Eating in Sultanahmet, Istanbul
 

Like many posters on this board, I've had almost nothing but bad experiences when dining in Sultanahmet. Tourist traps and guys hassling you on the street seem to be the norm down there.
Here's a link to a resource on Sultanahmet dining options that looks very promising. i can vouch for the authenticity of Hocapasa Sokak, even though it is a little bit of a walk from the monuments. On my last time down there, Hocapasa was the dining highlight. We ate Iskender kebab at Kasap Osman for lunch and considered returning for dinner. it was well worth the walk.
Anyway, here is the link:
http://istanbuleats.com/2010/01/sult...ining-secrets/

Cheers,

AC

Thanks for the link. I can definitely give Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi my tick of approval if this is the one opposite Sultanahmet Square. Great meatballs!

Yes, it is "Tarihi" Sultanahmet Koftecisi. Not to be confused with "Meshur" Sultanahmet Koftecisi, which is two doors away. The meatball biz can be rough down there but you've got to pick a side.

<<Like many posters on this board, I've had almost nothing but bad experiences when dining in Sultanahmet. Tourist traps and guys hassling you on the street seem to be the norm down there.>>

I don't remember reading that before. I've read trip reports with several restaurant recommendations in Sultanahmet.

I spent three days in Sultanahmet and don't recall any guys hassling me on the street either. Maybe I was in a different area. Would that be happening around the Grand Bazaar?

We didn't have any bad experiences in Sultanahmet, but were hassled nonstop. The dropped shoeshine brush, the person who "doesn't want to be your guide," and the "special" prices for us were trotted out, and not just around the Grand Bazaar. I'd like to go back though.

I thought my dinner at Rami was very good.

Rami is next to the Mavi Ev Hotel, across from the Blue Mosque.

I also loved eating in the garden restaurant of Yesil Ev.

Thin

We were hardly hassled in Turkey, and when we were approached, it was nothing like Morocco.

As for restaurants, Giritli, on the other side of the RR tracks (15 minute walk from the Sultanahmet area) is definitely worth a detour. Best go with 4 because of the amount of food. It is somewhat pricey, but worth the experience. I give more of a description in my trip report.

<<but were hassled nonstop. The dropped shoeshine brush, the person who "doesn't want to be your guide," and the "special" prices for us were trotted out, and not just around the Grand Bazaar.>>

None of that happened to me. I heard "come look inside and just look, you don't have to buy" outside a few shops in the Arasta Bazaar, but that's all. I just said "I don't have time" or "maybe tomorrow" and that was the end of it. Now in Egypt -- the hassling was constant and literally "in-your-face." We couldn't step outside the hotel without being surrounded and having shirts or other stuff waved in our faces.

If you look posh you will be hassled in Sultanahmet. The shopkeepers are not stupid. They immediately look at your shoes and your watch. If you are wearing a Rolex, you will be pestered.

So, if you want to be left alone don't be seen leaving the Four Seasons in Gucci loafers.

Thin, Foddie Winner 2009

Whoa, I didn't expect this to turn into a discussion on the degree of hassle experienced by the hawkers of S'Ahmet. Really interesting though.
How about the dining?
Any outstanding experience?

<<If you look posh you will be hassled in Sultanahmet. The <<shopkeepers are not stupid. They immediately look at your <<shoes and your watch. If you are wearing a Rolex, you will <<be pestered.
<<
<<So, if you want to be left alone don't be seen leaving the <<Four Seasons in Gucci loafers.
<<
<<Thin, Foddie Winner 2009

Better yet, you could just go to one of many other possible travel destinations where visitors are treated with decency and repsect.

Beware of cruising trolls on these forums. They probably do not travel themselves and just stay under bridges and throw wrenches.

dear thinGorjus, many people wear fake rolexes and fake guccis so that they are not ignored by the hassling shopkeepers, as it makes others look down upon them. :)
Many years ago when my daughter was twelve, she was very upset because no one tried to sell her anything around the Grand Bazaar. I wish we had known about the rolex and the guccis then.

Well, I think the kind of people who attend Robert College (where my Turkish friend went to school) can tell a fake Rolex from a real one. I think the savvy shopkeepers of Sultanahmet can also tell a fake Rolex from a real one.

Thin

On a trip to Istanbul last May my wife and I had good, inexpensive meals at several restaurants near the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet. The places we liked best were Tamara, Buhara 93, and an outdoor cafe just outside the Arasta Bazaar. None of these places were overpriced by American standards. Street hustlers were everywhere, but when we smiled and said no to whatever they wanted us to do, they smiled back and left us alone.

Thin, i have classmates from Robert college who cannot tell a Gucci from Hush Puppies, and who have not warn a watch for the last twenty years. They just ask the time to their wives, asserting that that is one of the mariage contract conditions.:)

I also bet that unless observed off the arm and very closely next to a real Rolex, noone can tell the difference between a good replica and the real Rolex

This thread is hilarious. The same people who be enraged if constantly hasseled,led by Hari Krishnas, panhandlers and Jehovah's witnesses at home can happily rationalize being being constantly hasseled by shopkeepers in Istanbul. There is no difference.

This ability to rationalize obnoxious behavior by foreigners never ceases to amaze. Maybe it stems form the belief that you are a guest. Well you aren't a guest. Guests don't pay. You are a customer.

And xenia works both ways, anyway.

<<Better yet, you could just go to one of many other possible travel destinations where visitors are treated with decency and repsect.>>

I don't think anyone claimed to be treated otherwise in Istanbul or Turkey. I certainly did not.

<<Whoa, I didn't expect this to turn into a discussion on the degree of hassle experienced by the hawkers of S'Ahmet.>>

Forget it. You can't moderate the thread, once digression begins, it's out of your control.

<<This ability to rationalize obnoxious behavior by foreigners never ceases to amaze>>

No one said the shopkeepers were obnoxious -- they were not. And there is a difference between panhandlers looking for money for nothing and a shopkeeper inviting you into a shop in the hopes that you'll buy something. You have a choice of purchasing something that you want -- or not!

dear luisah, you are falling in his trap.

he is notorious for trying to stir up trouble in many of the fodor forums, without having any idea of the location or the events.

that is why his ilk are called "trolls"

The thing to do is to not get involved in any way. Just ignore the posts. Once you stop feeding a troll, he goes away for other and newer feeding grounds.

How to discover a troll: Just check their former posts. They usually appear in threads which start negatively like the current one or threads which attract a large number of posts.

See you in istanbul next time you come.

<<dear luisah, you are falling in his trap>>

Thank you. Yes, I certainly hope to see you in Istanbul one of these days -- once was definitely not enough.

Oh, you went to Robert College, otherchelebi? Are you a member of the Koc family? :)

I like the photo on your Fodor's profile page. You have a very nice family.

Thin, The Queen of Fodorville

Thin, The Queen of Fodorville

How many titles do you have? Foddie Winner, Quaker, Queen of Fodorville -- any more?

I think I'm stuck with "American dolt."

Thin, occasionally stranger creatures than rams study at RC. Also, as far as i know, no direct blood relation of the Koc family was admitted or seeked admission to robert academy or robert College in the sixties. It is also possible that they preferred to study at Rosee or IVP in switzerland. Or they thought that the tuition was too high at the Roberts.

i was there for many days, although not as long as dear K.K. who was kicked out twice and came back each time with a vengeance, finally graduating after 16 years, if i remember correctly.

The ladies on the photograph were actually eating at another table and i asked for their permission to allow my photograph to be taken with them. They were very pleasant in allowing the photo taken for a very reasonable price.

I would like to compliment your enjoyment of life.

This may not be the best place, but i must warn other fodorites that asking for tennis balls at the Spice Bazaar in istanbul does not save you from the hassle. All it does is that you end up with seventeen boxes of overpriced tennis balls which you cannot use because of the tendons you broke skiing some years back. Those guys read Fodor, trip advisor, the whole lot. :)

I don't think this post started in a negative way and certainly not trolling. The idea was to discuss non-touristy restaurants and avoid the hassle side of Sultanahmet. I think that's a legitimate discussion.
From what I've seen so far, Othercelebi seems to enjoy talking about himself more than the subject at hand. Spare us the family history, list of books you've written, professional background of your children, etc. This is a travel board not a vanity platform.

>From what I've seen so far, Othercelebi seems to enjoy talking about himself more than the subject at hand. Spare us the family history, list of books you've written, professional background of your children, etc. This is a travel board not a vanity platform.<

This travel board is the property of Fodor's. The editors will decide if the content of this thread should be deleted or not. You, istanbulac, have no say in the matter.

This is not YOUR thread; it belongs to the entire Fodor's community.

I think it is important that otherchelebi tells us about his credentials. If he lives and works in Istanbul, I would much rather take his advice than that of someone who spent 5 days in Istanbul 10 years ago.

Turks love to talk about their children, by the way. It has nothing to do with vanity. Their culture centers around the family.

PS
otherchelebi, my sister graduated from Le Rosey.

Thin

Thin, if she's the one who accompanied you and your mom to istanbul in 05, i should have been able to see the footprint of Le Rosey from what you have written.

And sorry for these very personal questions: "do you really think that being thin is a requirement for becoming a fodor forum celebrity? Can you be not thin and still call yourself thin in order to become a Fodor forum celebrity?

Thank you for politely commenting that we have a family culture, (although, individually, we may be lacking)

We were not hassled in the Sultanahmet area. One guy offered his services to guide us through the Hagia Sophia, that was it.

As you exit the HS and are looking at the Blue Mosque, if you walk left, there is a restaurant there with outdoor seating (don't have my notes with me). We ate there, with four kids. Food was good, service prompt. I was traveling with a Turkish speaking person, if that matters.

Only place I felt at all annoyed by hawkers was in Marmaris, where the guys outside the restaurants pressured us to come in. Restaurant after restaurant.

Otherwise, just people trying to attract buyers.

I had a chance to spend time in people's houses while there. Very friendly people.

<<This is not YOUR thread; it belongs to the entire Fodor's community.>>

I tried to tell you that. Once you've begun the thread
it's out of your control. It happens regularly.

I think you can assume by now that there won't be many posts on eating in Sultanahmet.

otherchelebi, the person who accompanied me to Istanbul was my cousin, Muffy. She did not go to Le Rosey. She went to Choate and Bryn Mawr. She was thrown out of Bryn Mawr and left the school in the middle of the night. St. Cirq, who posts on Fodor's, also mysteriously left Bryn Mawr in the middle of the night, never to return. :)

My sister died many years ago. She is buried in Kent.

Thin

Thin, sorry about question in former post. It was a cry of anguish of one trying to fit into at least one of his evening suits of the past fifteen or so years.

i am sorry for your loss.

I remember hearing that Choate was quite decent. We know a summer of Williams and one of (for the other daughter) Gordonstoun.

i also think that you have something of Jerome K. Jerome when he wrote "Three Men in a Boat", for which i thank you.

Back to food, dang it!!!

I never felt a hassle in Sultanahmet, but I've definitely noticed the mediocre food. I've always stayed in Beyoglu, but this March I'm going to stay in Sultanahmet for 4 days. There are too many sites I want to see that I've missed.

From the article, Hocapasa Sokak sounds like the right street to go to for basic, good food. Any other areas as opposed to specific restaurants? The Kumkapi area sounds intriguing too. I'll be staying near the Kucuk Aya Sofya (Marmara Guesthouse), and I hope that this is far enough from the touristic epicenter!

HIsurfer,
true, excluding a few places Sultanahmet is not very good for dining. Hocapasa is a jackpot. Kumkapi is not. it is another low quality/high price large tourist group dragnet. There are a couple of interesting places in the market there though, Boris'in Yeri is an old school bal/kaymak place where you eat thick clotted cream and honey on fresh bread. It's one of those places that feels like it has been there forever. Kaymak is heaven.
On the same street is a simple lunch place called Doyuran Lokantasi which has a really nice musakka most days.
farther on the Marmara coast, a bit off the beaten path is an area called Samatya which has lots of good local restaurants, mostly fish. its a bit of a hike from Sultanahmet though.
If you really value your meals as much as I do, your best bet will be spend mealtimes in Beyoglu as much as possible.
if you are staying in kucuk ayasofia, have a dinner at Ahirkapi Balikcisi which is right across from Dede Efendi Its a tiny, simple place serving really fresh fish at reasonable prices.