Sep 02
Friday
Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası: The Culinary Memory Bank
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 clock more suited to a classroom hangs outside by an empty flagpole. A riot of signage – stickers, banners, brass plaques – all in different typefaces speaks not of the food but of the hygienic atmosphere and noteworthy décor found inside.
Just walk on by to nearby Çiya, your instinct might tell you. But that would be a grave miscalculation. Continue…
All entries filed under this archive
İlkadım Lokantası: Hospital Food
no responses - Posted 08.01.11
For an Istanbul restaurateur, to count among your regulars a cadre of doctors appears to be a sign of achievement worth bragging about. Among the many restaurant tips we have received is one that led us to the subterranean İlkadım Lokantası, backed up by the promise that doctors are known ...continue
no responses - Posted 08.01.11
For an Istanbul restaurateur, to count among your regulars a cadre of doctors appears to be a sign of achievement worth bragging about. Among the many restaurant tips we have received is one that led us to the subterranean İlkadım Lokantası, backed up by the promise that doctors are known ...continue
More Sultanahmet Dining Secrets
5 responses - Posted 07.22.11
(Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by “Meliz,” an intrepid explorer of Sultanahmet’s culinary backstreets who would like to keep her anonymity.) The neighborhood around Sultanahmet and the Grand Bazaar introduces an interesting plot twist into the slow-cooked Choose Your Own Adventure that is the esnaf lokantası experience. As described ...continue
5 responses - Posted 07.22.11
(Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by “Meliz,” an intrepid explorer of Sultanahmet’s culinary backstreets who would like to keep her anonymity.) The neighborhood around Sultanahmet and the Grand Bazaar introduces an interesting plot twist into the slow-cooked Choose Your Own Adventure that is the esnaf lokantası experience. As described ...continue
The Grand Bazaar: Come for the Shopping, Stay for the Food
7 responses - Posted 05.16.11
We like to think of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – open since 1461 – as the world’s oldest shopping mall. If that’s the case, shouldn’t the Grand Bazaar be home to the world’s oldest food court? That may be taking the analogy too far, but for us, the Grand Bazaar can ...continue
7 responses - Posted 05.16.11
We like to think of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – open since 1461 – as the world’s oldest shopping mall. If that’s the case, shouldn’t the Grand Bazaar be home to the world’s oldest food court? That may be taking the analogy too far, but for us, the Grand Bazaar can ...continue
Özkonak: The Real Pudding Shop
no responses - Posted 04.25.11
(Editor's Note: This review originally appeared on June 12, 2009.) Regulars at Özkonak, a well-loved fixture in Cihangir’s ever-changing restaurant scene, must cluck in disapproval at the sight of a new generation of customers who walk right past the pudding display at the front and head for the steam table and ...continue
no responses - Posted 04.25.11
(Editor's Note: This review originally appeared on June 12, 2009.) Regulars at Özkonak, a well-loved fixture in Cihangir’s ever-changing restaurant scene, must cluck in disapproval at the sight of a new generation of customers who walk right past the pudding display at the front and head for the steam table and ...continue
Durak Lokantası: Goodbye Ikea Köfte
no responses - Posted 02.14.11
We agree wholeheartedly with the advice of EatingAsia: “If you're parking yourself here [in Istanbul] for more than a few days, find 'your' esnaf lokantası.” To this we would like to add, “But if you live in Istanbul, find ‘your’ esnaf lokantası in every neighborhood of the city.” Take the example ...continue
no responses - Posted 02.14.11
We agree wholeheartedly with the advice of EatingAsia: “If you're parking yourself here [in Istanbul] for more than a few days, find 'your' esnaf lokantası.” To this we would like to add, “But if you live in Istanbul, find ‘your’ esnaf lokantası in every neighborhood of the city.” Take the example ...continue
NATO Lokantası: The Lunchtime Alliance
3 responses - Posted 01.24.11
Turkish politics make for a great lunch-counter conversation. These days, one of the hot topics is a perceived axis shift, as if Ankara, feeling burned by the West, has turned the gaze of the Republic eastward, as easily as a dönerci reverses the rotation of his spit. But down in ...continue
3 responses - Posted 01.24.11
Turkish politics make for a great lunch-counter conversation. These days, one of the hot topics is a perceived axis shift, as if Ankara, feeling burned by the West, has turned the gaze of the Republic eastward, as easily as a dönerci reverses the rotation of his spit. But down in ...continue
Hayvore: Lost and Found
8 responses - Posted 01.10.11
In the Laz language, “si sore” means, “where are you?” At least twice a week for past few years, our answer to that question at lunchtime would be, “We are at Pera Sisore.” This little restaurant in the Asmalımescit area became one of our go-to lunch spots by serving some ...continue
8 responses - Posted 01.10.11
In the Laz language, “si sore” means, “where are you?” At least twice a week for past few years, our answer to that question at lunchtime would be, “We are at Pera Sisore.” This little restaurant in the Asmalımescit area became one of our go-to lunch spots by serving some ...continue
Best Bites of 2010: Bistro a la Karakoy
1 response - Posted 12.25.10
(Editor’s Note: As 2010 heads to an end, we are looking back at our “Best Bites” of the year and are asking our readers to do the same and share their best Istanbul eating moments with us. This submission (after the jump) comes from regular reader and Paris travel specialist ...continue
1 response - Posted 12.25.10
(Editor’s Note: As 2010 heads to an end, we are looking back at our “Best Bites” of the year and are asking our readers to do the same and share their best Istanbul eating moments with us. This submission (after the jump) comes from regular reader and Paris travel specialist ...continue
The Esnaf Nouveau: Blue Collar Food, White Collar Style
5 responses - Posted 08.27.10
In the rapidly developing Istanbul district of Beyoglu, a new concept restaurant is born everyday – Korean fried chicken, construct your own canapé, a restaurant claiming to serve the widest variety soups in the world, etc. If a place makes it past infancy, pirated versions of the original are sure ...continue
5 responses - Posted 08.27.10
In the rapidly developing Istanbul district of Beyoglu, a new concept restaurant is born everyday – Korean fried chicken, construct your own canapé, a restaurant claiming to serve the widest variety soups in the world, etc. If a place makes it past infancy, pirated versions of the original are sure ...continue
Workingman’s Eats: 5 Favorite Esnaf Lokantaları
4 responses - Posted 04.26.10
(Editor's Note: In honor of the upcoming May 1 holiday, today we take a look at the esnaf lokantası, Turkey's gift to the working man and woman. While in many parts of the world, lunch during the work week means eating an uninspiring sandwich or salad inside a lonely ...continue
4 responses - Posted 04.26.10
(Editor's Note: In honor of the upcoming May 1 holiday, today we take a look at the esnaf lokantası, Turkey's gift to the working man and woman. While in many parts of the world, lunch during the work week means eating an uninspiring sandwich or salad inside a lonely ...continue