Tulum - Balaclava

One Hatted restaurant established in recent years, 2016 – focussed on turkish cuisine. I was so lucky that my dear friend C took me here for my birthday! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do a post on Tulum. Off the busy street in Balaclava. Tulum is quite dim when you walk in, the most lit area is the bar and the light reflecting on the beautiful brick walls of the restaurant. Cosy dining area but enough for just a bit of privacy…

Highly recommend as a date night venue, perfect for sharing and slowly enjoying. We had a handful of meze dishes, I especially enjoyed the borek it was so tasty. Make sure to ask the waiters for wine recommendations!

There were some clear highlights in our 7 course degustation meal (which costs about $100pp excl. cocktails):<br/ <br/ BREAD: Tulum’s warm and crispy bread was so addictive that I had to stop myself from finishing more. They mentioned something about the customised butter there the description escapes my memory! <br/ <br/ SEAFOOD: Tulum executes seafood well. The oysters were paired with watermelon foam and pickled juice was an innovative and refreshing combination. The octopus dish was also my absolute favourite I really enjoyed the flavours and texture.<br/ <br/ LAMB: The lamb rump was topped with a little too much oregano, but was otherwise tender and paired well with the eggplant puree. Loved every bite of the kibbeh kofte too.<br/ <br/ DESSERT: Even though it’s been 2 years, I still remember enjoying the rice pudding dessert that Tulum had. Just an absolute winner!! Unfortunately, this time we were served something else I loved how palate cleansing the wild thyme cream was, and the bread pudding was delicious, but the texture of the candied pumpkin didn’t quite work for me. <br/ <br/ Where the meal experience fell a bit short of expectations was in the service. We felt a bit rushed to finish the meal before the next seating, even though it was the kitchen that took a long time to prepare the dishes (rather than us being slow in finishing our courses). It will be helpful for the restaurant to understand the general duration of a 7 course degustation meal and adjust their booking slots accordingly so that everyone has a good dining experience. Towards the end of our meal, the waitresses seemed a bit rushed and did not explain the dishes we were having. Given that this was a birthday celebration, I expected more from Tulum! I have, however, been here for a Xmas dinner, and my experience then was much better. <br/ <br/ Taste: <br/ Ambience: <br/ Presentation: <br/ Price: <br/ Service:

Had a great first experience here. They really brought the flavours of Turkey to Melbourne! A fine dining experience everyone has to experience at least once in their life. Will be back for sure!

Another to add to the stable of contemporary takes on cuisine from the Middle East, Tulum is adventurous in its offerings. The menu is broad, and there’s a range of raki and Turkish wines available too. Staff are friendly and attentive. Food is good