One surprise in Istanbul has been the array of outstanding restaurants available. Even the street food looks and smells delicious. We’ve had some genuinely wonderful meals here. The following are some recommendations should you find yourself in Istanbul.
For lunch, our favorite was Gram. It is a bakery up front, with just two communal tables in back next to the kitchen. The chefs cook your lunch right there with you — as close to home cooking as you can get. The things they do with vegetables are unspeakable.
What a wonderful lunch we had here!
If you’d like to read more about Gram, follow this link:
http://www.deliciousistanbul.com/blog/2012/11/19/gram-new-istanbul-food/
Another great lunch spot was Kantin. The most delicious leek pie (“borek” in Turkish) I’ve ever tasted and the chicken schnitzel with a sesame crust and red pepper relish was a revelation. The actual restaurant was a testament to simplicity and you could easily believe you’re in Paris when at Kantin.
For more on Kantin, follow this link:
http://www.deliciousistanbul.com/blog/2012/12/13/kantin-real-istanbul-lunch/
For dinner, it would be hard to pass up Lokanta Maya. A chic restaurant located on the Karikoy waterfront, near the Galata Bridge, that has been featured in the NY Times travel section. Each dish we tried was delicious, but the hamsi (anchovies) stood out as they were unbelievably fluffly on the inside and nice and crisp on the outside. Yum!
A really great place, reservations definitely recommended. To read the NY Times article on Lokanta Maya, follow this link:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/eurofile-istanbuls-latest-hot-table/?_r=0
To see the restaurant’s web site, follow this link:
http://www.lokantamaya.com
Our last favorite restaurant was Meze by Lemon Tree. It’s also a very small place and is located a little off the beaten path but still in Beyoglu.
We chose the prix fixe menu, which allowed us to pick 5 cold mezes (small plates), one warm meze, main course, and then dessert. Each dish delivered to us was tremendous — difficult to pick a favorite — but the aubergine (eggplant) meze was unbelievable. We could have just stopped with that.
For more on Meze, follow this link:
http://www.mezze.com.tr/pictures.html
Don’t be afraid of coming to Turkey to eat. There are lots and lots of great, fresh options.
