It’s a familiar conversation. The one where an expert in a particular food culture explains how much more there is to their home cuisine than what’s on offer in the average Aussie … let’s say, kebab shop or noodle bar.

When it comes to Turkish food, most of us don’t need to be convinced. Sydney’s already seeing some fine alternatives to cheap and cheerful gozleme stalls, pide parlours and doner joints. (And I’ve had my fair share of those above-mentioned conversations with some terrific restaurateurs and chefs of Turkish heritage, all doing fabulous things across the country. Lucky us.)

Which brings us to Izgara – a new, snappy-looking modern diner with bar, table and booth seating, a central charcoal grill (the izgara) and, may I say, truly lovely service.

Not to mention great food and quality wine, Turkish included. With lots of red and black and tan, an oak bar and zhooshy marble table tops, the space feels modern and smart. 

Related review: This fancy kebab spot in Barangaroo is serving primo doner 

A night out in Kings Cross, in other words. With a refined Turkish culinary spin.

If you’re up for seeing your food come straight off the charcoal flames, and you’re a keen meat-eater, make sure you’re seated at the bar to watch it all happening in front of you.

But pitching this place as a steakhouse sells it a little short. Especially with dishes like a richly tomato-ey imam bayildi – nutty, sticky-braised whole eggplant drizzled with parsley oil and ground pistachio – or spicey, raw kofte paste, a neat circle of ground burghul blended with Turkish peppers (red and black) and topped with the pop of pomegranate seeds. You scoop it up into lettuce leaves. Magic.

More veg options include gavurdaji salad, a juicy mix of tomato, olives, pomegranate and walnuts. And house pide with feta and olives – a very fine snacking start.

It’s back to the flames though, for iskender kebab – the highlight of any Turkish grill, and served here as strips of lamb backstrap, doused in tomato and red (Maras) pepper and laid over on a bed of buttery, yoghurt-y, pide cubes. The stuff of Turkish barbecue dreams.

We drift happily on to dessert: gently sticky cubes of mastic (stretchy resin) ice cream in a parfait glass, and not-so-sweet squares of pistachio-drenched “cold baklava”, a contemporary take on tradition with less sugar syrup and lighter, not-so-buttery pastry.

Intriguing and worth a try.

Owners Efe Topuzlu and Ozgur Sefkatli also run Above Par, a Middle-Eastern themed eatery in the CBD, and Mascot’s excellent Malika bakery – highly recommend the borek and gozleme parcels as well as the little lokum (Turkish delight) squares. It’s also where they bake that Izgara pide and cold baklava, which you can buy direct at the store, or sit in and enjoy with coffee.

All in all, these two are quietly doing their bit to prove that … well, there’s so much more to their home cuisine.

Related review: Discover the vibrant plant-based fare of the Aegean at this new Sydney hotspot