The most noticeable aspect about Café De Wan, a new Turkish restaurant in the very unnoticeable Summit Plaza strip mall in Casselberry, is that the scent of seared meats is all but absent. In fact, kebabs, or kebaps, that most Turkish of eats, are nonexistent on the menu. The reason? There’s no hood in the kitchen. So owner Habibe Sungun and her sister Esra work with what they’ve got, baking borek and pide, plating soups and dips and, for early risers, serving Turkish breakfasts.
The pair had planned to take over the Aladdin’s Café space just a few doors down after owners Hassan Hafza and his wife, Samia, retired last week. The idea was to open a Turkish kebaberia there and retain Café De Wan as a breakfast and lunch spot. But the folks who run Flafel Spot inside the Marathon gas station in Casselberry beat them to the punch. So, while a grill space is being secured, the pair do their best to keep the supper set satiated.
During Ramadan, a special iftar menu was served, starting with a serving of soup. The chicken soup ($4.50) had enough soul that I paused my spoon mid-air to inhale the heady scent of roasted chicken…