Gaziantep Sweets

*DISCLAIMER: I'm not a professional in the food industry, just a Bloke who loves to eat, so please take my comments with a pinch of salt* Last came here about 2~3 weeks ago, tried their "Dessert platter" dishes: 1) Kanafeh and the 2) Huge slice of Baklava with Turkish ice cream in it. Was really impressed during my first visit despite them serving the second dessert with Vanilla gelato instead as they ran out of Turkish. As I could not stop thinking of them, I decided to return today and indulge myself again. Desserts ordered today: 1)Fresh Kanafeh (Cheese version coated in some sort of noodle), 2)Rice Pudding (Served Cold), 3) Huge slice of Baklava with Turkish ice cream in it. (Can't remember the name T.T) Impression(s): 1) Kanafeh : - Aesthetics: Probably shallow fried in ghee/butter till golden brown on the outside, seriously hope they did not use some vegetable oil (e.g. Canola, etc.). Good sprinkle of crushed pistachios as garnish along. Good colour contrast against the serving plate. - Temperature: Served Warm - Texture(s): Encasing noodle layer is crispy on the outside whilst the inner homemade cheese layer is soft and stretchy. - Flavour profile: Good to find that it was not drowned in syrup (i.e. not too sweet nor plain). Some dessert joints flavour their syrup with rose water essence. Not too sure if they intend to follow suit. Taste pretty good to me right now. -Verdict: 5/5 2) Rice Pudding: -Aesthetics: Top might have been caramelised with a hand held blow torch like what they do for crème Brulee or baked in an oven as it was prepared in a little terracotta like ramekin? Nothing really much to comment on really. Please look at the attached picture. -Temperature: Served Cold. Would have preferred it served warm actually. The grains of rice in the pudding were a bit ?hard. I'm not the expert of Turkish desserts so maybe this is how it's done? -Texture: So you have the caramelised layer on the top, when you dig deeper in, there are these grains of rice embedded in a pool of custard like cream. -Flavour profile: Straight up dairy like creaminess sweetened with sugar +/- the ?smokiness from the caramelised top. Did it have any other layers of flavour? I believe some places add a bit of Cardamom or Cinnamon to such similar desserts? -Verdict: 3/5 3)Huge slice of Baklava with Turkish ice cream in it. (Can't remember the name T.T) -Aesthetics: The first layer of pastry followed by Ice-cream, pistachios then final layer of pastry were well defined. Generous sprinkle of crushed pistachios over the dish as well. -Temperature: Inner layer of ice cream was cold (Duh.) The pastry layers of the slice of Baklava were at room temperature. I'm just wondering if there is a way to serve the Baklava warm along with the Cold Ice cream for that added touch? Might cause the ice cream to melt excessively though. *Shrugs* -Texture: Pretty much as how you would expect it to be. The surround pastry is somewhat crunchy (being soaked in syrup does take away some of the crispiness). The Ice-cream adds the cold and creamy layer. Last two layers are like what you get Baklava, Pistachios and then more pastry. Again some places add a bit of rose water essence to their sugary syrup? It's a personal preference I guess. -Flavour Profile: Baklava with Ice-cream, period. -Verdict: 4/5 Summary: My favourite would definitely be the Kanafeh - You get a good mix of the crispy crunchy carbohydrate substrate (with oily goodness!) along with the creamy fatty milk protein from the cheese and earthiness from the pistachios sweetened by the syrup. Look at the picture(s), then go try it yourselves. You won't be disappointed. Suggestion(s) from the Clueless Bloke: 1) Provide the option of serving the Kanafeh with Ice cream on the side? 2) Provide the option of having the rice pudding served warm/hot? (Perhaps employ the use of gentle microwaving/double-boiling/bane-marie-ing?) 3) Provide the option of serving the giant slice of Baklava warm? (Reheating the delicate pastry whilst retaining it's original textures might prove to be difficult task? I don't know).

A definite stop for those with a sweet tooth! The taste is authentic Turkish - although a tad too pricey! Very clean and well-presented. Stop over for a comfy chat over some delectable Turkish sweets and coffee!

It's a new shop. Got the sweets which is normally there in any Middle eastern sweet shop. Lot of pastries are also there. I just had a knafeh. Good food, helpful staff, clean place. Parking is bit difficult if you don't know the locality. Easy way is to take left before the bridge if you're coming from the signal. There is lot of council parking there.

Desserts and coffee made to perfection. Staff are SO friendly and generous. Seating is spacious and tidy. Would absolutely recommend!

There is such a quiet elegance to Auburn shops. Cloaked around the train station, like the Queens regalia, it's a patchwork of iconic grocery stores, cafes and restaurants, and few of the inane usual suspects. It's interesting that there are few bakeries though, and this place must be why. It's undoubtedly the one stop shop for middle Eastern sweets. Oreo variants to grand traditional and all in between. The service is equally sweet, and the scale vast, including vegan options. If your pancreas can handle it, and the impending coma not a threat, this is the place for you.

The best baklava I ever had in Sydney! A must try place. You will never be disappointmented.

Amazing place! Legit baklava, perfect coffee. One word to describe this place excellent place, Authentic! Super friendly staff and service. Great work team!

Excellent customer service. And the desserts are to die for. My wife spilt her coffee and the lady was so so nice. She gave us both replacement tea. We're so sorry for the trouble. One of the best cafes out there.

Came here with a group of 5 friends on a rainy Thursday evening for some baklava and boy did this place not disappoint. The spread of desserts is amazing, I personally had the biscoff and nutella baklava which were both out of this world. The Turkish tea which we were served came in a fascinating set up that contributed to the experience. It got busier as the night went on despite it being a week night and although we were not Turkish, many of the other patrons clearly were. Will definitely be back to try all of the other flavours and thank you for such a lovely experience :-)

This store changed from a dessert shop to a seafood shop. The service is good, the menu is typical. It's clean! Classic fish and chips shop. The owner was eager to please. Some of the items I asked for he said he would have prepared for me if I called ahead like Sangari (oven-baked fish). I got the Mashwi fish with brown rice. It was okay. My wife got prawns in salsa. It was OK. There were 6 prawns in a large serving of tomato based sauce.