Kervan is a fairly well-known Turkish restaurant from Itaewon. Kebabs are the main event, and they also run a bakery that sells desserts and breads. I once bought some Turkish delight at Kervan Bakery, and it stuck in my memory as sweet but with a distinctive taste. Over the weekend I went to check out the newly reopened COEX, and while the number of restaurants has grown a lot, there were not many I actually felt like going to. As I was mulling it over this place caught my eye, so I went in.

The front entrance

It is tucked away in the inner part of COEX. The hours were shorter than I expected (closing around 9?), which seems awfully early for a place operating inside COEX.

Inside

Spacious, with a big open kitchen inside. The atmosphere was lively too.

Double meze

I ordered this because it lets you try two Turkish dishes at once, haydari and baba ghanoush. I was curious about haydari, a Turkish yogurt dish, and it turns out that just adding paprika and olive oil transforms yogurt into a proper dish. The eggplant dish, baba ghanoush, was tasty as well. Honestly I did not expect much from Turkish food, but it turned out to be better than that.

Chicken kebab

A properly made kebab. Marinated with a variety of spices, it had a distinctive, complex flavor. I came here to avoid a high-carb meal like pasta or ramen/soba, and ended up with a meat dish that was tastier than expected.

The food here is not exactly cheap overall, but in return you get the satisfaction of eating Turkish food you rarely come across. It seemed like a good place to come with a group and order a variety of dishes. Sadly, these days my meals out are mostly spur-of-the-moment drinking sessions at places I know well, so I hardly ever get to go to a place like this.

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