First-Timers
Walking into a Turkish restaurant for the first time can feel like opening a menu written in another language — because, well, part of it is. Here is the short course. Start with meze: small shared plates like hummus, ezme and haydari that open the meal and the conversation. Then the grill: Adana if you like gentle heat, lamb şiş if you want classic, shawarma if you want comfort.
Bread is not a side — it is the vehicle. Tear, scoop, repeat. Pide, the canoe-shaped Turkish flatbread, works as a main or a shared middle. And leave room: baklava, künefe and a glass of strong çay are not optional extras, they are the closing ceremony. Turkish coffee brewed in hot sand is the full stop.
As for dietary needs — at LAYALI just tell our team. Vegetarian and vegan meze sit alongside the grills, and groups with mixed dietary needs can order with total confidence. First time? Tell our team and we will guide the table. That is what hospitality — misafirperverlik — means to us.
Keep Reading
Everything we write about, we cook daily — 10:00am to 1:00am at 257 Beach Road, Kampong Gelam. Charcoal-fired, family-owned, five minutes from Bugis MRT.