First we should introduce ourselves. We are Danny and Tanzeen, The Mac Weekly’s “greatest” restaurant reviewers. During the coming weeks we will search out affordable, accessible, good food cooked by good people (or maybe not—we’ll find out the real story). We’ll tell you about the food and the story behind the food. Before we get to our first restaurant review, some basic information about us.

It’s been four years since we first met in the halls of Turck—we were roommates. We quickly discovered that we had our differences.
 

Selected Responses to Residential Life Questionnaire

Danny / Tanzeen

Smoking No! / A lot

Night/Day Day / Night

Quiet/Loud Quieter / Excessively Loud
 

Plus one of us (Danny) is Jewish, and the other (Tanzeen) sometimes describes himself as a Muslim. And, most importantly for this column, Danny is a strict vegetarian (though he eats dairy) and to Tanzeen that is a foreign concept—Tanzeen vowed not to eat green things, later calling himself a “meatetarian.” You’ll find out more about us in later articles, but now lets move on to the Black Sea.
 

Vital Facts

Name: Black Sea

Type of Food: Turkish

Location: 737 N.

Snelling Ave (look for

a blue awning on the

left side of the street

when you’re coming

from Mac, just after

Minnehaha Ave.)

Bus Route: Take the

84 north and then all

you have to do is walk

across the street

Hours:11 a.m. -10 p.m.

Monday-Saturday,

Closed Sunday.

Other info: They don’t take credit cards so

bring cash or check. Parking is available

behind the restaurant. They do catering for

small to medium groups—ask them.
 

The restaurant is small, with room for about 25 people at maximum capacity. As you walk in, the kitchen is in full view to your left, where Ali (the owner and chef) is almost always at work; he’ll smile and welcome you as you walk in. Turkish crafts adorn the walls, each piece brought back by Ali & Sema (his wife) on their travels home. An old television set and fish tank occupy a corner of the restaurant, but draw very little attention from either the customers or the proprietors.

Danny: We walked in, seated ourselves and glanced over the menu. There are 14 appetizers, salads, and soups to choose from (ranging in price from $2.55 to $3.85), and they’re all vegetarian! Time to select my feast. I picked a Meze Platter for one ($3.15) and a bowl of cabbage soup ($2.65) to start, followed by a veggie sandwich with fries ($3.95) and then a cup of Turkish coffee ($1.45).

The restaurant was packed, but still food arrived just ten minutes after we ordered. The Meze Platter is an artfully arranged platter of pita, falafel, humus, olives, tomato, feta, and cabbage rolls. It’s all tasty, but be sure not to skip the olives or feta. If you think you’ll have the space, order a bowl of soup. The cabbage soup is good and hearty, filling, high in flavor, not overly cabbagey, and served with a warm pita. And you’ll be served a huge bowl of it—probably enough for two.

After two big appetizers I didn’t really want to eat any more, but I did manage to stuff a veggie sandwich into my stomach. Fried eggplant and falafel form the base of this pita sandwich, complemented by tomatoes, yogurt, cabbage rolls, onions, and lettuce. Excellent! It comes with fries or rice—I chose fries and they came perfectly crispy, well fried but not dry, and sprinkled with just the right amount of seasony goodness. Better than at McDonalds (and devoid of some of the ethical issues).

A cup of Turkish coffee was a great ending to the meal—I generally don’t like coffee, but somehow the small glass of very strong coffee that’s also quite sweet hits the spot.

I was too full for dessert, but you should do a better job of planning and not skip the homemade baklava or rice pudding.

Tanzeen: It’s been mentioned before that I am a “meatetarian”—I should clarify. I don’t only eat meat, I have also been known to eat cheese (pizza), vegetables (lettuce and tomatoes with hamburgers) and potatoes (French or “Freedom” fries). Thus, when my good friend Danny took me to a restaurant, I had very low expectations, him being a vegetarian and all. Much to my surprise, when I looked at the menu, there was enough meat to satisfy my rather unhealthy eating habits.

My order consisted of the following: a doner sandwich ($3.95 ), kofte kebab ($6.75) and an ayran ($1.45) to wash down all the meat. The doner is a meal in and of itself – it’s similar to Danny’s pita sandwich, but instead of the vegetables it’s overflowing with meat— beef and lamb from the rotisserie. Some green stuff at the base of this sandwich was the only downside, but I am after all prejudiced in this regard. The kofte kebab was a platter of more meat, and as the name implies, consisted of kebabs. I must say, these kebabs were among the best I’ve tasted since I’ve been in the States. They were so good that I hardly noticed the vegetables (red and green peppers, sautéed onions) that surrounded the meat. The ayran, a yogurt based drink, was a little too watered down for me, I was expecting a thicker yogurt drink.

The bottom line: The Black Sea has good food served fast by exceptionally nice people at a very reasonable price. And it’s not far from campus, but far enough that it’s not filled with Mac people. Next time we’ll tell you about the story behind the story.