Review: Lale in Lindenhurst
Fried sardines with fennel is one of the homestyle specials at Lale Turkish Restaurant in Lindenhurst. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Long Island’s Turkish restaurants are generally of a very high caliber, but Lale rises to the top thanks to its flawless renderings of standards (eggplant salad, lentil soup, kebabs, etc.) and its commitment to daily specials drawn from the repertoire of home cooks. You might happen upon braised flat beans with bits of beef, or delicate fingers of stuffed cabbage or a crackling sunburst of fried anchovies.
Lale
Range of entrees: $18 to $28
Handicapped accessibility: No stairs
Attributes: Family-friendly, halal, new for 2026, open for lunch, vegetarian-friendly
Reservations: Not needed
60 W. Montauk Hwy., Lindenhurst
Tugba Kahveci opened Lale ("tulip") in 2024 as a grocery with a takeout counter and a few tables and, the following year, expanded it into the adjacent storefront, which now boasts a light-filled, if modest, dining room. She is joined in the enterprise by her mother, Fatma Kahveci, who dreams up and executes the specials as well as the soups, salads, manti (tiny meat-filled pasta sauced with garlic yogurt, smoked-pepper-infused butter and tomato sauce) and, for dessert, kunefe (a toasty disk of shredded phyllo enclosing melted cheese and topped with chopped pistachios and aromatic syrup).
Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Notable dishes
Lahmacun (thin-crust Turkish "pizza"), trabzon yagli pide (flatbread topped with melted butter and eggs), Iskender kebab, fried anchovies and stuffed cabbage (specials), kunefe pastry.
Tip:
Ask what the specials are and build your meal around them. Lale opens at 9 a.m. and serves a full Turkish breakfast that includes su borek, a noodle kugel made with feta cheese.
Veteran chef Mustafa Aydim handles the kebabs. From one leg of lamb, he will dispatch the leanest parts for shish kebab, the shank will get braised, the trimmings will be ground, extravagantly seasoned and finger-pressed into spicy Adana kebabs. Some of the fat will be layered with slices of beef for doner kebab (gyro) that can be enjoyed as a sandwich or platter or draped over homemade bread and covered with yogurt and tomato sauce for the great Iskender kebab.
Lale owner Tugba Kahveci, right, and her mother, Fatma Kahveci, who is responsible for cooking the homestyle dishes. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
He is also responsible for that homemade bread (tirnak pide), for the long, open-faced calzone-like breads (also called pide) that are filled with various combinations of meats, vegetables and cheese and for the lahmacun (think ultrathin Turkish pizzas) topped with ground meat and spices. Lale is the rare Turkish eatery that also makes gozleme, griddled flatbread wrapped around meat, potato or cheese.
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