Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
124;
&
90/212/227-2216
), with its stunning location in Ortaköy in a stately 19th-
century neoclassical building overlooking the Bosporus. In summers you can eat
outside on a seaside terrace—an ideal setting for seafood dishes such as grilled
turbot with saffron, courgette balls, and raspberry purée, or medallions of sword-
fish topped with seafood ragout. Classic Ottoman meat dishes include
pastırma,
spicy cured beef wrapped in vine leaves.
Meat is an essential element of traditional Turkish food, and the meat's especially
fine at the stylish modern steakhouse
Dükkan
(Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mah, Atatürk
Cad. 4;
&
90/212/277-8860;
www.dukkanistanbul.com), just north of the E-80 belt-
way in the Armutlu neighborhood. You know the dry-aged steaks and superb hand-
made sausages are fresh, because it's just down the street from its own specialty
butcher shop. Out by the fish market in Samatya, not far from the airport, the flag-
ship cafe of
Develi
(Gümüsyüzük Sok. 7;
&
90/212/529-0833
) raises the bar on
köftes,
a variety of highly seasoned ground meats from southeastern Turkey—juicy,
savory morsels like
çig köfte
(incredibly spicy raw beef meatballs wrapped in a let-
tuce leaf),
findik lahmacun
(Turkish-style thin-crust pizza), or the lamb sausage and
pistachio
kebap.
Its outdoor terrace is a glorious place to sit in warm weather.
In Beyoglu, where many locals live and eat, you'll find a number of cozy
meyhanes,
or taverns, serving cold shots of the potent grape-and-aniseed spirit
raki
along with
a succession of
mezes,
the Turkish equivalent of tapas—a series of small dishes
developed, legend has it, so that the sultan's tasters could test his food for poison.
On a popular restaurant street near the bustling fish market, one of your best bets is
Boncuk
(Nevizade Sok. 19;
&
90/212/243-1219
), a usually jam-packed no-frills
spot featuring delicacies like
kizir
(spicy bulgur-and-tomato salad); fried calamari;
grape leaves stuffed with fish, pine nuts, and currants; or
topik,
a savory Armenian
specialty of mashed chickpeas, onions, and currants. Within the fish market itself,
hunt for the civilized oasis of
Degustasyon Lokantasi
(Balikpazari, Beyoglu;
&
90/212/292-0667
), where the huge selection of inventive
mezes
include Armenian
and Turkish recipes like fava-bean loaf and a perfectly seasoned eggplant purée.
If hunger does strike while you're sightseeing in Sultanahmet, avoid the tourist
traps and head for
Tarihi Meshur Sultanahmet Koftecisi
(DivanYolu 12A;
&
90/212/513-1438
). Unprepossessing as it may look from the street, this clean,
cheap, genial little storefront has been serving reliably delicious
köfte
meatballs
since the 1920s.
(
Atatürk Intl, Istanbul (12km/7
1
⁄
2
miles).
L
$$$
Çiragán Palace Hotel Kempinski Istanbul,
Çiragán Cad. 84 (
&
800/426-3135
in
the U.S., or 90/212/258-3377 in Istanbul; www.ciraganpalace.com). $$
Mavi Ev (Blue House),
Dalbastı Sok. 14 (
&
90/212/638-9010;
www.bluehouse.com.tr).
