Authentic fare elevates Turkish eatery in Round Rock

Murat Barin was ready to open Turquoise Grill in 2010. But the man he wanted to run his kitchen lived in Turkey. So he waited patiently for 11 months for Bulent Cavdar to arrive. Call it a price paid for authenticity.

Located in the Round Rock shopping mall that houses the massive Flix Brewhouse, Turquoise Grill delivers flavors from Barin's native Turkey in a casual and friendly environment. Despite its generic setting, the restaurant establishes a Turkish vibe, with images of the country occupying the walls. A muted television plays a Turkish travelogue on a loop, tempting guests' wanderlust with images of Mediterranean coastlines, ancient ruins and ski slopes.

The thing that immediately stood out about Turquoise was the freshness and simplicity of ingredients. The small meze platter ($8.99) provides an expansive point of entry to the flavors of the region, and several of the half-dozen servings will be familiar to most guests. The velvety baba ghanoush is lighter in color than I have come to expect, but still has the deep, earthy berry flavor of prominent eggplant and hints of roasted sesame seed from tahini.

Tabuli at Turquoise relies on the acid zing of tomatoes and spice of both red and green peppers that make the dish seem more like a salsa with scattered cracked wheat than a salad. Spongy cubes of eggplant with deep purple skin took on the flavor of the tomatoes and peppers with which they were sautéed in the patlican soslu. The mayonnaise-based rus salata, specked with bits of carrots and peas, is a fresh, creamy Turkish take on potato salad.

The mashed-tomato ezme packed more spicy intensity than any dish I tried at Turquoise, a bold heat emanating from the medley of peppers, onions and garlic. A palate-settling lebni soothed the sear with calming yogurt given texture from crushed bits of walnut and a subtle herbal bounce from fresh dill. A curveball for me came in the absence of flat pita bread to use for dipping and spreading of the meze offerings. Turquoise offers thick fluffy homemade bread with a tawny, lacquered crust like a pretzel. The bread is best used for sopping the complex and spicy oil mixture seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and flakes of urfa biber, a dried Turkish pepper.

Dolma ($3.99) is one of two cold appetizers that do not appear on the meze platter, but you would be foolish not to order the oil-brushed grape leaves packed tight with a firm filling of rice and pine nuts. A popular hot appetizer in Turkey, the gooey and surprisingly refreshing sigara boregi ($4.25) are delicate sheets of phyllo dough wrapped like cigars around fresh feta cheese and fried to a dark wheat color then sprinkled with parsley.

Fluffy pita is one thing, but I don't think I will ever be entirely comfortable with tortillas used in the wraps ($6.99) served at lunch. At least the tortillas had been given smoke and crunch from the grill. The salty, thin-sliced beef and lamb that comes from a hand-crafted doner kebab offered strong flavors of lamb enlivened by translucent slivers of herbed onions.

Beef and lamb kebabs, though cooked well beyond medium, were nonetheless savory and succulent. I don't know how long the chunks of meat marinated, but their liquid bath gave the meat ample time to absorb the flavors of peppers, cumin and oregano. Blend the flavors on the outskirts of the plate by smashing the perfectly roasted tomato into the ball of evenly cooked buttery rice. The side of pickled fuchsia cabbage gives the plate a blast of vinegar and color. But beware the charred green pepper atop the kebab plates. That is no bell pepper. It's an Anaheim and it lets you know it immediately. Take too big a bite and you will be reaching for one of the many yogurt dishes to put out the fire.

You probably don't want to grab the manti ($10.99). Tiny homemade meat-filled ravioli the size of pearls swim in this bland yogurt-based dish that could use more than a dash of salt and another handful of mint. Spiced oil brings hints of flavor, but the pasta dish could benefit from the warm garlic-flavored puree of tomatoes mentioned in the manti recipe in Ghillie Basan's beautiful, informative and evocative new cookbook, "Classic Turkish Cooking."

As with the beef kebabs, the chicken in the tava was slightly overcooked. Unlike the doner wrap, this dish could have actually benefited from more salt. But, once again, the freshness was unquestionable. Despite the seasoning issues, fresh stewed tomatoes, those wonderful imports from Spain that entered Turkey during the Ottoman Empire, and fierce crunchy peppers made the dish as bright and earthy as the sun-drenched mountains in the video playing on the screen.