Bursa
Neighborhood: West Portal
60 W Portal Ave
(between Portola Dr & Claremont Blvd)
San Francisco, CA 94127
Rated: ♣♣♣♣
I was craving Mediterranean food the other day, and I came across Bursa on Yelp. I love how I can drive 5 minutes to West Portal and be able to choose from 15 different restaurants all serving different kinds of food.
The scene:
Bursa is your typical new trendy restaurant with dim lighting and a fancy bar. We came in half an hour before the restaurant closed, and the waitress sat us down without hesitation. They even asked if we wanted a second cup of coffee at the end of our meal.
The food:
K and I shared 2 appetizers and 1 entree and the total came to about $35.
Hummus - The hummus is made from blended garbanzo beans, tahini sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. It was smooth and creamy. Definitely richer and more authentic than the kind you buy from Costco.
Sambusak - This appetizer is phyllo dough stuffed with ground sirloin, onions and pine nuts. The dipping sauce for the crispy finger food is this spicy roasted pepper and tomato dipping sauce. It was sooo good, I ended up dipping the pita bread from our hummus appetizer in the sauce. The sambusak itself was very good. The phyllo shell was soft and crispy, and the meat filling was so juicy.
Musakka - Several months ago, K, my family and I went to the Greek festival in Honolulu and ate the Musakka for luch. It was one of the best Greek dishes I’ve ever had, but I questioned its authenticity since the festival took place in Hawaii. We decided to order the Musakka at Bursa to compare the dishes, and I think Hawaii’s won, although this too was good. Musakka is almost like a shepherd’s pie. It’s made with eggplant, potatoes, squash, zucchini and bechamel sauce. Each ingredient is layered in a dish and topped with tomato sauce and parmesean cheese. It is served with a mound of buttery rice pilaf and a Greek salad. The Greek salad didn’t have much flavor (I didn’t taste any lemon), but the musakka and rice were delish. The chunks of fresh eggplant were al dente, so you could tell what it was and the squash and zucchinis were tender and juicy.
From what I’ve been reading, it sounds like Bursa offers a lunch meal for $7 that features their famous kebabs. I’m planning on coming back soon to check it out.