Just my opinion but the manti did nothing for me. It was served barely lukewarm and as much as I love garlic this dish was so garlicy it lost any other flavor.

We loved the testi kbap. A sort of chunky stew cooked in a terracotta pot.

Apple tea.

Olives!

Would it be difficult for people with nut allergies. My travel companion has severe nut allergies and I wonder if a lot of dishes contain nuts.

In Istanbul, we ate most of the time in restaurants which resembled a buffet - one stands in front of a counter full with dishes and can point to attractive ones. The mutton with cooked eggplants was out of this world (In turkish the name sound close to Koyun eti + Patlijan). Also very good is the eggplant dish called Imam bayaldi. Actually, everything else was very good too :-)

This is copied from my 2001 trip report:

Favorite food discoveries:

Lahmacun, a flat, thin bread with ground meat on it. Try it in the modest cafe/restaurant outside the entrance to the Sirkeci Train Station.

Lokum (turkish delight); zillions of flavors, and most are good. Of course, drink LOTS of cay (tea) and elma cayi (apple tea).

I also liked visne (sour cherry juice) very much.

The rice and the yogurt are wonderfully flavorful, and kebabs of all kinds, and eggplant dishes (imam bayaldi!), and the cheeses....well, you’ll all find your favorite flavors, but these are a few of ours.

Hope this is helpful!
Paule

Another cooking school and restaurant recommended on these boards is http://www.cookingalaturka.com/.

I won't be able to provide actual experience with it until August.

Okay - not a food, but still an integral part of a meal......

Efes beer!

If you want truly authentic Turkish traditional food, ask where there are "Tribe Soup Shops". You will be amazed at the variety and complexity of the dishes.

Jeff801, I posted about Cooking Alaturka on the Europe board a few months ago and nobody responded. Have you found somebody who has been? I'm dying for some information from someone who has been. The menus sound superb.

We are really thinking about doing one of the cooking classes at Cooking Alaturka. Only problem is we only have 3 days planned for Istanbul and I'm trying to decide if going to a 4 hour cooking class will be the best use of our time.

Tracy

Tracy,

I found several positive reviews when I googled them. We have spent about 10 days in Istanbul and have fit them into our schedule for a 4 day stay this summer. OTOH, our traveling companions, who have never been there, are more than willing to fit them in.

IMHO, a cooking lesson is a very good way to learn about a culture and its traditions. I think we would have fit it in even had we not been in Istanbul before. For example,the best day we ever had in Italy was a rainy Sunday in which we started cooking at 9:00 a.m. and sat down to eat at 2:00 p.m. And, we have been in Italy a lot, but, of course, not enough.

BTW, the restaurant and school is in the heart of Sultanahmet. You could easily walk from there to many of the places you will want to visit.

What ever you eat, don't miss out on the amazing Turkish Apple Tea.

UPDATE:

I'm back and here are a few of my faves:

Yogurt with most any fruit mix.

Sour cherry jam, especially when it's mixed w/yogurt.

Yogurt kebabs

Tangerines. (I know that's not uniquely Turkish but they do grow some good ones)

Roasted chestnuts from street vendors.

Turkish coffee.

Cucumbers. I don't usually like those but the Turkish ones are quite good, especially w/a yogurt dressing.

Most any Turkish cheese.

Olives

Bread

Apple tea

Thanks again for all of your help, it was a great trip. :-)

Welcome back, P_M! Can't wait to hear about your trip.