Ciya Sofrasi, Istanbul
Apr 15th, 2010, 02:17 AM
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Ciya Sofrasi, Istanbul
The New Yorker Magazine has a really good article, "Letters From Istanbul: Memory Kitchen" about the homestyle cooking restaurant, Ciya Sofrasi on the Asian side of Istanbul. The link here is for an audio clip. You have to subscribe to read the article online. We went to this restaurant in March 2009 for the best culinary experience of our trip to Istanbul. http://www.newyorker.com/online/mult...deshow_batuman
Apr 15th, 2010, 04:10 PM
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ms_go, I enjoyed your trip report of Istanbul and Turkey. We also stayed at the Empress Zoe in the Penthouse Suite. We were there off season, early March. We loved it there. It sounds as if we did many of the same things while in Istanbul. We will definitely go back someday.
Apr 16th, 2010, 04:31 AM
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Thanks opaldog. It may have been one of your posts that led us to Ciya Sofrasi. I copied a whole bunch of Istanbul restaurant recommendations from various threads into a Word document and then printed and carried that around with us.
Apr 19th, 2010, 03:05 PM
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Dined in Ciya Sofrasi on Easter Sunday - sorry folks but we just didn't get what it's all about.
The food may be authentic but for us the hot options at the self service station were a dull selection of lamb and vegetable casseroles - all lukewarm and lacking in any exciting flavours.
Service was far from helpful.
Prices were extremely reasonable though.
The food may be authentic but for us the hot options at the self service station were a dull selection of lamb and vegetable casseroles - all lukewarm and lacking in any exciting flavours.
Service was far from helpful.
Prices were extremely reasonable though.
Apr 20th, 2010, 11:16 AM
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We had an entirely different experience. The food to us was fresh and very tasteful. We also did not find anything lukewarm. As far as the service was concerned. We were met at the door by a waiter who although he did not speak English, found another waiter from upstairs who came down to personally help us decide on what to eat. We actually let him select most of it for us. He wanted to know if we liked more meat or more vegetables, that sort of thing. We felt very comfortable with the service and appeared to be the only English speaking people there at the time.
I have been to recommended restaurants in my travels that I also didn't quite get what it was all about, but in Ciya Sofrasi we were completely satisfied and would urge other visitors to Istanbul to try them.
I have been to recommended restaurants in my travels that I also didn't quite get what it was all about, but in Ciya Sofrasi we were completely satisfied and would urge other visitors to Istanbul to try them.
