Sako’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Turkish Delights in the Valley [CLOSED]

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Restaurant Sign Los Angeles

Nobody would know that Sako's serves L.A.'s best Turkish food by looking at the sign.

Sako’s Mediterranean Cuisine is one of the only restaurants recognized as Turkish in Los Angeles, and based on today’s lunch, that’s a shame.

Sako’s originated in Granada Hills and moved behind the Venetian Palace banquet hall in 2002. John and Ani Panosian have owned the restaurant for the past two years. The couple retained the name of the original owner, who still makes doner kebab using his recipes. John produces everything else. Ani and daughter Karen run the front of the house. Décor is minimal, limited to paintings of Turkey lining the dining room walls. Thankfully, Sako’s food is much more inspired.

To start, we received a basket of warm, seemingly house-made pita with a summery salad of diced tomatoes, cucumber, onions and parsley.

Three dishes are available Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only: Chikofte (raw meat with bulgur and spices), Kabuga (lamb ribs) and Ciger (beef liver). While all three were tempting, we decided on the second option ($6).


Turkish Food Los Angeles

The lamb rib chain was luscious and pleasantly gamey, ringed with chopped oregano.

Turkish Food Los Angeles

The Combination Plate ($16.50) let us sample six different expertly grilled meats: beef kebab, chicken kebab, a single lamb chop, shaved döner kebab and the casing-free ground lamb kebab called Kofte. Each meat was equally succulent, served with rice pilaf and grilled vegetables.

Turkish Food Los Angeles

We felt compelled to order Sako’s Special (aka Iskender) ($14.50). Sensational browned döner kebab shavings and spicy tomato sauce piled on pita cuts, ringed with a tangy, sweetened yogurt moat.

For dessert, Sako’s offers syrup soaked bread pudding and a hollowed-out quince, both topped with whipped cream. The lingering flavor of the grilled meat was so intoxicating that I didn’t want to sully its memory with a sweet dessert.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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