"Turkish coffee (kahve) should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love", so the turks say. If you want that for a change, then you try it at The Turkish Coffeeshop located at the LS Violan and Sons below St. Augustine School along Bonifacio Street. Otherwise, you just have to taste their authentic Turkish cuisine.

The advertising testimonial is honestly made by this writer's reliable taste buds. After having stayed for over nine months at Izmir, Kusadasi and Istanbul at the western side of Turkiye Cumhuriyeti, I am quite sure to say that this Turkish Coffeeshop is Turkey in Davao City.

Aland Mizell is the American-Turkish who operates the café but does a greater advocacy in providing scholarships to deserving Muslim and lumad students, but that is another story. In his Turkish café is his chef de cuisine from Istanbul, Patron who personally prepares all the Turkish dishes.

Discerningly endorsed is his large Shawarma of beef strips with Turkish herbs and spices served with pita bread, veggie salad, cheese and jajik yogurt or the Shish Kebab of marinated big beef cubes, veggies, yummy pilav rice, pita bread and jajik yogurt. My favorite is the Tvuk Gogus Shish, which are 3 chicken breasts marinated in Turkish spices with insertions of beef fat and charbroiled, alongside pilav, salad, pita bread and ayran (refreshing yogurt to counter the spice.) Flavorsome too is the Izmir Kofte of 5 pcs. Ground beef patties, assorted herbs and spices with a special Turkish sauce that goes well with pilav, salad, pita bread and ayran. A new one I tried is the iskender Kebab that is made of buttered toast garlic bread with beef strips and the special Turkish sauce. The Baklava, a syrup dipped pastry finishes off the main course, which is most famous dessert of Turkey.

Otherwise, they serve the muhallebi (milk pudding) that goes well with hot Turkish tea that you drink with sugar cubes that melt in your mouth that you find only in the Turkish Coffeeshop. "afiyet olsun" (may what you eat bring you well-being) is what you say after a hearty Turkish meal or you may compliment the cook by saying "elinize saglik" (bless your hand). I say "gule gule" (be on your way with a smile).