Kervan Palace

The spate of Turkish restaurants closing down recently got me really preoccupied and scratching my head and wondering; where can I get myself a good stuffed aubergine now?
Panicked, I took to Google and unearthed Kevran Palace in Tradeston. I knew there were a few restaurants in the area but I’d never actually heard of this place. From the name it sounded rather grandiose, but, its actually just a humble little take away with a real family /​community feel to it.
There are tables at the front of the store which allows passers by to enjoy a quick kebab while taking the weight off their feet and at the back is a large restaurant area, which I believe can also be booked out for events. While there, there were a few locals watching the footy on TV and I must say, I think this would be a pretty fun place to watch a big match (especially if it involves a Turkish team).
Anyhow, I came for the aubergine and so instantly spied the İmam bayıldı starter, which is usually a stuffed aubergine with tomatoes, onion and olive oil. Although my dish wasn’t exactly a stuffed aubergine, and more of a stew, the flavour was unreal. I absolutely love the combination of these ingredients and so I wasn’t disappointed. My main was equally delicious, consisting of a succulent and well presented lamb shish. As it was cooked over coals, it had a great smoked flavour to it. This came with generous side salads, rice and freshly baked Turkish bread.
I would think that most Glaswegians may find the look of Kervan Palace a little intimidating, but what I’d say to you is to definitely check it out! The staff were great, the food delicious and the price really reasonable. They also do a mean Turkish tea. For me one of the best, no frills Turkish and kebabs places in town!

I love Falafel! I love Houmous! I used to love Halloumi! *sniff* The rest of the menu may as well have been written in Turkish cause I knew what I was having.
The first time I walked past this place I did have a bit of a laugh about the name, it really doesn’t look like much from the outside. I really did wonder what we’d be in for as we gathered in an empty back room for International Food night. Thankfully initial impressions don’t always ring true as this was a rather enjoyable evening.
So yes, Falafel & Houmous were ordered & devoured as I’d worked up quite an appetite that day. To be honest, you could easily have 1 starter & 1 main course between two, which would mean you could try the Baklava (you know you want to!)
The Houmous was really good, it was flavourful and had the perfect consistency for spreading on the mountain of fresh flatbread that accompanied it. I think I could’ve kept eating it until I keeled over! The Falafel plate that came out as my main course was huge. Thankfully about ¹⁄₃ of it was salad so that I didn’t end up overdosing on chickpeas, as the other ²⁄₃ of the plate was Falafel & (more) Houmous. The Falafel was a little overcooked on the outside, but it was perfectly cooked on the inside. Oh yeah did I mention there was yet more flatbread!
After that meal I figured I’d carb loaded for the rest of the month, it was about 49% chickpeas, 49% flatbread & about 2% salad & drinks.
The great thing about Kervan Palace is despite the modest surroundings, the food was pretty authentic & tasty, the seemingly lone member of staff was really friendly and obliging (despite having a group of 14 hungry Unilocalers & 8 folk up front watching Fenerbache v Ajax). I have to say I’ve thought about going back for another taste of the Houmous & Imam Bayildi, which means that this seemingly hidden wee gem has found itself another fan!

International Food Night is one of my favourite recurring unofficial Unilocal events and Rocco G always finds somewhere really interesting to take us to. This time we were meant to be going somewhere else, but this place really impressed.
From the outside, it looks just like a casual takeaway but there’s actually a restaurant out the back too. Rocco had booked us a table and we had the space to ourselves which was quite fun. Looking over the menu there was a really impressive selection and I’d say most people should be able to find something they’d be excited to order. Of course I went for the aubergine starter (imam bayildi) which is served cold and in tomato sauce. The aubergine had been cooked for a long time so it was lovely and soft and incredibly delicious. It was also really nice to have a cold starter as it was quite refreshing.
For mains, I had the chicken shish which came with rice. It could’ve used some kind of sauce I thought, maybe some yoghurt but I did really enjoy it. It was a generous size portion and I couldn’t actually finish it in the end.
While this restaurant is pretty casual I felt like we were well looked after, and the bill came to around £16 per person which I thought was reasonable for two courses and many soft drinks. It’s handy for a pre-​drink at the Laurieston too.

I visited the Kervan Palace with a group of Unilocalers for International Food Night. Thanks to Rocco G for planning the evening and for finding and sharing this Turkish gem with us!
Located South of the river, it is easily accessible by underground or parking at Bridge Street.
The restaurant itself is pretty basic in terms of interior décor. There is a takeaway counter with seating at the front, and then a larger function room at the back. We were a group of 13, so shared a large table in the back function room.
The menu was ample (and very reasonably priced) and I found myself struggling to choose with many delicious-​sounding options to choose from. I plumped for falafel to start and chicken shish as a main course. The falafel was good; moist, spiced, chickpea fritters with a refreshing salad. The chicken shish was excellent; the smell of the grilled chicken was to die for, and it was cooked perfectly, served with salad, rice and a wrap. I agree with Briony in that it needed a little yoghurt-​based sauce or tzatziki accompaniment. Also a wedge of lemon to squeeze over the chicken and rice would have added a little extra in terms of flavour and moisture, however our server was more than happy to bring us some lemon when I asked.
Sadly I hadn’t left enough space to try their baklava, as the portions were so generous and I couldn’t leave any on my plate when it tasted so good! I did however have a delicious glass of Turkish Tea to finish the meal and to cleanse my palate. Love an international tea!
I will most definitely make a return visit to the Kervan Palace for some more Turkish cuisine, and will be sure to leave space for baklava next time!

For a couple of years I’ve been avoiding a place, it’s not the dentists, it’s not the gym — although both are truly terrifying — no, the place I’ve been mostly avoiding is the Kervan Palace. Why? Well cos from the outside it resembles a truck stop café. It says Turkish restaurant above the door, but it looks like a giant takeaway where the only Turkish thing about the menu might be doner kebab.
That said we were still curious enough to try a Groupon deal just on the off-​chance it might be good. We booked for a Saturday lunch, headed into town and entered the den. To be fair the front of it IS a takeaway café, on looking around the front «caff» there was clearly a small Turkish clientele there — usually a good sign when the nationals like a place — snacking and watching tv. We were led through to an unexpectedly large room at the back, it was more of a function room than a restaurant in truth, but it had a bar and the furniture was acceptable. Only a small group of guys were in there, putting some trophies out on a table.
I got a wee bottle of Efes Draft — I still love that contradiction in terms — from our enthusiastic waiter and settled down to perusing the menu. My partner chose the Borek (filo parcels filled with spinach and feta cheese) and I chose Chargrilled Mediterranean Sausage to start, and then we had Adana Kebab (spicy lamb mince) & Iskendar Kebab (adana kebab with a tomato sauce) respectively. I like things saucy!
The restaurant was getting strangely busier and everyone seemed to know each other, and we realised as multiple trays of food came out that we were sitting in the middle of an amateur football team’s awards ceremony. It gave the space a bit of atmosphere though. We got the starters and commenced with the controlled demolition. My partner knows a bit about Turkish food, being Turkish, and her comment was that her parcels were a bit flat, not puffed enough. My sausages were, well, pretty typical beef Turkish sausages, with a rather plain-​old typical British salad. That said it was not bad, plenty of food and good value.
The kebabs appeared and again we were impressed by the portions. The texture of the kebabs was pretty good, they were light, quite spicy but not as smooth as we like. There was a helluva lot of homemade flatbread, particularly under mine where the sauce had made it a little sodden. The sauce was probably tomato and yoghurt, but it was just interesting enough. It was a lot of food for sure, too much bread maybe?
It’s not the most accomplished Turkish restaurant in town, but it does have serious competition, and I think if you were here on a normal lunchtime you might find it very quiet, but on a weekend night for a value dinner I think it would hit the mark for most folk!