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.