New Thing #13 - Sebzeli Musakka

Tonight I ate at a Mediterranean/Turkish restaurant for the first time. I also saw a live belly dancing exhibition there. The title of this blog is the name of what I ate, but I'll explain that more in a bit.

This is a picture of the front from their website.

I went with my friend Tiffany, who has never been there either, but she's always open to trying new foods, so I knew she would be game. The name of the restaurant is Aya Sofia and they serve authentic Mediterranean cuisine. (I was a bit nervous about the food, since I've never eaten anything remotely Turkish.) It's located in a small but charming spot in South St. Louis City near my house. The inside has a really romantic cozy feel to it, and it's a great place to take a date. I opted to take a friend instead. ;-) The booths are located around the outer walls and are trimmed with sheer red curtain panels and plush tasseled pillows. Very sexy.

Another picture from their website.

Their website says reservations are recommended, but after going there tonight, they should probably just state that for the weekends. There weren't many people dining, which is unfortunate, because the food was really good. We were seated by a very friendly American hostess. Our waiter was exotic and foreign, I'm not sure from what country, but his accent was cute. His name was Ah-dean (I have no idea how to spell it, that's just how it was pronounced). I know this because he said it about 4 times. I guess he usually has to do that. He kind of had a weird vibe to him, and he had a staring problem. Like he would stare us down before leaving the table. I guess he thought maybe he might miss a question we had for him.

Anyways, we both decided what we wanted to order, Tiffany went with the Kalamar Tava (kal-a-mar tava) - lightly breaded calamari served with a garlic tomato sauce, and a Turkish Salad of lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cucumbers, parsley, and feta cheese. I ordered the Musakka, 15 layers of sliced eggplant, ground beef, and grated cheese baked in tomato sauce, served with pearl cous-cous. Unfortunately, they were out of that, so I went with the vegetarian version of it: Sebzeli Musakka (seb-zey-lee moo-sa-ka) 15 layers of sliced eggplant, potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and grated cheese baked and covered with tomato sauce, served with pearl cous-cous.

At this point, I should mention that both Tiffany and I had had a conversation with our waiter...discussing food, ordering, etc. After we ordered, he turned to us and asked "Are you American?" ....Uh, yes, I am. Do I sound like I'm not? I said yes, I was American, and then he turned to Tiffany and said "You too?" Now, neither one of us looks exotic. Or foreign. At all. Ah well, it was funny, to say the least. He seemed surprised that we were there. Although one of my other friends happened to be there as well. And he's American too.

Back to the food. We started with pita bread wedges and a spicy tomato spread. I have to admit, it was really really good. I'm a bit skittish when it comes to spicy foods, so I was surprised I liked it. I did down about 3 glasses of water after it, but it was mighty tasty. My entree was equally delicious. I don't think I've really ever had eggplant before. I know it's pretty common, but it's not really something I would ever get when at a restaurant. The musakka reminded me of lasagna...lots of yummy layers with cheese and a red sauce. The red sauce was definitely unlike anything I've ever eaten before. Spicy, but in a good way. I know most people would think this was nothing out of the ordinary, but for a farm girl who grew up on roast beef and potatoes, this was something new and different.

The main reason we went to this restaurant tonight is because I've heard it has a belly dancing exhibition on Thursday nights. I was really looking forward to this, and since I've taken belly dancing lessons, I know just how hard it is to get your body to contort like that. I also appreciate all forms of dance, so I was really excited. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed though. It's not that the girl wasn't good, she was, but it was only the one girl and she only danced for 15-20 minutes (we were at the restaurant for an hour and a half). Maybe that's normal, or maybe she hated dancing for an empty room. I don't know. She had the full outfit with the tiny bedazzled top, low cut wispy skirt and finger cymbals. She was really pretty, but she didn't have the body I would expect for a belly dancer. It's such an ab specific dance, that I really thought I'd be able to bounce a quarter off her midsection. And you know what, I was actually glad that she had some meat on her bones. It made her more real and more personable to me. She also had a great rack. I know this because it was bouncing up and down right next to me. Since there weren't many people there, she spent more time in front of each table dancing. Tiffany and I weren't really sure what we were supposed to do. We didn't want to stare at her like giant perverts, but we didn't want to ignore her and be rude either. So, we split the difference by alternating looking and looking away and occasionally smiling. I'm sure we looked like big dorks. This is also why I didn't take any pictures. I didn't want to be thrown out of the restaurant for being some kind of creepy belly dancer stalker.

After our meal, we shared a piece of Baklava (bach-lava) - pistachios and pecans layered in sweet, flaky filo dough. It was pretty good too. It wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty good. "Ah-dean" then asked us a question that it took 3 times to repeat before we understood him. He was asking if the Volvo outside was ours (I thought at first he was asking us if we wanted any liquor...like I said, thick accent)...when I said no and asked if the lights were on, he said "No, I just like it" and walked away. Noted.

All in all, Aya Sofia was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the food, more than I thought I would, and I will definitely go back. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be that girl dancing around the tables! ;-)