Join our mailing list!
Email :  


Posts Tagged ‘ meze ’

Jun 15
Friday

Adana Ocakbaşı: Carnivore Happy Hour

Filed under Reviews (Eats)


At 6 p.m. on a Monday evening, the dining room of Adana Ocakbaşı was nearly full and the wide grill in the corner was covered with skewers loaded with meat. While most restaurants, worldwide, were closed or waiting for a slow night to start, this neighborhood kebab house was busting through a bumper rush of early birds in for a quick lamb chop or two on the way home. The dinner crowd had not even arrived.

“This place will ruin you,” said our waiter showing us to two stools at the marble counter that circles the grill, the smoking heart of the room. “You wont be able to eat meat anywhere else.”

The usta behind the grill skewered, slapped, turned, shifted, spiced and plated meat with the concentration of a tantric yogi. When he reached a relatively calm moment in his grilling cycle, he gently mixed a bucketful of sumac and raw, chopped onions with his hands – all of it an awesome sight of endurance. If we were going to be ruined we might as well enjoy the show. Continue…

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!

All entries filed under this archive


Asmalı Cavit: Special Orders Don’t Upset Them
5 responses - Posted 06.02.12
We can’t prove it, but we suspect a network of tunnels lie underfoot in Beyoğlu connecting most of the meyhanes of Asmalımescit and Nevizade sokak to the same mediocre kitchen. We have tasted the haydari, patlıcan salatası, pilaki and lakerda at scores of meyhanes in this little dining district. Most ...continue
Island – and Table – Hopping in Istanbul
1 response - Posted 04.25.12
Istanbul's Princes' Islands, a lovely archipelago just off the city's Asian shore, offer what we believe to be the best travel bargain anywhere in the world. Whenever we're in need of a vacation but can't afford the airfare, a ferry awaits to take us to the islands. For the price ...continue
Semolina: Convivial in Kadıköy
18 responses - Posted 02.17.12
(Editor's Note: This guest post was written by Jeff Gibbs, a denizen of Istanbul's Asian side and author of the very engaging blog "Istanbul and Beyond.") On a dark and deserted street in January covered in swirls and swirls of snow, a bright pool of light shines from a ground-level window. ...continue
If You Insist: Pandeli?
5 responses - Posted 01.11.12
Dear Istanbul Eats, I've heard and read so much about the historic Pandeli restaurant in Eminönü's Spice Bazaar, including that it's nothing more than an overpriced tourist trap. Have you been there recently? Is it worth going to? Concerned in Cincinnati  Dear Concerned, Thanks for the great question. Pandeli is indeed a venerable spot ...continue
Merih Restaurant: Home Sweet Meyhane
no responses - Posted 09.28.11
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, ...continue
Heyamola Ada Lokantası: Island Time
11 responses - Posted 08.08.11
(Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by “Meliz,” an intrepid explorer of Istanbul's culinary backstreets who would like to keep her anonymity.) While the Princes’ Islands make for a great escape from the city, it’s been hard to think of them as a culinary destination. Until now. The new-offshore-kid-in-town, Heyamola ...continue
Lokanta Maya: Subtle Surprises
1 response - Posted 05.30.11
(Editor’s Note: This guest post is by Jennifer Hattam, an American journalist living in Beyoğlu whose personal blog can be found here.) My first encounters with Turkish fish menus were nothing short of perplexing, and not because levrek (sea bass), çupra (sea bream), kalkan (turbot) and the like were such unfamiliar ...continue
Hatay Has Kral Sofrası: Kebab’s Krib
no responses - Posted 05.09.11
In our imaginary primetime lineup, a reality show called “Pimp My Kebab Salon” transforms a drab kebab shop into a grill palace suited to the tastes of the latter-day sultans. Surfaces are suddenly gilded in gold, fountains appear and everything is reupholstered under the watchful eye of the boisterous host ...continue
May Day Special: Eat Union!
4 responses - Posted 05.01.11
(Editor's Note: In honor of the May Day workers' holiday, we are rerunning last year's post that takes a look at the dining possibilities at two union halls, Istanbul-style. Happy May 1!) Gazeteciler Lokali-Beyoğlu: The Write Stuff Journalists in Turkey are notoriously overworked and underpaid (at least that’s what Turkish journalists will ...continue
Mohti: All That Laz
6 responses - Posted 02.28.11
(Editor's note, 2015: We're sorry to report that Mohti has permanently closed.) “My heart starts pounding when a pregnant lady enters the room,” said Hüseyin, the artist turned owner/operator of Mohti, a new “Laz Meyhane” in the back of the backstreets of the Asmalımescit area. While this might sound to some ...continue

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