjoyed their meal. But the pasta dish (the Vegetarian Manti) was definitely the winner of the evening. We had two orders at our table and they were devoured happily. The pasta was tender and light and the yogurt sauce complimented the pasta filling very well. I was wary about yogurt sauce over pasta, but they know what they’re doing. Trust them. Trust them and eat well.

Our only complaint was the service for the second half of our meal, which somehow dropped off entirely. It was strange. We had great service to start and there were waiters bustling around the packed room all night long. But we were overlooked for easily 30 minutes toward the end of our meal, including a long stretch when we were patiently waiting for our bill to arrive. It was odd. I’d be willing to give them another chance as the service started out being good.

Overall: go there. Try the pasta. Bring friends. Buy a Restaurant.com coupon. Yum!

*I did not attend this year’s convention, though last year I did make an effort as William Shatner and Patrick Stewart were there, yeay! Nerds unite!

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