The Mediterranean Sea shaped some of the world’s most ancient civilizations, which gathered by its shores to dive for the delicious baklava and kebabs growing beneath its crystal waves. Transport to this legendary culinary coast with today’s Groupon: for $25, you get a four-course dinner for two at Istanbul Restaurant & Patisserie in North Brunswick (up to a $54.30 value).

The four courses include:

• One cold appetizer of your choice (up to a $5.95 value)
• One hot appetizer of your choice (up to a $7.95 value)
• One Istanbul combination plate (a $17.95 value) and one entree/sandwich of your choice (up to a $16.95 value each) or the Istanbul combination plate for two (a $25.95 value)
• One dessert of your choice (up to a $5.50 value)</p>

Istanbul Restaurant & Patisserie’s culinary alchemists forge a menu of Turkish cuisine that fills the restaurant with the aromas of freshly baked bread, roasting kebabs, and honeyed baklava. The crystal twinkling of tiered chandeliers illuminates dining companions with the elegance of a butler’s night light as they feast on a cold appetizer such as Imam Bayildi, eggplants rotund with a cargo of onions, raisins, and pine nuts. The grassy green walls are adorned with copper pots and curved swords, which patrons can admire while slicing into warm appetizers such as feta rolled in phyllo dough.

The Istanbul combination skewers lamb, adana, kofte, and chicken onto kebabs, which are kept company on a platter by the crisp homemade bread that joins all entrees. Iskender kebab consists of gyros festooned with yogurt and tomato sauce, which fuels jovial banter and talk of pita-shaped safety-deposit boxes. Traditional sutlac⎯Turkish rice pudding⎯or the walnut or pistachio baklava’s layers of dough and nuts drop a dulcet curtain over the evening.