Sultan Sofrası – Antakya

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Tuba Şatana

If you want to eat local food of Antakya, cooked delicately,deliciously and properly, a must stop is Sultan Sofrası. Metin Tansal is a very demanding boss checking if everything is in order, you may see him in the kitchen or anywhere showing working like his staff. Osman Bey is working like a family member, keeps the restaurant intact and helps the family to run the business. Nowadays the beautiful young lady Meltem Tansal is growing into the business and I saw that sparkle in her eyes, made me remember the time I started working, just out of school.

We began our feast with yoğurt aşı, a soup made of a special yoğurt, oruk and chickpeas. Then followed oruk, which is içli köfte. Then came hummus, cevizli biber. Then kaytaz böreği, ıspanaklı börek. Never stopped, almost…

Firik was out of this world, firik is a kind of cracked wheat, bulgur, wheat is harvested and burnt just before it is completely mature so it leaves a smoky flavor in your mouth a true delicacy. Aşur is boiled wheat, chickpeas and meat all combined together and beaten down with wooden spoon, to a mastic kind paste, finished with butter, cumin, walnuts. Aşur is a very laborious dish, should be prepared by the true usta, like this one.

Mumbar, lamb intestines, stuffed with rice, meat and spices so tasty. Kağıt kebap was presented in a lavaş, preparation is again not easy for this unique meat dish, the meat is minced by zırk, a special knife, with herbs and spices then pressed on a piece of parchment paper, cooked in stone oven, you eat it with hand, tearing little pieces and wrapping in the lavaş. The taste is garlicky, peppery, meaty, yet you taste them all one by one.

After all these dishes we were so full, but you are in Antakya, you dine like the royal family all put together, and always offered with more delicious things. So there comes the mini dessert plate full of regional tastes like, zeytin tatlısı, kireçte kabak and ceviz tatlısı.

Can not tell enough, how we devoured every bite, how pleasant our lunch was, how kind Sultan Sofrası Family is… It is a safe place far from home, definitely!

Address: Istiklal Caddesi, No: 20/A, Antakya

Phone: (326) 213 8759

Service hours: Monday-Saturday around 11:00 – 21.30, closed on Sunday.

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Kristal Döner ve Yemek Salonu – Kars

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Tuba Şatana

If you go to Kars, there is unfortunately one place left making piti. Piti is a dish made from a chunk piece of lamb,chickpeas, saffron, a piece of tail fat, and a lot of beef stock.

This simple but tasty dish, has a way of eating it. Piti is served in an enamel cup, lavaş bread and an empty deep plate.

First you tear the lavaş in to small pieces and put it in the empty deep plate, then pour the juice of the dish on top of it, wait for lavaş to suck up the juices and scoop it. Meat stock, cooked with saffron and the other ingredients is smooth, rich, meaty and succulent. Stop, don’t lick the plate…

Then you eat that small-big piece of tail fat, looking so guilty and yummy, wrapping it in to the lavaş. When you are done, then you can proceed to the rest of the dish, the meat and the chickpeas.

You turn the enamel cup upside down on your emptied plate and there you have the big piece of lamb, chickpeas. Both the meat and the chickpeas are melting in your mouth, leaving you with the joy of eating a real food.

Kristal, has a lot of homemade dishes as well as döner, which is also tasty but piti is the thing you want to eat if you get there.

Address: Halitpaşa Cad. Vakıfbank Yanı No.127, Kars

Phone: (474) 212 5100

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Lades Lokantası – Istanbul

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Tuba Şatana

It is calm inside, free from the enormous Beyoğlu clatter. Walk through the dining saloon, on your right you get to blink to the desserts, and before you reach to the kitchen cold olive oil dishes are ready to steal your tummy, all plated looking very appealing.

On the hot plate, stews, vegetable dishes, soups, pilav and meat dishes of the day waiting to be picked and to be devoured by the hungry ones. Pick yours and do not forget the tandır, lamb meat cooked in its own jus hours, getting crispier outside, while maintaining to be moist inside.

Their milk desserts like kazandibi is worth a try, it has the right amount of sugar and starch, burnt top leaving you with a caramelized-milky aftertaste.

No music just the spoons and forks scraping the food and a lovely murmur hanging in the air. A typical esnaf lokantası – tradesman restaurant – where everyone knows the specialty of the day like ciğer on Tuesdays or döner on Mondays and Thursdays.

It is a fool proof, safe food away from home, you may become a regular like the rest of their customers.

Address: Sadri Alışık Sk. No:14, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Phone: (212) 251 3203

Service Hours: Closed Sundays, the other days open through the day.

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Şahin Lokantası – Istanbul

Posted on February 27, 2010 by Tuba Şatana

Walking down the Orhan Adli Apaydın Sokak, if you see a crowd of suits and white collars, people gathered, waiting hungrily or smoking happily then you are in front of Şahin Lokantası.

Serving since 1967, Ismail Şahin, known as Şahin Usta or Baba, holding his business together, cooking, talking to customers and sitting on his small desk to cash the bills. The chef is working with him for 32 years, and doing a great job.

When you enter the restaurant, you go directly to the kitchen counter, where you can see a colorful layover of the dishes like çoban kavurma, rice pilaf, lentil soup, chickpea stew, big tray of Izmir köfte topped with hand cut potatoes, tavuk kapama, fırın makarna, kadınbudu köfte and many more. Most of the dishes are cooked in oven. The chickpeas are melting in your mouth, you do not need to add any salt or pepper, the taste is perfect. İzmir köfte, the köfte is a little spicy, soft, leaving you with a mouthful of flavor. All the ingredients are top notch. He even did not change his butcher for 30 years, nor the grocery.

You feel you are eating at home. Food from the heart.

Save some space for kadayıf, if it is on the menu that day. The kadayıf is like falling from a grandmother’s hand. Thick, crunchy on the top, moist and silky and soft in the middle with a layer of walnuts, then the bottom is a little burnt, the Golden brownish color. The syrup is just right amount and right sweetness. You can have a whole – believe me the smallest portion is even big- piece of it, yet you continue living.

If you want to have a morning soup, you should go there till 10.00am, or you will be left empty belly. Mondays işkembe – tripe soup, Thursdays paça – trotter soup. The trotter soup is to die for, smooth, silky, well cooked, texture wise perfect.

One important reminder, you may not find all the dishes after 1.30pm, so act up.

Prepare to wait, share your table and eat hearty home cooked meal.

Address: Orhan Adli Apaydın Sk. No:11/A, Tepebaşı, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Phone: (212) 244 2543

Service Hours: Opens early in the morning for soup service till 5.00-5.30pm. Closed on Sundays.

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Anadolu Lokantası – Istanbul

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Tuba Şatana

This family owned restaurant is a big escape for the white collars from their busy work schedules. The menu changes daily and you can enjoy home style cooking, hot, delicious, flavoursome. You chose your remedy from the glass display that separates you from the colorful trays of food. Pot meals, stews, olive oil dishes, pilaf, puddings, meat and chicken dishes are all good. The portions are generous. And believe me you never feel full after all these plates.

They use the best ingredients available. When you bite through their house special köfte wrapped in phyllo dough, you taste the veal meat, lean, spicy, tasty and sticks in your mind for the next visit. Or you order another one right away!

The restaurant is clean, the food is very good, the service is fast. What is there not to like?

Address: Değirmen Sk. Şaşmaz Sitesi C Blok, No:9/A, Kozyatağı, Istanbul

Phone: (216) 463 1872

Service Hours: Food begins to be displayed around 11:00, 11:30am – around 2:30pm daily menu finishes, so you may order from the grill till 6:00pm. They do delivery. Closed on weekends.

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