As you stepped into the restaurant, you would feel that you have entered into a realm of authentic Turkish culture in this café/restaurant. I was there for lunch last week at the Sofra Turkish Café & Restaurant situated at Shaw Tower, Beach Road. The restaurant is situated at the end of Level 2 and one would have to walk to the end before you can locate the restaurant.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is highly commendable as they had everything Turkish! From furnishing to small antiques display, if you love such ambience, here is a place you should consider having lunch or dinner at. The seats are comfortable and the restaurant is suitable for holding events or celebrations too as they have a big dining area. Warmly greeted by the staff at the entrance, you can choose either window seats, normal seats or they even have seats where you can dine at the couch or even carpet! Cool right?

From what I gathered from the staff, the word “Sofra” actually means dining table in Turkish and the restaurant has been around since 2000.

Guvec Tavuk

You would be spoilt for choice when you look at the menu trying to decide what you eat as all seems good! They have menu for starters, main course, drinks and even desserts. I finally chose Guvec Tavuk, an oven based chicken dish with mushroom served with rice and apple tea to go along. As it was lunch time, waiting time was slightly longer as the restaurant was quite busy at lunch hour. However, it was worth the wait as the food was generous and yummy!

During weekday lunch, they not only have the usual main course menu but they also have the lunch set menu which I feel is more worth it as the price is inclusive of a drink. My choice was the executive set lunch which includes the Guvec Tavuk and a glass of apple tea at SGD$14.90. Not bad!

I would say that the chicken and mushroom combination with the soft rice was a good one as it left me completely full! The chicken and mushroom was very tender and topped up with melted cheese, though a little salty, eating it with the rice, made it less so. I would recommend you to try this dish if you are a fan of baked chicken and mushroom as it was one of the best I had. The portion was quite generous so this can actually be shared by 2 people!

When you exit the restaurant, do take a look into the glass window kitchen where you can see chefs whipping up the dishes. You might want to take note of the opening hours for the restaurant for lunch and dinner as they have different opening hours on weekday and weekend.

Opening Hours:

Weekday Lunch 11.30am – 2.30pm

Weekday Dinner 6.00pm – 9.30pm (They are open till 10pm on Fridays)

Saturday 12 noon – 10.00pm

Sunday 12 noon – 9.30pm

I would suggest that advance reservation be made if you are coming during the weekend or public holidays as they have quite a crowd there during this time. More details of the restaurant as below:

Address: 100 Beach Road, #02-42/44, Shaw Tower, Shaw Leisure Gallery S (189702)

Phone: +65 6291 1433

If you are huge fan of Authentic Turkish food and dessert, this is the restaurant you should try out. They have everything under one roof!

Overall, I would give the restaurant a rating of 4/5 as the ambience was extremely nice, the food was delicious and the restaurant is also located in a central location in town. The only downside of it would be the food might a little too salty for me but it will not stop me from going again to Sofra to try out other dishes.

Happy trying!

Suryanie Ismail