Mediterranean
http://www.turksandfrogs.com/
458 Greenwich St. – TriBeCa

Our first experience with Turks & Frogs was the small W. Village wine bar.  Once we realized there was a full restaurant with space in our neighborhood  we thought we’d found a new hang.  We made a rather early reservation on a Friday evening in June. When we arrived the place was relatively empty except for a large party going to an event around the corner.

The interior is painted red  and has an inviting feel.  A bookshelf and leather couches in the back give it a loungey feel.  The space is quite large in contrast to the West Village location.  Large wine barrels are strewn throughout as tables.  The outside area provides seating for 4 tables, but the interior is far more inviting.

Regarding food, we ordered the Mezze Platter which covered the appetizer menu to include hummus, baba ganouj, grape leaves, lebni and artichoke hearts.  The hummus was particularly good.    For an entree, we decided to share an order or Manti, which sounded intriguing.    Manti are dumplings stuffed with ground lamb and fresh mint in a light yoghurt garlic sauce.  We were very disappointed in this dish.  The dumpling overpowered the filling and the sauce was anything but light.  Rather, it smothered everything.  There had to be two cups of sauce over 15 mini-ravioli sized dumplings.  I would not recommend this dish.

I would, however, recommend the Sangria.  They make a traditional Spanish version with a bit of a kick and their pours are quite generous.  The bar area is rather small, but perhaps the best bet here is wine at the bar with a few apps.

The service was actually horrible.  Considering there were only two other tables seated, we had a really difficult time getting the waitress’ attention.  And for a Friday night it seemed a bit odd for the place to be so empty.  Maybe they get the local crowd during the week?