Blu Mediterranean Turkish restaurant opens in West Babylon
Manti, tiny meat-filled dumplings, are one of the Turkish specialties at Blu Mediterranean in West Babylon. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Long Island is blessed with scores of fine Turkish restaurants (among them, Turkuaz Mediterranean Gourmet in West Hempstead, Turkuaz Grill in Riverhead, Mediterranean Kebab House in Westbury and Ephesus in Massapequa Park), but most tend to be modest, homey establishments.
Enter: Blu Mediterranean, a sparkling eatery that just opened on Route 109 where another Turkish restaurant, AlaTurca, operated from 2014 to 2018. The new owners got rid of AlaTurca’s takeout counter, and redid the sun-filled dining room in shades of bronze and cream.
Only 25¢ for 5 months
Long Island is blessed with scores of fine Turkish restaurants (among them, Turkuaz Mediterranean Gourmet in West Hempstead, Turkuaz Grill in Riverhead, Mediterranean Kebab House in Westbury and Ephesus in Massapequa Park), but most tend to be modest, homey establishments.
Enter: Blu Mediterranean, a sparkling eatery that just opened on Route 109 where another Turkish restaurant, AlaTurca, operated from 2014 to 2018. The new owners got rid of AlaTurca’s takeout counter, and redid the sun-filled dining room in shades of bronze and cream.
All the greatest Turkish hits are here: eggplant salad, zucchini pancakes, shepherd salad, kebabs (shish, doner, spicy Adana, etc.) and lahmacun (flat, filled pies). Plus a couple of rarer jewels: the tiny, meat-filled dumplings called manti and a breakfast menu featuring gozleme, thin pancakes traditionally made on a saj, a dome-shaped griddle.
Don’t confuse Blu Mediterranean with Blue Lagoon, the shuttered restaurant about 100 yards east, that was recently knocked down to become a Starbucks.
Blu Mediterranean is at 691 Rte. 109, West Babylon, 631-991-8881, mediterraneanblu.com.