Restaurant Review: Tulip

November's ethnic dining night out took me and my girlfriends to Tulip, Milwaukee's only (?) Turkish restaurant last week.

I was the only one who had been before--I had been for dinner a few years ago and for lunch with some work people about a year ago. While the food has always been good, the service has been a little shaky, ranging from slow (think 1.5 hour-lunch. On a weekday) to pretty rude. Luckily, the latter was years ago, and we didn't experience anything like that. While the service was fairly slow again--especially there were only about five tables on this Tuesday night--the food made up for it.

Since it was a chilly night, I ordered some tea. There is only one kind--black tea served in a pretty glass (sorry for the stupid picture, but the cup is too pretty not to post!).

To begin with, we ordered the Turkish empanadas with beef and herbs. There were two per order. They were tasty, and hit the spot. We also had warm, fresh bread and herbed olive oil.

For meals, Leah had the boneless chicken breast with crushed pistachio and apricot. Sun had a bowl of the lentil soup and a salad (unfortunately, I can't remember which one and nothing is jumping out at me on the menu). Lisa also got a salad, and added chicken to it (and, again, I can't remember which one!). I didn't try anyone else's meals--other than snagging a few olives from the salads--so I can't comment on them. All three ladies, though, said they liked their food.

I ordered something a bit different for myself: grilled meat patties, made with beef and lamb. I don't normally order lamb (actually, I'm not sure I ever have), but there was a lot of lamb on the menu, and I know it's a big part of Turkish cuisine. The patties came with grilled eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and pepper, plus bulgar pilaf and yogurt sauce. The plate wasn't huge--I even thought it might not be enough--but it ended up being a perfect amount of food.

All in all, we had a good time. The restaurant is beautiful and cozy with a fireplace. Like I said, the service was a bit slow, but the waiter was nice and personable.