Istanbul restaurants

Last fall we spent 4 nights in the Sultanamet area of Istanbul with 2 other couples. It seemed to me that even though the restaurants were different the turkish food was pretty much the same everywhere we ate - and we didn't notice restaurants serving other styles of foods.

Happy Traveler, yes, I've heard that about the Sultanamet area. We are hoping to venture out a bit more into the Old Town. I think of my list, only Lekker is in Sultanamet.

I liked Cok Cok Thai and Galaktion (Georgian). I think they'd both be considered in the Beyoglu area. Cok Cok Thai is just north of the Pera Museum and is the more expensive of the two. You'd want to check the menu ahead of time to be sure you can keep the cost to what you consider a reasonable level. Galaktion is farther south, but still north of the Sishane Metro station and the Beyoglu funicular station.

Forno in Balat is very good. It is sort of Italian. Not traditional Turkish cuisine.

I just returned from Turkey and spent 4 nights in the Sultanahmet area. If the weather is nice - consider a rooftop restaurant with views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia at sunset and then lit up at night! My friend and I ate at Turk Art Hotel Terrace that involved a climb of 4-5 flights to the rooftop. Located right across from the Four Seasons Hotel. They had a fresh fish display and I had grilled seabass, split a salad, and an aperol spritz and I believe the bill for me was $25-30. Also ate at the rooftop restaurant at Carlos Hotel on arrival night. Had lentil soup, shared mezes and a drink - similarly priced. Food was good and the views were great. Once you are eating at a rooftop restaurant and look around you will realize there are many similar rooftop restaurants in the Sultanahmet area. I also checked trip advisor before narrowing down to these two places to try.

We stayed in Taskim area and ate down the hill along the Bosphorus several times. We made reservations ahead.

I really liked Çiya Sofrası on the Asian side (Kadikoy neighborhood) - it had really interesting vegetarian dishes and desserts. I even remember having linden tea there, which I've never tasted before.
http://www.ciya.com.tr/index_en.php?
https://www.timeout.com/istanbul/restaurants/ciya-sofrasi

We ate at Ocak in early April. For the money we paid I was expecting better. I always judge an expensive restaurant on its desserts and Ocak's dessert was unimpressive. The chef did stop by our table both before and after dinner to chat.