Update October 2024: This review was originally written in 2022, so please be aware that some elements may have changed since.
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Göz City has grown into a mini empire dedicated to the Turkish flatbread gözleme (pronounced gehrz-leh-meh), and it’s come a long way from its humble beginnings. What began as a hole-in-the-wall shop on Little Collins Street nearly ten years ago, followed by a larger store in Madame Brussels Lane, has now blossomed into a fully-fledged gözleme factory. Typically eaten as village or street food in Turkey, gözleme is often the most popular food stand at any given weekend market or festival. So why not cut out the market middleman? Göz City is making that possible.
This is a family-run joint, with mother-son duo Nez and Taylan Gonullu at the forefront. The man behind the South Melbourne Market’s beloved gözleme stall, Taylan long had dreams of opening a “gözleme concept store” and their recently opened Port Melbourne location has actualised those dreams.
The space is bright, airy and open, with seats available for eat-in diners. Behind the ornately mosaicked counter is a commercial-sized kitchen where you can view the masters at work diligently rolling dough and handmaking the goods. It’s abundantly clear that the rolling process is an artform, with sheets of dough being rolled out with old-school village rolling pins. The gözleme here comes in a variety of vegetarian or meat options along with a selection of pide (akin to a small pizza boat), börek (stuffed filo pastries) and salads on offer.
Similarly to judging a pizza place on their margherita, ordering the classic spinach and cheese gözleme is a good opening gambit. The pastry is astonishingly light (likely due to the exclusion of wheat) with the customary blistered brown spots from the hotplate. The filling is plentiful and creates a pleasing contrast with the crisp exterior, unlike the doughy counterparts you may find at a late-night gözleme joint. Served with a side of natural Greek yoghurt to dip, it’s simple flavours at their moreish best.
If you’re less of a traditionalist, visit on a Tuesday to try their more venturesome specials, like a caramelised onion ‘Göz’, cooked down for hours and mellowed with a good dose of cheese. If you’re lucky, you may also be rewarded with the chicken and fennel Tuesday pick, made up of soft, shredded chicken with that distinctive aniseed flavour from the fennel – a delightful spin on the classic herbed chicken.
Not that they need it, but make sure you help yourself to the abundant condiments on offer. This includes fresh squeezed lemon and even Frank’s Hot Sauce. If those aren’t your accoutrements of choice, try Nez’s pickles. The business matriarch makes batches of these addictive pickles which you can purchase by the jar and keep at home. They have that ineffable ‘mum’ quality, which means they’re delicious and most likely good for you.
Speaking of take home, if your Göz fix hasn’t been entirely satiated, they have frozen versions for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own place. A positive consequence of the pandemic, the team pivoted to vac-packing their offering after their loyal CBD customers still wanted their weekly lunch fix. What began as a means to keeping the business afloat soon became a goal to make the Göz City gözleme a household staple – just defrost, pan fry and devour in a few minutes.
The traditionalists may prefer a side of gazoz (a popular lemonade made with beet sugar) with their pastry. Though, like most things, Göz can be improved with a round of coffees. Not the Turkish kind – the Melbourne kind. The baristas here sling specialty coffee with Five Senses – if you’re after more than your artfully poured fix, they’ve got Batch Brew, Aeropress and cold drip on offer.