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Archive for September, 2011

Sep 28
Wednesday

Merih Restaurant: Home Sweet Meyhane

Filed under Reviews (Eats)


A recent first-time visit to Merih Restaurant, a deservedly well-loved meyhane just outside Beyoğlu’s Balık Pazarı, left us wondering what took us so long to discover this place. The restaurant’s location is partly to blame – with so many mediocre and touristy meyhanes to be found in the Balık Pazarı, we tend to treat much of the area around it as a culinary no-go zone. But another reason we managed to pass Merih by all these years is the restaurant’s own modesty. There’s no annoying waiter standing out front urging passersby to come in, no illuminated sign displaying the menu in five different languages, no refrigerated case outside holding the overpriced catch of the day.

Merih, in fact, is the polar opposite of most of its neighbors, a homey refuge for neighborhood locals looking for good food without too much fuss (and without paying too much). Like a good Italian trattoria or French bistro, Merih is the kind of place that you wouldn’t think twice about dropping into for a quick – or extended – meal, with friendly yet professional service, top-notch food and affordable booze to wash it down with. Continue…

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All entries filed under this archive


Sakarya Tatlıcısı: Just Dessert
2 responses - Posted 09.23.11
The arrival of fall usually finds us heading instinctively, like a salmon swimming towards its ancestral headwaters, to Beyoğlu’s Balık Pazarı, the neighborhood’s old fish market. Autumn is quince season in Turkey and that means the appearance – for a limited time only – of one of our favorite desserts, ayva ...continue
Kemal’in Yeri: The Enchanted Garden
1 response - Posted 09.19.11
The neon sign in front of Kemal’in Yeri shines like a “Last Chance for Gas” sign seen on the highway before entering the desert. In your rearview mirror are the crowded tourist traps of the Galata Bridge. Ahead lie the shipyards and decrepit chandleries of the Golden Horn. But "Kemal’s ...continue
Fatih Karadeniz Pidecisi: Crunch Time
no responses - Posted 09.16.11
Inside Fatih Karadeniz Pidecisi nothing could be heard over the crunch and crackle of fresh pide being torn open and chomped down upon. Still, the man across the table from us spoke in a low, conspiratorial whisper, “There are some very well-known businessmen sitting at that table by the window. They all ...continue
Hayri Balık: Fishy Business
no responses - Posted 09.12.11
We always feel a bit like a cheating spouse when we walk past our longtime favorite – albeit dry – fish spot, Arnavutköy’s Adem Baba, towards Hayri Balık, a lovely little fish shack up the street. But sometimes, well after the brunching hour, we like to have something a little ...continue
Labor Day Special: 5 Favorite Esnaf Lokantaları
no responses - Posted 09.05.11
  Editor’s Note: In honor of the Labor Day holiday, we are reposting our archived look at the esnaf lokantası, Turkey’s gift to the working man and woman. While in many parts of the world lunch during the workweek means eating an uninspiring sandwich or salad inside a lonely cubicle at the ...continue
Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası: The Culinary Memory Bank
no responses - Posted 09.02.11
For a hungry person in search of the culinary backstreets, an initial look at Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası, a restaurant at the mouth of the Kadıköy market, does not inspire much confidence. By the door stands a chintzy plaster statue of a chef in a poofy hat holding his paunch. A ...continue

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