The Renton restaurant community continues to be the gift that keeps on giving with a culinary scene benefitting from diverse options.

Recently, I tried a cuisine I had never tried before, Turkish Food at Cafe Sabah.

After seeing Cafe Sabah’s Instagram and the buzz surrounding their traditional Turkish cuisine, I was chomping at the bit to try it out and was not disappointed.

On the inside, the cafe at 4201 NE Sunset Blvd, felt similar to a classic American diner with large green booth seats and a glass cooler in the front housing an assortment of delicious pastries that I was unfamiliar with but would have loved to try. In the center of the restaurant hung ornate chandelier-style lights, with pastel-colored glass. It was a comfortable and welcoming space.

The menu at Cafe Sabah has more than one enticing option. It included a variety of grilled meat and kebab plates such as the Adana Kebab plate ($20.99) – made of minced lamb formed into a sauce-like shape and served with mixed vegetable rice and gyro sauce, Beef Shish Kebab ($21.99), Lamb Chop Kebab plate ($24.99), and a grilled shrimp plate option ($23.99).

The menu also includes several different kinds of Pide bread — a traditional Turkish-leavened flatbread. Some of the options included Lahmajoun ($8.99), a thin flatbread baked with beef, lamb, onion, tomato, green pepper, parsley, and lemon – resembling a pizza-like savory confection, a cheese Pide ($13.99) topped with melty and caramelized mozzarella cheese, along with other varieties of meat-topped Pide.

I opted to try a Beef Doner Wrap ($15.99), a wrap resembling a Gyro filled with delicious and tender beef, carrot, Romaine lettuce, red cabbage, red onion, and served with Doner sauce – made of yogurt, mayonnaise and garlic. It was a dish I had seen and heard wonderful things about before, and my suspicions were confirmed upon my first try – it was delicious.

However, my favorite surprise was the Moutabbal ($8.99) – a smooth puree of sorts made from roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon, yogurt, garlic, olive oil, and parsley.

When I expressed my curiosity about the dish to the server, she said it was one of her favorites, which made me even more excited to try it.

It came with fluffy, warm Pide to dip into it and had a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika on top. It was rich, tangy, smooth and buttery all at the same time. Frankly, it was the best thing I ate that week and would be worth the trip to Cafe Sabah for that dish alone.