Lalezar

[pnapoli]

went last night and have to agree with ghostrider -- nothing special. with the exception of the hummus, which i really liked, i thought the dishes were pretty bland. one dish that particularly disappointed was the 'turkish ravioli' (can't remember the real name): the raviolis were literally swimming in yogurt sauce and were themselves lacking in any discernable flavor. we also had the lentil soup, and the chicken/lamb kebab combo, both of which were fine, but not worth additional commentary. bread was a mix of pita and the foccaccia-type bread mentioned above and was not served warm.

service was good. the restaurant was about 2/3 full when we arrived at around 7:30, but never filled up.

i think it came to about $40 before tip.

[richl2214]

went last night and have to agree with ghostrider -- nothing special.  with the exception of the hummus, which i really liked, i thought the dishes were pretty bland.  one dish that particularly disappointed was the 'turkish ravioli' (can't remember the real name):  the raviolis were literally swimming in yogurt sauce  and were themselves lacking in any discernable flavor.  we also had the lentil soup, and the chicken/lamb kebab combo, both of which were fine, but not worth additional commentary.  bread was a mix of pita and the foccaccia-type bread mentioned above and was not served warm.

service was good.  the restaurant was about 2/3 full when we arrived at around 7:30, but never filled up.

i think it came to about $40 before tip.

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Have to second that. I went the other day and I wasn't too impressed. I can make much better hummus at home in about 10 minutes. The bread was as above only a foccacio type. Felt kind of hurried even though the place was no where near full. If you go here order each course separately to avoid having everything put on the table at once. Chicken kebabs were good but nothing special. Falafels were a highlight but not comparable to a place like Ali Babas.

[Rosie]

It's interesting that this restaurant got better reports when they first opened then now.

[Cornellrob]

yeah. it is kind of interesting how things seem to have dropped off lately. i think that the bread thing primarily relates to how hot it is, or how toasty it is, when it's served. the hotter or toastier it is, the better (that probably applies to virtually any bread served in a restaurant).

i think this place may be a little hit or miss depending on the particular dish you get. by far, the best appetizer i've had there has been the eggplant imambayildi dish, which is a cold eggplant appetizer with some type of onion and tomato mixture on top... i personally think it's delicious, although i'm not sure how unusual it is.

as far as other dishes, i've gotten the stuffed cabbage dish, and the grilled ground lamb skewers, both of which i've thought to be very flavorful and filling. i haven't seen any mention of these dishes yet on egullet, so i'm not sure if anyone else has tried this or if this is my own warped sense of good turkish food.

anyways, there are clearly signs that this place is slacking off. a good example might be that the last time i went they never lit the candle on the table (and most of the candles weren't lit), and i would like to know why they would bother to have such a thing if they're not going to light them? also, they use to have these nice little pastries that they would give out after you received your check. they no longer do this... this seems to be a cost cutting measure, or perhaps was only an opening month gimmick. who knows.

i still think this place is worth a shot. make careful selections and don't expect the world out of this place... it's still good for the money in my opinion though and considerably more "authentic" than other places in the area.

[Rosie]

If Lalezar is not good the next time I go then I will go back to the Turkish restaurants in Clifton/Paterson. Also, Greek Delights in Montclair is consistantly very good.

[Rosie]

Dinner was at Lalezar and I was anxious to see if the bread was the same as my first visit. It was addictive then, not this time. Although it was hot and similar to what we had a few weeks ago it was not the same. The owners told me it was the same bread and that they vary what they put in the bread basket. In any case, our dinner was fine.

Started off with coban salad with feta cheese and a large combo appetizer. The appetizers were wonderful and very filling. I particularly liked the humus which had a hint of tahini. The babagannus, fried eggplant in a tomato sauce, tabbouleh, grape leaves and bean salad were also tasty. Lowell had the skewered lamb cubes which were tender and tasty. A friend had grilled chicken kabob which was reported to be very good also. Although the vegetable stew had a kick to it I wouldn’t recommend it as the vegetables were mushy and there was nothing special about this dish. We didn’t have dessert or coffee.

I wasn't as enthralled with this restaurant as I was on my first visit but certainly would return here and it is a good place to go with a large group.

[kal]

I meant drive across the street. 

Pity they don't seem to have a website - Google leads me right back to this thread - I'd like a gander at their menu.  Guess I'll just have to drive over.

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here are there menus:

http://www.restaurantpassion-nj.com/listin...c=All&m=c&u=all

[suzz]

Amidst all the controversy I had to try this place out. After a recent jaunt to Whole Foods I strolled across the street for the $8.95 lunch special and was not dissappointed. First course - Acili Ezme - a spicy tapenade style dish of chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and nuts, was addictive on the bread. The Main dish of Doner Kebab was tender and delicious. The lunch special does not include dessert, but I had to have the baklava - yum, double yum with the cute little glass of Turkish tea. I'd go back in hearbeat.

[Rosie]

I think I have found the source for the delicious bread served at Lalezar. We were at the Farmer's Market in Paterson and picked up some Turkish bread. Package said Taskin Bakery, 103 Hazel St, Paterson. Will try to get to the bakery and load up.

[Cornellrob]

I think I have found the source for the delicious bread served at Lalezar. We were at the Farmer's Market in Paterson and picked up some Turkish bread.  Package said Taskin Bakery, 103 Hazel St, Paterson.  Will try to get to the bakery and load up.

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I picked up same bread by Taskin Bakery..... but i got mine at Corrado's, in the bread section. Cost $1.29 for the package. I'm not sure if it's exactly the same as that served at lalezar....but if not, it's very close.

[Rosie]

It's a large round flat bread with black and white sesame seeds. We heated it up in the oven --which I think makes a big difference and it sure tastes like it to me.

[Beth E.]

Eric and I had dinner last night at Lalezar. It was a last minute decision and not our first choice actually. We wanted Blu but there were no ressies to be had until 8:45pm. We then thought about going to Reggiano's in West Orange, but the menu wasn't inspiring us.

So we went to Lalezar. The place is pretty inside. We were offered the choice of which room we wanted to sit in. We went with the gold room and got a nice four top for the 2 of us (even though there were 2 tops in the room.

We started with hummus ($4.50 good and garlicky!) and the turkish salad ($6.50 for the small with an supplement of $2.50 for shredded feta cheese.) The Turkish Salad was nice and fresh with a nice parsley flavor. The feta cheese was soft and slightly different from the feta I'm used to -- really nice.

For the main dishes I had the Iskender Kebab ($15.95) which is vertically grilled thin slices of beef and lamb served over grilled bread. It had a nice tomato sauce on top of it. On the side was yogurt. It was really good. the meat was very tender -- Eric commented that it was like a brisket platter.

Eric had Has Has Kebab ($14.95) hand diced lamb with onions, red pepper, garlic and spicy Turkish seasoning; on a bed of chunky tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was really good on this dish -- tasted like roasted tomatos. The kebabs (there were 2) were excellent but not spicy.

For dessert we shared baklava ($4). I had Turkish tea -- ($1.25) which comes in a curvy glass. It was strong. I added a whole packet of splenda to the little cup. Eric had turkish coffee ($2.75)-- which came in a tiny coffee cup.

The only thing we thought was odd was the bread service -- we were brought a basket of bread early on. When the hummus arrived we thought we might get pita with it. no pita just the other bread but then later after our main dishes arrived the waiter showed up with a basket of pita bread.

We would definitely go back again.