Aya Sophia 9-5-2014

Aya Sophia (ayasophiacuisine.com) was the first stop on our A to Z journey and while we normally eat out during the week, yesterday was a stormy Friday night and while others went to a rained out football game, Wendy and I, along with Wendy's pre-teen son went to Aya Sophia for dinner. 

Aya Sophia is St. Louis' only Turkish restaurant.  The décor was okay, the food was great.

Wendy and I shared:

• Beet and Goat Cheese Salad - We both like beets, so it wasn't surprising that this was the first item we ordered.  The dish, light for a salad, came with four sliced cooked beets and three slices of a mild goat cheese that had been drizzled with olive oil.  While the flavors were good, to call it a salad may be a stretch.
• Bohca - Meat pies that contained ground beef, onions and pine nuts baked in a phyllo dough.  The seasoning was light and the pies were a perfect start to our meal.
• Sigara Boregi - Cigar shaped and stuffed with cheese (feta, ricotta, parsley and dill), they were crunchy and while I didn't taste the feta or dill strongly enough to mention, we both liked them and our guest ate two of the four that came in the serving.
• Sebzeli Musakka - vegetarian Turkish lasagna.  The baked eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers and potatoes were cooked in a sauce that was described as a béchamel with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce.  I didn't find the béchamel, the cheese made a nice brown topping, and the vegetables were almost perfect, the exception being the skin on the large pieces of red pepper were inedible.  The Musakka was served with the lightest, fluffiest pearl couscous that was seasoned lightly with mint, cooked carrots and the best roasted brussel sprouts I have ever tasted.  The caramelizing of the sprouts made the sweet and delicious.  I'm sure they were seasoned with some mysterious spice that made them taste so good, but what it was is a mystery. 
• Once we had tried our guest's mashed potatoes, we had to order a serving for us.  Not at all creamy, but loaded with garlic, they were nothing but great!  We also ordered another separate serving of the sprouts.  Enough that Wendy was able to take some home.

Pre-teen who thinks he is 30, ordered - Swordfish kabobs.  They came skewered with pieces of lemon (including the rind) tucked in so well that our young diner didn't notice the lemon.  He didn't care much for the fish until I tasted a piece and complained that he hadn't warned me about the lemon!  Once the lemon was from the skewer, the chunks of fish were perfectly cooked and tasted moist and flavorful.  Served with non-descript pieces of cooked carrots and the best mashed potatoes ever (see above), it made for the perfect dinner for this young man.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best ever, Aya Sophia easily scored a 9 on food and while we have made an agreement that we won't repeat restaurants on our weekly jaunts until we have completed the alphabet, Aya Sophia might have to find its way in on another night of the week.