Friday
Reviews (Eats)Mutfak Dili: Tradesmens’ Paradise
Istanbul Eats lunch hunting tip #1:
Wander into one of Istanbul’s numerous districts of small commerce and find yourself on a small street with a shoe cobbler, a knife sharpener, and hardware shops.
#2:
Enter one of those shops, preferably one where two old men are sitting at the counter looking at the horse racing form or working the crossword puzzle.
#3:
Ask them where they eat lunch. (Note: They might misinterpret your question and try to send you to the place they think you should eat lunch.) Repeat the question clearly, “where do you eat lunch?”
#4:
Follow their instructions to the nearest esnaf lokantasi*.
This simple strategy is how we stumbled upon an excellent place in Karakoy’s Perşembe Pazari called Mutfak Dili (“Kitchen Talk,” in Turkish), a bustling little lunch spot near the Golden Horn that keeps the local shop owners sated with cheap and tasty daily specials.
Unlike many such Istanbul lunch spots, where character is often sacrificed for a misguided, sterile “hygienic atmosphere”, Mutfak Dili’s charm remains intact. Its dark paneled interior with pictures of the owner mugging for the camera brings to mind a Chicago dive bar. The smattering of tables out front set against the bright blue-painted façade almost reminds us of an unintentionally hip cafe in Barcelona. The location alone, in one of the oldest, grungiest, non-gentrified markets in Istanbul (one devoted to hardware and nautical supplies), adds quite a dramatic backdrop to a lunch excursion.
But the folks at Mutfak Dili are not just sitting around looking cool; they’ve got it going on in the kitchen too. On a recent visit, for starters, we opted for the fresh stewed green beans served cold in olive oil in place of a salad and on the side, a bowl of cacik, chilled yogurt with diced cucumbers. Though, principally and linguistically, the same as the Greek gyros spread tzatziki, the yogurt in Turkish cacik is thinned out and served as a cold refreshing soup. The imambayildi, also a cold dish of eggplant stuffed with tomatoes peppers and onions, had perfect balance for a dish that usually seems to give way to the onions and garlic. The restaurant also serves esnaf lokanta classics like patlican karniyarik, eggplants stuffed with meat and peppers, and taş kebabi, a succulent beef stew.
For dessert, the antep fistikli yesil yayla tatlisi, felt like the happy union of two of our favorite Turkish sweets, the syrup-soaked cake revani and a traditional pistachio baklava. As we spooned the last of a diabolical chocolate pudding called aşkim aşkim, one older tradesman walked by and eyed our table forlornly, “In the days when I could eat like that…”
Tradesmen do not have the luxury of traveling across the city at midday to fill their bellies. So there is probably a place like Mutfak Dili a few steps from any row of shops. But delicious food and — for an esnaf lokanta – the wonderful ambience make Mutfak Dili well worth the trek.
*In Istanbul, the shopkeepers and small businessmen are such prolific eaters that they have a class of restaurant all their own, esnaf lokantalari, or tradesmen restaurants. But to most people, the term means cheap, tasty and fast lunch, in the same way that “truck stop” is code for a greasy but filling breakfast. And just as surely as a roadside diner on the interstate will be filled with truckers eating ham and eggs, around lunchtime esnaf lokantalari are buzzing with hungry shopkeepers.
Address: Tersane Caddesi, Ziyali Sokak #10, Persembe Pazari – Karakoy
Telephone: 212-254-1154
(photo by Yigal Schleifer)
Post Tags: Esnaf lokanta, Karakoy
