Excerpt of my book "5 routes to explore Istanbul in 5 days" already available in paper and ebook format.
[...] For
dinner you have complete freedom to choose the restaurant that suits
you. In the city there is excess supply so I'll give some practical
advice. There are several types of restaurant. The most common are
self titled as "lokanta". Would be equivalent to a
cheap menu restaurant.
Usually
in lokanta you can find any food but in general provide very
basic menu. Then there are restaurants that are titled according to
the type of food they provide. The Donerci specialize in
grilled meats while Kebapci in making all kinds of skewered
meat and sometimes fish. The Donerci would be the equivalent
of doner kebap found in Europe. The Kofteci make a type
of meatball that I personally hate but which are very popular in
Turkey. The Pideci serves a kind of Turkish pizza very popular
but that I do not recommend it because is usually very spicy. Oddly
enough there are corbaci - pronounced chorbayi - who are
specialized in serving ... soup. If you go to one of these corbaci
and it's winter I recommend lentil soup - mercimek çorbasi
- which is extraordinarily tasty. Another type of very specialized
restaurant are the gözlemeci. Gözlemeci serves filo
pastry filled with cheese, meat, potatoes etc. Usually you can
distinguish gözlemeci because at the entrance there is one or
two women wearing traditional peasant costumes sitting on cushions
making up the difficult filo pastry - "yufka" for
Turks -.
 |
| Gözlemeci with the cook working in the restaurant dresser |
Finally,
to my knowledge, they are the manti, a type of restaurant where you
will never find me because they serve a recipe that I hate. The manti
is a kind of ravioli cooked and bathed in a spicy yogurt sauce with
sumac, garlic and paprika. When I sleep I have nightmares about them,
but for many Turkish and foreign are a delicacy.
Some
restaurants indicate "Iskender kebap". If you are
lucky to find one do not let go. Iskender kebap is the supreme
delicacy of Turkish cuisine. It is a recipe made with pita bread base
over which tomatoe sauce, grilled meat (döner kebap) and
yogurt is served, accompanied by a vegetable.
Of
course there are also restaurants serving a little of everything. And
if you want to try all kinds of hot and cold dishes do not miss to go
to the meze. In the meze the waiter brings to your table a cart full
of all kinds of meals. The waiters will serve until the diner says
"Enough!" which in Turkish it is "Yeter".
I've only eaten meze in Turkey during Ramadan, to
attend the Iftar after sunset. As there are some dishes that are
cooked only at that time it is worth to enjoy meze at that time.
There are fish restaurants but generally is not the specialty most
applauded in Istanbul. Indeed the best fish restaurants of
Turkey are located in the Turkish Aegean and the Black Sea. However
there are a few fish establishments in Istanbul run by chefs
from these regions and are quite good. There's one where you can eat
a tasty bread made from anchovies, besides squid and mussels.
To
accompany your meal you can order a drink, raki (grape brandy
that is mixed with water), wine or beer. Locals often take ayran,
which is very slightly salty liquid yogurt. Boza is also
taken, but is falling into disuse. Turkish wine and beers are of good
quality. They can be taken without restrictions despite being a
predominantly Muslim country.
In
the next chapter we will review another route, which goes from Taksim
to Ortaköy [...]