Join our mailing list!
Email :  


Apr 22
Tuesday
Reviews (Eats)
Erol Lokantası: The Un-Tourist Trap

Erol Lokantası, photo by Ansel Mullins

Şenol Erol is trying to remain optimistic about running the last esnaf lokantası in Sultanahmet, where the market seems to demand tourist traps over traditional tradesmen’s restaurants. “I guess that makes us unique, doing things the old way,” he says, as if this vintage eatery needed a tagline.

Our first meal at his eponymous restaurant felt as if it could have been our five-hundredth, so familiar was the worn but carefully preserved interior with its brown, brushed aluminum window frames, dented stainless coolers grumbling along well past their prime, tired but friendly white-haired and jacketed waiter and framed posters of the verdant hills of the Erol family homeland, the eastern Black Sea.

But it’s not just the look of this place that makes it stand out among its neighbors, most notably the Cheers Café Bar and the Bistro across the street. “We make the food fresh every morning, from scratch. Not everyone does that around here,” Erol says. It’s one thing to hand pat a cooler full of köfte every morning, but it is another thing entirely to prepare a seasonal menu with range and variety.

Read the rest of the review at Culinary Backstreets.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Culinary Backstreets
In case you didn’t know, Istanbul Eats now lives over at Culinary Backstreets. Same great culinary walks, same great culinary writing. You’ll be redirected there in a few seconds!


Post Tags: ,
One Response to “ Erol Lokantası: The Un-Tourist Trap ”
  1. Oh I miss Istanbul… so glad someone is determined to keep traditional places to eat in the tourist area. Most of the fun of visiting a place is to enjoy the local flavor. Best wishes for much success.


Post a Comment

Enjoy the Article? Subscribe!


© Copyright by Istanbul Eats 2009 - 2024 Istanbul Eats | Original theme by Zidalgo.