Sunday lunch: Mr Carsisi, Kyneton

JUST reading the menu at Mr Carsisi — shanklish, tomato and herb salad with Lebanese arak, Bosphorus fish sandwich and fried lokma with hot Turkish spiced chocolate — can transport you to exotic lands around the Levant. Anywhere but to country Kyneton.

Chef Matthew Fegan and his wife, Clare, travelled to Turkey and fell in love with the flavours and simplicity of the food. More travels through Syria confirmed their affections with the Eastern Mediterranean influences and after returning to Australia and manning the stoves at Kyneton's Royal George Hotel and tossing pizzas at Pizza Verde, they took over the lease of what was then Slow Living on the edge of St Paul's Park.

Cleverly named after Istanbul's Misir Carsisi spice bazaar, their new venue in a former iceworks is cavernous like a bazaar but kept minimalist in decor.

We share mezzes of roasted almond and chickpea falafels with tahini yoghurt ($6.50), Antep lamb pistachio kebabs on flatbread with tomato and parsley salad ($11.50) and seared baharat spice veal on pearl barley tabouleh with tamarind syrup ($10.50) — all tender and flavourful and delicious with a Mediterranean-style Fairbank Rosé from Sutton Grange ($8 a glass, $38 a bottle).

Grilled aged Scotch fillet ($33) arrives with mountain herbs, green beans, walnut tarator, potato, lemon and herb salad, which is superbly tender and tasty, but the triumph is a home-made borek ($28.50) — one long pastry "cigar" filled with roasted pumpkin, spinach and goat's feta and served with shepherd's salad, green chilli, tomato and dill dressing.

We finish with a pistachio baklava ($14) sandwiched around a Turkish delight semifreddo with pastry talumba to dip into molten Turkish delight. What a wonderful way to travel, without leaving home.

Mr Carsisi, 37c Piper Street, Kyneton, 5422 3769. Open Fri-Tue from 8am-late for breakfast, lunch and dinner. See mrcarsisi.com. To stay: nearby options include Babette's Bed & Breakfast (babetteskyneton.com.au), Mollisons (mollisons.net.au), Apartment 61A (macedonrangesinteriors.com.au).

Reviewed by Tricia Welsh.