Stanbuli may be housed in a former hair salon (bubblegum-pink façade still standing) that plays 50 Cent and remixes of “Sexual Healing” but this Turkish restaurant still serves meze like the best of them. Inside, the design is clean, sharp and come via the Levant: patterned tiles, dried sausages strung above the bar, staff with vests or neat moustaches (or both), and raki lining the walls. Said spirit is a fine place to start, matched with small plates: rice and spinach topped with hung yoghurt to go with flatbread, perhaps, or whole roasted eggplant, soft and giving and stuffed with sweet onion and tomato. Tradition is kept close, but it’s made modern. A special of zhi kofte, the raw beef spiced with cumin and shaped into twisted logs, is plated with an array of herbs and vegetables to wrap into iceberg lettuce – sang choi bao comes to Istanbul. Main courses are big, spiced, and char-grilled – lamb chops, octopus, chicken skewers – and built for conviviality and comfort, as is a wine list preferencing local and Turkish varieties. Take a group, go heavy on the raki, finish with a bang with a borek milk pie and plot your return with relish.
Phone:
(02) 8624 3132
Website:
Bookings:
Bookings recommended
Features:
Licensed
Vegetarian-friendly
Wheelchair access
Impressive wine list
Accepted card types:
Eftpos
MasterCard
Visa
Chef:
Ibrahim Kasif
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot at the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national Top 50.
