Fistik Kebap: Much Love for Lahmacun
6 responses - Posted 02.12.10
Let’s face it: lahmacun is easy to get excited about. It checks all of the boxes of a perfect savory snack – crispy-oven fired crust, light and spicy meat spread, with a fresh green topping and a tangy spray from a lemon. It’s like an artisanal pizza with a Middle ...continue

Melengeç : Mean Greens
1 response - Posted 07.31.09
They might as well have named this restaurant the “Solar Eclipse” or the “Dodo Bird,” because in the handful of meals we’ve had at this cozy Arnavutkoy restaurant, the restaurant's namesake dish, melengeç, made from the green leaves of a tree from the Aegean shores, has not once made an appearance at ...continue

Adem Baba: Soleman
2 responses - Posted 07.10.09
It must have taken an entire fleet-worth of nets, harpoons, anchors, life preservers, and buoys to decorate the dining rooms of Adem Baba. The decorations makes sense: the restaurant got its start as humble, boat-borne kitchen floating dockside in the Bosphorus neighborhood of Arnavutkoy, although now it has transformed itself ...continue

Abracadabra: A Culinary Wizard on the Bosphorus
16 responses - Posted 04.03.09
One look at Abracadabra, housed in an imposing Ottoman-era mansion located smack dab on the Bosporus in the swank Arnavutkoy neighborhood, might make your wallet ache. Think again. This funky informal restaurant, serving some of Istanbul's most creative riffs on traditional Turkish cuisine, is within reach of a backpacker's budget ...continue

Bodrum Manti: Turkish Dumpling Delight
6 responses - Posted 04.01.09
From Western China all the way to Istanbul, Turkic people roll out dough, fold it into small pouches, boil it and call it mantı. When it comes to dumplings, Turkish tradition dictates that the tortellini-like mantı be no larger than peanut-sized. With its unusually large (and sometimes fried) dumplings, Bodrum ...continue