Opened last June, Bosphorus makes us believe in the buffet again. And we’re not alone — half of the Cal campus bikes down here for dinner when they can’t stomach one more Fat Slice. You can scoop pilaf and roast chicken from the steam table or order to your taste. Bosphorus’ meze — small plates — which come with homemade, sesame-dusted Anatolian bread, are off the hook: fluffy pink taramasalata (cod roe spread), smoky patlican ezme (baba ghanoush to you), snappy Yunan salad, spicy shaved pastirma (dried beef), and our favorite beer snack, sigara boregi (cigar-shaped Turkish egg rolls stuffed with feta and herbs). Owner Davut Kurt and his family rock the kebab, too. And if you get so full that you can’t ride all the way back up University Avenue to crack your books, get a tiny demitasse of sludgy, sweet Turkish coffee: It’ll put the tiger back in your tank.
Readers’ Pick:
La Méditerrané
2936 College Ave., 510-540-7773
LaMediterranee.net/pages/lamedberkeley.html
