Istanbul's Foodies Advise
 

Dear All,

I will be visiting Istanbul soon and am so excited about it, i love food but don't know much about the food in Turkey, but I have read tons of guidebooks about the restaurants in Istanbul and would like to seek advise from you as a local or a foodies of Istanbul for suggestions.

1) SULTANAHMET FISH HOUSE
Is it a good one? and any particularly dish you will highly recommended?

2) I heard that Akın Balık under the Gelata is a nice restaurant, but I read that they don't have menu, is it true? Do people speak English there? Any recommended dishes ? I also read some blogs saying that there are two levels of restaurant named Akin Balik, one is good and the other sucks, but the blog wasn't mention that clear , do anyone have more information on that?

3) Btw, do meze can be refilled for free? and I often saw from the Internet that all restaurant will carry loads of meze in a tray for customer to select , was that charged individually most of the time? or depends on the type of food you pick, u will get free meze?

4) Do you recommended Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi ? It seems dishes need to be prepared in a significant of time? Was that really taste that special ?

5) Do raki taste too strong mostly to woman? Is it an alcohol that can be easily get drunk fast since I know that it is high in alcoholic content?

Thanks a lot. Appreciated for any of your answers.

Regards,

Karen

Ask the editors to remove the trip report tag since this is not a trip report.

Please read some earlier threads on Istanbul restaurants, Istanbul eats, etc. as well as one I started last year on Eating Fish in Istanbul, and also my restaurant reviews on trip Advisor, including the one on Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi.

Questions 1 and 2. I would refuse to eat fish in sultanahmet or at or under the Galata bridge even if they paid me.

Take a commuter ferry in the evening up the Bosphorus. Get off at Arnavutkoy, Cengelkoy, Bebek, Yenikoy or Sariyer and eat at a Fish restaurant there. We like Deniz Ati-Alekonun yeri at yenikoy which is on the expensive side or Sunanin yeri at Kandilli on the Asian side which is not so expensive. But mos are fine as long as you do not try the cheapest, which may be adequate for a quick lunch only.

ferry schedules will be on www.sehirhatlari.com Commuter ferries start after 5PM and I think there are four which will go up the Bosphorus.

You can also get a very frequent ferry to Kadikoy and try a fish restaurant at Kadikoy or Moda.

Both will give you some interesting photo opportunities as well.

3. There are no refills for the meze.
You can negotiate a fixed price menu at some restaurants which will give a fixed number of hot and cold meze, a main dish, a dessert and possibly half a bottle of house wine or two doubles of raki.
4. Read my review of Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi on TA.
5. Many women I know like raki. My wife and I prefer wine but sometimes we will take raki. She can handle two doubles and I usually stay with one. I am sure there are some web sites on how to drink raki, which you should read. You should know things like, you either do not add ice to it or add the ice after you add some water.
For your first time, I recommend that you do not eat salt cured fish, marinated anchovy and raw onions if drinking raki. The best raki meze are white cheese and melon. Some aubergine salad, a simple cold shrimp plate will also be fine.

Dear othercheleb,

Thanks a lot for your comment, sadly that i have limited time in Istanbul where getting a ferry to other side of Istanbul is hard, but i will save your advise for my next trip to Istanbul I have also read yr comment on tripadvisor regard of "Hatay" . thanks.

My trip report mentions a few restaurants; click on my name to find it.

Karenkan, taking a ferry to the other side (Kadikoy) takes 20 minutes, and the commuter ferry to Arnavutkoy or Bebek takes 25-30 minutes. This is less time than taking a taxi from Sultanahmet to Taksim in rush hour and much cheaper.

Hi Karen,
If you are willing to spend a good while travelling I am sure you can find outlying great value fish restaurants. However, since most tourists cannot afford the travel time or are uncomfortable in the 'burbs, you need local options. Sure the Sultanahmet Fish House is an excellent speciality fish stop, with prices no higher than the other good restaurants in the Old Town.

My wife and I recently spent a week in that great city. I put together our restaurant experiences (with review scores / ratings) here: http://pedro-in-spain.blogspot.com.e...-we-found.html

Pedro, nice write-up. Thanks!

Just returned from Istanbul, where the best meal we had was at Locanta Maya in Karaköy, followed by Münferit in Beyoglu, which serves what is known to be a particularly good raki. Karaköy Locantasi was also very good.

Karen, Istanbul Eats is generally well regarded in its restaurant reviews, and they offer both their own recommendations as well as those from readers for restaurants of all kinds in all areas of the city. I've compiled a list of good prospects from their reviews, from suggestions on this forum, and from TripAdvisor.

We leave in four days and we're anticipating some great food! I look forward to adding my best suggestions to those here when we return home.