wannabe on the road - turkish food in bloomington

our friend amy is starting law school next month at iu. she just finished getting her master's there. i am a terrible friend because she has lived in bloomington for over two years and i have never visited. until now.

the first thing we did when jessie and i arrived was eat, of course. we decided on the turkuaz cafe. the decor is straight up arabian nights - the floor/seating is carpets and pillows, the tables are low. my feet were bare.

for starters, we shared the potato koftesi, which are potato pancakes with yogurt sauce and much more appetizing than this photo suggests.

our meals came with extras: red lentil soup and a trio of salads. the coban salad of cucumber, tomato and parsley was my favorite. very light and refreshing on a sultry afternoon.
i had a sour cherry as a beverage (non-alcoholic). it was quite tasty. for my main entree, i ordered the eggplant pide, which is a type of turkish flatbread. the eggplant was mashed and seasoned with garlic and paprika. the pide was very good, but the eggplant filling was a little bland. i have included a fork in the photo for scale. it is a half order. i have also included a photo of my lounging legs to illustrate the full experience.

dessert was turkish tiramisu, which the three of us shared. it was good because it was not soaked in liqueur and the cream was smooth and delicate.
the most amazing thing? my bill was under $12. they also had the most wonderful, polite service that i've seen in awhile.