I had been under the impression, proven false, that the Turkish restaurant, Tulip, had closed at some point.

So I was surprised when I found it open in the Third Ward last week and decided to give it a try before theater. What I found was a wonderful restaurant with very nice food and one of the best desserts I've ever had anywhere.

It's a very good-looking place and on a Friday night managed to fill a lot of tables as the dinner hour progressed.

I had a great dish of four French cut lamb chops, served under a delightful sauce of wild mushroom couscous and a bit of grilled asparagus.

I'm not usually much of a dessert guy, but our server recommended something called kadayif and I took the plunge. Talk about your good decisions.

Kadayif is made from shredded wheat, then mixed with some sugar and milk. Then they add some lemon juice and zest, and butter and put it in a small round baking dish. It's baked until a crispy crust forms on the top and then a syrup and crushed pistachio nuts are dropped into the center of the dish

It was sweet, yes, but not overly so. It kind of tasted something like something that if McDonald's could figure out how to make it they'd sell millions and millions. It alone is worth the trip to Tulip.