Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Angie
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Ross Cafe on McKnight Road initially opened as a breakfast and brunch spot, focusing on items like omelettes, waffles, and crepes. We’re always looking for bright spots on McKnight to invigorate our mundane shopping trips, and this spot seemed like an interesting break from the mold.
Our interest was piqued even further when we saw a few Turkish options like Menemen (a scrambled egg dish with tomatoes and peppers) and Sigara Boregi (rolled phyllo dough stuffed with cheese and fried). Shortly after opening, we checked out their menu again online and noticed that they had started serving dinners, too, focusing on Turkish dishes like kebabs, wraps, and pide (Turkish-style pizza).
We went in for a meal right away and are already planning our return.
Ross Cafe is a Hidden Gem on McKnight Road
The space inside Ross Cafe is tiny but bright and cheerful. Although we ordered our food as takeout, we noted that the restaurant was BYOB at the time of our visit if you’re looking to dine in.
The dinner menu at Ross Cafe is quite large and features a selection of Turkish standards like chicken shish, lamb kofta, lamb shish, and beef shish, either as wraps or as kebabs. To try a selection of the menu, we started with a classic chicken shish wrap and loved the tender and well-spiced chicken, plus the fresh punch of onion, tomato, and parsley. The super thin wrap that contained it all was equally delicious, and a herbed yogurt sauce and a spicy tomato sauce on the side amped up the flavors even more.
Breaking out from our go-to’s for Turkish cuisine, we ordered from the interesting yogurt kebab section of the menu, too. We tried the beyti kebab which included grilled lamb adana wrapped in lavash bread, topped with tomato sauce. Rice and yogurt were served on the side. We loved the hint of spice in the lamb and the richness of the meat; the acid from the tomato sauce and cool creaminess of the yogurt brought the whole dish together. This dish was a great surprise!
Ross Cafe also offers pide and lahmacun, which we were very excited about after enjoying many when traveling in Turkey. Pide is kind of like a Turkish pizza or flatbread, with a thin crust that’s formed into a boat-like shape, and topped with cheese and other toppings. One of our favorites toppings is sujuk, a Turkish pepperoni, which we ordered on our pide here. The flatbread itself was thin and crispy, and the layer of kashkaval cheese was thick and delicious. Several slices of fatty and spiced sujuk topped it off – although we would have loved just a little bit more sujuk on top as they were a bit sparse depending on the slice.
Originally, we had planned to order a lot of food from Ross Cafe to have leftovers; however, with the delectable flavor we ended up eating our entire meal in a single sitting. Part of this was because while the pide and beyti kebab portions were generous, the chicken shish wrap was a bit on the smaller side- a good lunch size portion or, in our case, appetizer. Next time we’ll definitely plan on ordering even more simply because we love great leftover Turkish food- particularly leftover Pide if we can force ourselves to stop eating.
We are excited to return to Ross Cafe, perhaps to dine in with some BYOB wine with lahmacun (a flatbread topped with spiced ground lamb) as well as their Turkish breakfast. This one really requires several visits to get the full experience on the menu, and we feel like we only just got a taste in our first visit! We’re happy for any reason that makes shopping on McKnight more tolerable, and Ross Cafe is a delicious stop that certainly fits the bill.
Ross Cafe is located at 4846 McKnight Road in Ross Township, PA.