Serdar Sensel has been cooking Turkish food for North Texas for more than a decade, and Chefika is the most polished room he has put his name on. The restaurant opened in the summer of 2024 in Preston Hollow Village, at 7859 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 170, on the west side of Central Expressway.
Fort Worth diners already know him from Istanbul Grill on Throckmorton Street downtown, which has a sister restaurant on South Cooper Street in Arlington. Dallas regulars with long memories may also connect him to Pera, the Turkish kitchen he helped open in North Dallas back in 2012.
Chefika is a bigger swing. It has a full bar, a wood-fire grill and its own in-house cake shop, and the dining room is dressed with layered rugs, wicker light fixtures and plenty of greenery. There is a patio out front for the nights when Dallas cooperates. Dress code is business casual, which fits the neighborhood.
The restaurant bills itself as Turkish Mediterranean with some American influence. Read the menu and the Turkish side clearly carries the load. The American touches are mostly confined to a Sicilian Caesar, a lamb burger and the pancakes at brunch.
Start with the cold mezze, because that is where the kitchen shows its range. Acili Ezme is the one to order if you like heat, a finely chopped mix of tomato, cucumber, onion and parsley pulled together with crushed pepper, pomegranate molasses and walnuts. Pink Queen blends yogurt with boiled beets, garlic and dill, and it is as pink as the name promises.
Girit Ezme is the sleeper. It is a Cretan-style spread of shredded feta and labneh with basil, pistachios, pine nuts and Turkish chili, and it disappears fast once the bread hits the table. Indecisive tables can go with the Mixed Meze Platter, which brings six of the spreads at once.
The warm side of the menu leans on dough. Sigara Borek are thin phyllo cigars filled with feta and kasar cheese. Pacanga Borek swaps in Turkish beef pastrami. The Sucuklu Pide, a boat-shaped flatbread with Turkish sausage and kasar, and the thin, crisp Lahmacun topped with spiced ground beef are both good arguments for sharing.
For a main, the house points everyone toward Hunkar Begendi. The name roughly translates to “the sultan liked it,” and the dish goes back to the Ottoman palace kitchens. Chefika sautés marinated lamb tenderloin with red and green bell peppers and spoons it over a creamy eggplant puree. The Incik / Lamb Shank gets the same eggplant base after a long, slow braise in its own juices.
The grill section is where Sensel’s years running kebab houses show. The Zirh Kiyma Adana Kebab is made from hand-ground lamb seasoned with red bell pepper and Marash pepper, and it comes with basmati rice and piyaz, the Turkish white bean salad. The Pirzola / Lamb Rack is four marinated chops. Groups of four can order the Mixed Grilled, which piles lamb chops, hanger steak, lamb shish, Adana and chicken onto one platter.
Seafood is short and well chosen. The Levrek / Branzino arrives butterflied and grilled with a garlic dill sauce, and the Grilled Octopus comes over baby arugula.
Weekends open at 10 a.m., and the brunch menu is worth planning around. Turkiye’de Kahvalti is a proper Turkish breakfast spread with eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, kashkaval cheese, olives, jams, two pieces of sigara borek and a pot of Turkish tea. Menemen, the soft scramble of eggs with tomatoes, onions and peppers, is the lighter play.
Save room. The dessert list includes Kunefe, the shredded pastry baked around warm cheese, along with Baklava, Turkish Flan and a Pistachio Cheese Cake. Finish with Turkish Coffee or a glass of Turkish Tea.
Chefika is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The full dinner menu is posted online, and reservations are taken through OpenTable. The phone number is 214-758-0155.
Another Dallas Mediterranean restaurant.
