Babaganush Turkish Restaurant and Cafe occupies a broad Grey Street frontage in Hamilton East, with table bookings, takeaway and delivery all handled from the same operation. Its menu is more expansive than a quick kebab counter, moving from lunch sandwiches and meze to charcoal-style grills, slow-cooked dishes and full dinner plates. The flexible service makes it possible to stop for a compact midday meal or build an evening around several starters, breads and mains shared across the table.
The Sultan meze platter is the clearest overview of the kitchen's opening flavours. House dips are joined by dolma, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, crisp sigara börek, falafel and homemade bread. Individual dips include cooling cacik with yoghurt, cucumber and mint; hummus; roasted beetroot; a spicy walnut and sun-dried tomato blend; and the namesake babaganush of charred aubergine and tahini. Halloumi, dukkah, stuffed vine leaves and filo rolls allow diners to extend the spread without repeating the same textures.
Grilled food forms the strongest savoury centre. The house special combines lamb shish, chicken shish and scotch fillet, while the mixed grill adds meatballs and eye fillet. Adana-style lamb, individual skewers and a falafel-halloumi meze plate provide smaller variations. Beyond the grill, chicken is cooked with Turkish spices, almonds and dates, and lamb is paired with apricots in a slow-cooked tagine. Beef or vegetable moussaka and spinach-feta börek introduce baked dishes with rice, salad, hummus and yoghurt alongside.
Döner kebabs wrap chicken, lamb, mixed meat or falafel with salad, hummus and sauces in Turkish flatbread. The same choices can become iskender plates with rice, tabouleh and a broader spread of accompaniments, which makes them useful for diners who prefer a composed plate to a handheld meal. Salads include grilled halloumi with beetroot and walnuts as well as seafood, meat and falafel versions. A stack of walnut baklava with vanilla ice cream gives the meal a recognisably Turkish finish, with cheesecake and chocolate brownie also available.
Address: 379–381 Grey Street, Hamilton East, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
Moved or closed? Tell us: Moved·Temporarily closed·Permanently closed
Babaganush Menu
Cold & Hot Starters
Platter (all designed for two people to share)
Sultan Meze Platter
A selection of our authentic dips, dolma (stuffed vine leaves), sun dried tomatoes, feta, sigara börek, falafel served homemade bread.
Ekmekler (Breads) Homemade sliced and toasted
plain thick Turkish bread
Garlic bread
garlic butter on Turkish bread
Extra Parmesan Cheese
Hummus
chick peas and tahini
Babaganush
chargrilled aubergine and tahini
Shrimp and Avocado Starter
Juicy shrimp and ripe avocado served with a tangy seafood dressing on bed of crisp lettuce
Prawns Starter
Capsicum, mushroom, cream, two pieces garlic bread
Calamari Starter
Pan fried rings of calamari, served on a bed of lettuce topped with a tartar sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Falafel Starter
Freshly made chickpea patties served on a bed of hummus with sweet chilli and yoghurt sauces
Grill Halloumi
Hummus dip, two pieces falafel, four pieces Turkish bread
Dukkah
Dukkah served with Turkish bread and olive oil
Dolma
Vine leaves stuffed with rice and spices, served with cacik dip and fresh lemon , salad
Sigara Börek
Deep fried rolls of filo pastry filled with feta cheese served on a bed of hummus salad with garlic yogurt and sweet chilli sauce.
Fries
with aioli sauce
Grill Meals & Mains
With chips $3 / Instead of rice
Babaganush Special
Lamb shish, chicken shish, scotch fillet garden salad rice and tzatziki & hummus
Mix Grill
Chicken shish, lamb shish, meatballs, beef, garden salad rice and tzatziki & hummus
Adana Kebab
Lamb on skewer Greek bread garden salad & chips.
Meatball’s
Lamb mince garden salad rice , tzatziki & hummus
Chicken Shish
3 Chicken skewers garden salad rice, tzatziki & hummus
Lamb Shish
3 Lamb skewers garden salad rice , tzatziki & hummus
Tender Grill Chicken
4 Tender chicken fillets garden salad rice , tzatziki & hummus
Lamb Skewer
Chicken Skewer
Meatballs
Grill Meze Meals
With chips $3 / Instead of rice
Mix grill Meze
Lamb, chicken & Beef. Served with garden salad, rice, dips,dolma,falafel, feta cheese, olives.
Falafel & Halloumi Meze
3 Falafel & 2 halloumi. Served with garden salad, rice, dips, dolma, feta cheese, olives.
Grill Meals & Mains
Creamy Beef
Served with garden salad, creamy mushroom sauce, parmesan cheese & French fries
Creamy Chicken
Served with garden salad, creamy mushroom sauce, parmesan cheese & French fries
Chicken and Date Tagine
All the spices of Turkey flavor this skinless chicken, peas, potato, Carrot finished with almonds and the subtle sweetness of dates. Served with rice and garden salad.
Lamb and Apricot Tagine
Cubes of lamb slowly cooked and sweetened with juicy apricots, potatoes, beans, carrot Served with rice and garden salad.
Beef Moussaka
With chips $3 / Instead of rice. Layers of potato and kumara eggplant, filled with bolognaise and béchamel sauces served with rice with garden salad, tzatziki, hummus, yogurt and sweet chili.
Vegetable Moussaka
With chips $3 / Instead of rice. Layers of potato and kumara, eggplant, roasted vegetables and béchamel sauce served on rice with garden salad, tzatziki, hummus, yogurt and sweet chili.
Ispanak (Spinach) Borek
Served with chips. Layers of filo pastry, filled with spinach and feta served with chips, tzatziki dip and fresh garden salad.
Salads
Prawn and Avocado Salad
Tiger prawns with avocado served with mesculin, tomato, red onion, tangy seafood dressing and a balsamic glaze
Calamari Salad
Pan fried calamari rings served on a bed of mesculin, tomato and red onion topped with tartar sauce.
Halloumi and roasted beetroot
Sweet roasted beetroot topped with grilled haloumi , hummus & beetroot dips & finished with toasted walnuts and balsamic glaze.
Grill Chicken Salad
Hummus, beetroot, garden salad, fresh tomato, red onion , olives, feta cheese and a piece of bread and aioli sauce.
Grill Beef Salad
Hummus, beetroot, garden salad, fresh tomato, red onion, olives, feta cheese and a piece of bread and balsamic sauce.
Falafel Salad
Hummus, beetroot, garden salad, fresh tomato, red onion, olives, feta cheese and a piece of bread and your choice of 2 sauce.
Garden Salad
A variety of mixed green vegetables, tomato, cucumber and red onion , olives, feta cheese ,corn served with our homemade salad dressing.
Iskender
with chips + $3 instead of rice. Döner meat or falafel served with rice, hummus and salad, with your choice of sauces.
Chicken
Slow Roasted Lamb
Mixed Meat
Falafel
Mozzarella Cheese
Jalapeno
Kids Menu
Under 13 Years old
Kids Grilled Chicken
With rice or chips Choose Your sauce Mayo or Tomato
Kids Beef Burger
With chips Choose Your sauce Mayo or Tomato
Kofte ( meatballs)
With rice or chips Choose Your sauce Mayo or Tomato
Chicken Schinzel
With chips Choose Your sauce Mayo or Tomato
Extras
only with meals
Cashews
Falafel (each)
Sun dried tmatoes
Additional Chicken
Additional Lamb
Feta cheese
Olives
Avocado
Dolma (each)
Sigara Börek (each)
Lunch Specials
until 2:30pm. All sandwiches served with focaccia bread
Kofte sandwiches
meatballs, rockets, pickles, homemade mayo, cheddar ,chips
Adana Sandwiches
spicy meat, rockets, pickles, homemade sauce, cheddar ,chips
Grilled Chicken sandwiches
Chicken fillets ,rockets, pickles, homemade mayo, cheddar, chips
Mushroom sandwiches
Creamy Mushroom, rockets, pickles, homemade mayo, cheddar, chips
Falafel eggplant sandwich
homemade sauce, rockets, pickles, cheddar, chips
Schnitzel
fry chicken breast , salad, homemade sauce, chips
Creamy Grill Chicken
mushroom and peas with creamy sauce, salad and chips
Lamb Shish
Lamb skewers with rice ,hummus, tzatziki , salad and sauce
Chicken Shish
chicken skewers rice ,hummus, tzatziki , salad and sauce
Grill Chicken Salad
Tender Chicken ,garden salad tomato, onion ,corn and aioli sauce.
Grill Beef Salad
Garden salad tomato, onion ,corn and balsamic sauce.
Lunch Iskender
with chips + $3 instead of rice. Döner meat or falafel served with rice, hummus and salad, with your choice of sauces.
Grilled Chicken
Slow Roasted Lamb
Mixed Meat
Falafel
Lunch Döner Kebab
Döner meat or falafel wrapped in bread served with salad ,pickle hummus and your choice of sauces
Grilled Chicken
Slow Roasted Lamb
Mixed Meat
Falafel
From Happy Menu members
Reviews from locals: every member has confirmed a New Zealand mobile.
Been to Babaganush Turkish Restaurant and Cafe? Be one of the first to rate it.
+ Log your visitHow prices compare
Against typical prices in Hamilton
- Garlic bread Typical in Hamilton: $12.60 $11.00
Around the corner
Within 1 km of Babaganush Turkish Restaurant and Cafe
-
Burger Burger Hamilton
Hamilton · 40 m ·$
American · New Zealand
- American R Reggie's Hamilton · 40 m ·$ American
- New Zealand R Roast Plus Hamilton · 70 m ·$ New Zealand
- Indian C Curry Bhavan Hamilton · 70 m ·$ Indian
-
The Cook
Hamilton · 100 m ·$
New Zealand · Pub
- Japanese N Nom Nom Korean Street Food Hamilton · 100 m ·$ Japanese · Korean
More Mediterranean nearby
Within 10 km
