Turkish Manti and Lahmacun in Long Island City Queens
Dig into yogurt topped manti and blistered lahmacun at a Turkish kitchen tucked into Long Island City.
🥟 Dumplings in a Copper Pan
Safir Mediterranean holds down a blue storefront on Vernon Blvd, where evil eye charms hang in the windows and a neon sign glows after dark. The manti land in a small copper pan, folded dumplings sitting under garlicky yogurt and a tomato butter sauce, then finished with a heavy dusting of dried mint. The lahmacun arrives on a wooden board, thin and blistered, with lemon, parsley, sliced tomato, and red onion to fold inside. A burrata plate stacks cherry tomatoes and microgreens against a wall mural of the Galata Tower in Istanbul. Everything runs halal, and the room stays small enough that the kitchen sends plates out fast. Reviewers land it at 4.6 across roughly 780 visits, steady numbers for a neighborhood Turkish kitchen. Come with a group, order across the mezze, and let the copper pans pile up in the middle of the table.
