Unfamiliar flavours feel like home at Vancouver’s Saray Turkish Cuisine

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Welcome to Saray Turkish Restaurant," booms the keyboard player from a small, elevated stage.

Red, green and blue LED lights flash around the front windowpanes behind him. A female singer with a magnificent mane of thick, blond hair smiles in the seat beside him.

Take a look inside Vancouver's Saray Turkish Cuisine

"I hope you like our music," he continues. "Is it familiar?"

An older woman sitting with her extended family, three generations from toddler to grandparents, cheers from their corner table as she dances in her seat.

A young Persian couple applaud enthusiastically. (They don't understand the lyrics, they shyly explain. But later in the night, the musicians will perform a Persian love song dedicated just to them.)

The adventurous American dude beside us takes a sip of his ayran beverage – sour, salted yogurt mixed with ground mint – and coughs.

"It's getting better," he gamely says, grimacing.

Yes, welcome to Saray, a new West End restaurant, where every night feels like a big, fat Turkish wedding.

Owner Ali Hadad recently opened the 60-seat family restaurant after selling a smaller 14-seat spot in Burnaby. Prior to that, he lived in Ottawa, where he operated five Turkish restaurants. He originally comes from Ankara, the capital of Turkey, where he worked in the import/export business.

Open for less than three months, the family-friendly restaurant is already hopping most nights of the week. Weekend dinner reservations are highly recommended.

It's a humble abode, where kitsch meets old-world elegance. The white tablecloths are covered in clear plastic, the napkins are red linen and there are cut flowers on every table.

Cable sitcoms and a bizarre montage of Turkish matinee idols play on two large-screen televisions. Service is extremely kind, but excruciatingly slow and chaotic.

Mr. Hadid's customers, hailing from a wide mix of Arabic cultures, come for the jovial ambience and live music on Friday and Saturday nights, starting at 8 p.m. There is also belly dancing on Saturday.

They come for the halal cuisine. Mr. Hadid does have a liquor licence, but doesn't sell any alcohol. "When you say it's halal, it has to be halal," he explains by phone. "You don't want to mix it up. I don't want to lose my customers."

But mostly they come for the food – big, juicy platters of meat kebabs, richly stewed eggplants, spicy bell-pepper dips, layered pastry pies, homemade breads and honey-drenched sweets.

A full-day restaurant, Saray serves a rich-sounding breakfast with Turkish pastries, bagels, eggs, sausages and thick, strong coffee.

During the day, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (8 p.m. on weekends), a Turkish pastry cook makes gozleme from a station in the front window, where she hands out free samples. The traditional Turkish flatbread is made from thinly rolled leaves of yufka dough, which are stuffed with cheese and parsley or spinach, brushed with butter and eggs, and quickly griddled.

For dinner, there are various kebabs served on giant platters that are piled high with rice pilaf, hearty broth-stewed bulghur, bright salads (beets, carrots, red onions, green lettuce), grilled tomatoes, hummus and a garlicky yogurt sauce.

The hand-minced Adana beef kebab is marinated with a piquant chili powder that Mr. Hadid imports from Turkey. He claims to be the only restaurant in Vancouver using this buzzingly sharp chili from the Turkey's southeast region, which he also folds into spicy vegetable dip.

The Urfa beef kebab is milder, almost gamey in flavour, but also hand-minced and kneaded into long, wide strips that are impaled onto skewers for roasting.

Tender chicken is marinated in bright yellow saffron. A more familiar type of lamb kebab is made around chunks charred on the grill.

A highly tempting array of sweets is displayed under a glass counter: tall Napoleons layered with whisper-thin pastry and unsweetened cream; pistachio-dusted baklava; and dense almond cookies saturated with honey.

The food may not all be familiar, but the lively flavours and welcoming warmth of this fine little family restaurant is delicious in any language.