Despite 2022 being shaped by Turkey’s deep economic crisis, Istanbul’s restaurant scene remained resilient amid three-digit inflation and prices that seemed to increase every other day. Nevertheless, many bars, restaurants and tavernas stayed full as people turned to food and drink to help cope. With all Covid-19 restrictions removed, the sector enjoyed its best year since 2019 after being dealt a heavy blow by the pandemic in its first two years. As always, Istanbul remains infinitely exciting to discover and eat, and choosing the top highlights of our culinary adventures was no small feat!
Tarih Odabaşı’s Çiğbörek
When a tiny shop in the heart of old Istanbul has been churning out one single dish nonstop for nearly three quarters of a century, you know it must be done right. That is an understatement when it comes to Tarihi Odabaşı, which has perfected the art of the Crimean Tatar staple çiğbörek (spelled çibörek by some, the heated arguments about the spelling of this delicacy is a testament to its beloved nature).
This deep-friend pouch encapsulates perfectly spiced morsels of beef in a juicy broth that pairs perfectly with the crunchy exterior. Two generations of the Özer family, Crimean Tatars originally from the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, maintain top-notch quality and refuse to expand their menu like other establishments that over different choices of filling. After trying the çiğbörek at Odabaşi, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Their secret? The ancient, hulking cast-iron cauldron that is used as a fryer.
Nohut Dürümü at Ali Dayı’nın Yeri
This year, I heard about another establishment in town serving nohut dürümü, a delicious wrap of soft-boiled, mashed chickpeas served in a freshly-baked disc of tırnaklı ekmek topped with chopped parsley and onions, hand-cut french fries, and eye-wateringly spicy Samandağ peppers. This is a breakfast ritual in the Nizip district of Turkey’s food mecca Antep, though the only other place in Istanbul that we knew of that offers is Hamo’nun Yeri, in the Little Antep neighborhood, one of our favorite culinary destinations.
Lo and behold, when I rolled into Ali Dayı’s (Uncle Ali’s) spot in the western suburb of Küçükçekmece, it was Ali himself from Hamo’nun Yeri, who had recently left the spot he has run for years with his relatives to open his own restaurant. I’ve been a fan of Hamo’nun Yeri and its hard-to-find speciality since I discovered the place in 2015. Like that restaurant, Ali Dayı also serves wraps of grilled lamb liver with the same delectably-fresh bread and toppings. Unsurprisingly, both wraps are delicious as Hamo’nun Yeri. Unfortunately for vegans, the secret to the scrumptious chickpeas is the fact that they are boiled in bone broth. Küçükçekmece is even further away than Güngören, but that doesn’t stop me from eagerly venturing out there for lunch.
Arca’s Capparis Burger
Istanbul’s burger renaissance only began within the past few years, but now it is possible to find absolutely delicious burgers at a handful of places in the city such as Zula, which made our Best Bites list in 2018. The best burger I had this year without a doubt was the Capparis from Arca Burger, a small joint with half a dozen tables in the heart of the buzzing Beşiktaş district. Loaded with two smashed patties, melted cheddar cheese, slices of arugula, deep-fried pickles and a smoky-sweet caper sauce in between a buoyant bun, every element of this burger was joyful.
Launched by chef Tolga Özal in 2020 in the Aegean resort town of Alaçatı, Özal moved his operations to Istanbul, where he is grilling up what is perhaps the best burger in town. The truffle-oil fries were cooked to perfection and they serve Özer Hisar ayran from the province of Balıkesir, our favorite brand of Turkey’s ubiquitous salty yogurt drink. Expect to wait for a table if you come on a weekend evening.
Halil Usta Pideli Köfte
One of Turkey’s most iconic dishes is İskender kebap, in which slices of döner meat are placed atop a bead of cubed pide bread, then lathered generously in tomato sauce, sizzling butter with a dollop of cool yogurt on the side. The city of Bursa across the Marmara Sea from Istanbul is known as the home of this dish, but it has another speciality called pideli köfte which is essentially İskender kebap but with grilled köfte instead of döner. No disrespect to the legendary dish, but we honestly prefer its lesser-known cousin.
Unlike İskender kebap, which can be found throughout the country, pideli köfte for the most part has not made it out of Bursa. That’s why I was thrilled to find out that there was a spot in the Üsküdar district serving it as its primary dish. I made a beeline for Halil Usta Pideli Köfte, curious if their speciality would match the versions I had enjoyed in Bursa. My portion was cooked to order, meaning the bread at the bottom of the pan was still crispy and crunchy despite being inundated with tomato sauce and melted butter. The köfte itself was scrumptious while the dish as a whole was a delight, and there was the addition of hand-cut french fries, which purists from Bursa might scoff at, but I thought added another welcoming to the dish. It’s comforting to know we now don’t have to take a ferry across the Marmara just to try this regional favorite.
– Paul Benjamin Osterlund
A Pastoral Gourmet Picnic in Anadolu Hisarı
On an expectedly sweltering July morning, we set off for Anadolu Hisarı, a sleepy Asian-side neighborhood on the Bosphorus, close to the second bridge. The languorous, 40-minute ferry ride from Üsküdar had become a monthly tradition of sorts, and that day we were determined to sample the goods at Pastoral Gourmet, an enticing charcuterie and speciality shop we had passed by on several occasions. After grabbing a drink at Milada Coffee next door, our group of four tumbled into Pastoral, quickly filling up the cozy space with our enthusiastic oohs over all the products on the open, dark-wooden shelves. Bright green pistachio paste, cold-pressed sesame oil, delicate gluten-free pastas, colorful whole spices – and in the back, a glittering case of meats and cheeses, local and imported.
Difficult-to-find Manchego was nestled amongst at least three types of speckled-blue moldy cheeses (including some rare aged Turkish ones), and a variety of pastırma (spicy cured beef) competed with bresaola and foie gras. As we sampled each, our suspicion that owner Esra Öter was curating the best selection of charcuterie this side of Istanbul was confirmed. She carefully explained the origins of each item of interest, its flavor notes and what to best pair it with. She left us to make our selection, then smiled, almost unwillingly, as she rang up some of her favorites. “You’re going to enjoy this meal,” she said, surveying our haul.
With promises that we’d be back soon, we lugged our bags to Küçüksu Çayırı, a large park full of picnickers on the other side of Anadolu Hisarı’s little creek. Snagging a table, we laid everything out: green halhali olives from Antakya, a firm Kafkas goat cheese; thin, pinkish pastırma; a smoked Dutch gouda, tatli sucuk (walnuts dipped in grape molasses), that beguiling pistachio paste, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and, well, much more. The July sun beat down on our backs, melting the fresh butter faster than we could eat it – and we were quick to dig in. The butter was sensual on the springy and thick sourdough loaf, also sold at Pastoral. While restaurant Turk Fatih Tutak deserves its newly won 2 Michelin stars for its dish of butter and honey alone, Pastoral’s pat of local tereyağ could also hold its own in any competition. (Esra says where they source it is a trade secret.) And here was the perfect base for a nest of thinly sliced pastirma.
The meat was buttery in its own right, its spicy outer coating never overpowering the delicate cut of cured beef. The tiny green olives were floral and astringent, just how we like them, and the Circassian goat cheese was mild and creamy, pairing deliciously with the pistachio paste – sweet and purely nutty, in one word, addictive. It’s unclear how we had space for a dessert of silky tahin helvası (sesame sweet) and cookies. Though we had quickly grown hot in the shadeless spot we had unwisely chosen, we lingered over the table for almost two hours, unwilling to end what had unexpectedly become our best meal of the year. Our consolation was the long ferry ride back, a glass of tea and a Bosphorus breeze as digestifs.
– Tas Anjarwalla
Stuffed Mussels at Jash
It was a busy, chilly Saturday in Kadıköy, the ferry boats lapping against the dock, the oil-slick water riddled with jellyfish, or maybe plastic bags, hard to say. Everyone crowded around the pier was open-mouthed and thunderstruck, as if we’d just witnessed a murder in broad daylight: Moments ago, a snorkeler had pulled himself up from the docks, a massive bag of mussels slung over his shoulder. It was either a hilarious bit of performance art, or a reminder to never again eat street midye dolma (stuffed mussels).
That scene haunted us for years, coming to mind as we stumbled past midyeci (mussel vendors) on the weekends, extinguishing any temptation for the beloved late-night street snack. Then, one raucous evening at Jash, an Armenian meyhane in Cihangir, a plate of gorgeously stuffed mussels appeared on the table. Fragrant with cinnamon and allspice, we could see black currants and pine nuts poking out of the browned rice inside the shell. “These are the best midye in Istanbul,” a member of our group said excitedly, a declaration wholly unnecessary – one bite said it all. Nutty and aromatic, the rice was a rich balance to the fleshy, salty mussel. We ordered two more plates before we thought to ask where the mussels had come from. Later, Jash’s owner Mari Parseghyan assures us they are harvested from a trusted fishery in Çanakkale.
Opened in 2010, Jash recalls a rose-colored mishmash of two Istanbul eras: The late-19th century, when Cihangir was one of many vibrant nodes of Armenian, Greek and Jewish life, and the start of the 21st, when it was the intellectual and bohemian capital of Istanbul. Though Mari herself is middle-aged, walking into Jash is like calling on an elderly, rich auntie who traveled the world and opened her home to a host of eclectic artists, filmmakers and journalists – people who eat their food and drink with gusto, impassioned conversations and laughter booming. Two in our company used to dine here with none other than the late Ara Güler, Turkey’s most well-known photographer, himself Armenian.
It’s no secret that the modern Turkish meze spread owes much to the Rum (pre-Ottoman Greeks) and Armenian kitchen, and Jash pays full service to the latter. The midye sings with the earthy spices that Bolsahay (Istanbul Armenian) merchants traded in for centuries, as does the creamy topik (a kind of large chickpea dumpling) and lahana sarması (stuffed cabbage). Harder-to-find celebratory dishes like khapama (roasted lamb swaddled in cabbage) clamor for attention alongside classic Istanbul delicacies, including buttery-soft lakerda (cured bonito). Everything from the tarama (cured fish roe) to the lamb chops are excellently crafted and plated, with old-school flair – white tablecloths and all. And whatever is on offer, you can thankfully bet Mari has sourced each ingredient, mussels included, with care.
– Tas Anjarwalla
Published on December 20, 2022
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