This week in Philadelphia Magazine’s Restaurant Club Newsletter.

• First Bites: Piazza at Schmidt’s
• Help Us Help You!
• Five Questions: Jonathan Makar of Snackbar
• Food for Thought: Wassup with Service in This City?
• Restaurant Club Deals & Events
  • Divan Turkish Kitchen
  • Prive

Restaurant Club Newsletter [Philadelphia Magazine

From the looks of this Craigslist ad it seems Divan Turkish Kitchen is up for sale. $4200 a month in rent? That seems a bit outrageous for 22nd and Carpenter.

Restaurant for Sale [Craigslist]

The intrepid duo of Audrey and Mark visit G-Ho and the Schuylkill River trail on their latest cheap date. The couple visits Grace Tavern, walks the trail and has dinner at Divan Turkish Kitchen.

Cheap Dates: G-Ho & The River [UWISHUNU]
Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]
Grace Tavern [MySpace]

Divan Turkish Kitchen might be a few blocks south of Center City but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to get in on the Restaurant Week fun. Divan will be offering a $25 Prix Fixe During Philadelphia Restaurant Week. From January 28 to February 2, enjoy three courses at Divan for $25, less than Restaurant Week’s $30 price tag, dinner includes an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

Divan has also received its liquor license this month and will feature Turkish wines. In a twist, Divan will continue to allow diners to bring their own if they want.

Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]

Divan Turkish Kitchen in G-Ho is now offering a lunch special weekdays for $14.99.

Lunch consists of soup, salad or appetizer, main course, soda or juice, dessert, and coffee or tea.

Craig LaBan experiences G-Ho’s Divan Turkish Kitchen and comes away impressed by a kitchen that a dream into a very good reality.

Divan, located at 22nd and Carpenter brings traditional Turkish cuisine to up-and-coming Graduate Hospital area.

The fried calamari and the grilled octopus were both extremely tender. The zucchini pancakes and the borek, crunchy tubes of phyllo filled with feta cheese all stood out as appetizers.

Even more consistently strong were the main courses. Kebabs are a staple of the menu and LaBan’s favorite dish was the doner kebab, “which stacks alternate layers of lamb breast and a blend of pureed lamb and beef on a vertical gyro-like turning spit.” “Lamb dumplings are as small as tortellini and come beneath yogurt and mint and are positively addictive.”

The dessert tray had some highlights too, “buttery baklava, baked quince, plump figs, and nut-stuffed apricots.”

All Divan Turkish Kitchen Reviews
Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]

Foobooz reads the reviews so you don’t have to, Kirsten Henri pre-chewed for easy digestion.
When you start your menu with the boast “Turkish food is not one of the best foods in the world. It is the best food in the World” you’ve really painted yourself into the corner. And even if Divan Turkish Kitchen doesn’t quite live up to the boast, it winds up “perfectly fine.”
Sitting at 918 S 22nd Street, near Carpenter, Divan is a welcome addition to the G-Ho dining scene.
The best of the appetizers is the haydari, a yougut that acts more like a thick sour cream cranked up with garlic and dill, served on the Turkish equivalent of focaccia. Turkish “cigars” sound promising, sheets of Turkish pastry dough stuffed with feta and parsley, rolled into tight cylinders and deep fried rate “a fine” but would be better with more filling and less dough.
For the main course, kuzu sas, chargrilled chunks of lamb seasoned with pepper and Turkish spices “comes out surprisingly tender and richly flavored. Also worth a try is the hunkar begendi, “fall-apart lamb” served with tomato sauce and smoky eggplant puree.
Try the baklava squares for dessert and you’ll have wrapped up a good meal in still changing G-Ho.

Simply Divan – Philadelphia Weekly
Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]

Istandelphia

A BYO at 22nd and Carpenter? A Turkish BYO? In a small Trinity? Yes, yes, and yes. And add to that the praise Divan’s Turkish Kitchen has been getting and you may well be venturing to a restaurant unimaginable just a couple of years ago.

The dining room is the first floor of a Trinity, with the food delivered from the basement via dumbwaiter. The brother and sister owners live above.

Appetizers focus around the fresh baked bread, rolling out of the oven every 15 minutes or so. “Sop up the mashed eggplant and minced red pepper appetizers. They also serve some stellar stuffed grape leaves.”

The main courses are mainly red meat, lamb chops seared with thyme and oregano; kebabs of lamb, beef and chicken come in generous portions for the price.

Dessert is a concentrated course of flavors, whether baklava, or the carmelized milk pudding.

“an excellent opportunity to take Philly comfort food in a refreshing new direction.”

Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]

We read the reviews so you don’t have to. Here’s South Philly Review’s take on Divan Turkish Kitchen, pre-chewed for easy digestion.

Divan Turkish Kitchen is a recently opened BYOB at 22nd and Carpenter Streets. The dishes were flavorable and the best was the Sigara borek, creamy and salty feta wrapped in savory phylo dough. If only the main courses had a more authentic char-grilled Middle Eastern flavor.

Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]

Also in Table Talk, news that Divan Turkish Kitchen is now open. Located at 918 S 22nd St, this family affair will feature kabobs, mezes, Turkish entrees and desserts.

Divan Turkish Kitchen [Official Site]