Bodrum Turkish Restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue

The lovely wife and I needed to escape the house last Thursday. Armed with a babysitter who needed to leave us early, we headed out towards Amsterdam avenue on foot and headed north. We had originally tried to walk into the Mermaid Inn, but were rebuffed. Walking a bit further, we figured we could always eat Ethiopian food at Awash if we struck out on our walk. Walking on the west side of the street, we noticed what looked like a new restaurant: Bodrum, located at 584 Amsterdam Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (212-799-2806). The space was very attractive looking, many tables were filled, and we decided to go.

Given its name, its not surprising that Bodrum is a Turkish restaurant, albeit one with a brick pizza oven. They have a full liquor license. The space is quite pretty, if a little cramped. As the night wore on and the place became busier, it also became uncomfortably loud. The noise is unfortunate, as it almost ruins an otherwise pleasant space.

The service was quite good. We had the mezze, a calamari salad, the adana kabob (donner kabob at other places) and a whole grilled dorado. The food was serviceable, but I have had better. The mezze needed a bit more flavor, and the kabob was good, but there was a better one that I had at a place on 9th avenue some years ago that has since closed. The fish was undercooked, but they took it back, cooked it, and gave us free coffee! Although they looked good, we did not have the pizzas.

I really like Mid Eastern food, and am excited about the return of a pleasant place right near my house. The food is good enough, and I am willing to go back to try to find if there are any exceptional items on the menu. They do takeout, but I am not sure I would get a whole fish to go or even a adana kabob covered in sauce to go, and take out friendly items such as mezze are quickly and relatively inexpensively located at places such as Sido or A Hummus Place. But the noise level needs to be lower. It it is the next time I make it there, I will let you know.