I had the pleasure to eat at Karakoy Lokantasi this past Friday. It was the perfect place to catch up with friends over a delicious traditional meal in a quiet setting that filled with good energy. It's in walking distance to Istanbul Modern, and if you venture to Galata Tower and even Eminonu.
The atmosphere of the restaurant would make you believe that it has been there for decades. The blue tile walls and the old style stone floors give the place an authentic feel. Yet the restaurant is only 10 years old and has moved to its new home only a year ago. Situated over two floors in historic Karakoy Wharf, amidst plenty of street parking, Karakoy Lokantasi is just far enough from Beyoglu to attract only the crowd that really cares about the food and the chance to chat with friends.
The food is traditional meyhane fare, with olive oil dishes, sea food mezes and fish. We had a variety of mezes and skipped the main dish. Our dishes were accompanies by Beylerbeyi raki (Karakoy Lokantasi boasts a diverse many of Rakis for the enthusiast). Among the mezes, I highly recommend fish pastirami (balik pastirmasi), a dried salty fish dish, topik- the traditional Armenian dish (I think I had the best topik of my life at Karakoy), sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, and char-grilled octopus.
There is no question about which desert you should get. Peynir tatlisi with kaymak- Cheese desert (I think this name is misnomer for this desert in Turkey because it looks more like a pastry ball) with cream. We asked for one portion as non of us felt like desert. When we saw the serving size we were shocked....It was a medium sized ball....just one ball. But as soon as we tasted the desert we understood how special it was and why it was served as only a single ball. I don't even like desert that much but I would go back to Karakoy Lokantasi simply for their Peynir Tatlisi alone.
I highly recommend this place to anyone who likes traditional food, a traditional setting and calm environment. Incidentally, we had the pleasure to meet the owner and operator, Oral Bey, who is the source of normalcy of this fancy restaurant. Oral Bey walks around, greets his guests, chats with them, and towards the end of the evening, sits at a table on the main floor and just minds his business doing the day's accounting. We didn't have a chance to chat about this with him but the word is he is one of the best connoisseurs of olive oil in Turkey!
Now if you plan to have lunch at Karakoy Lokantasi, you can completely forget about my review as the restaurant turns into a bustling power lunch restaurant for artists, businessmen and local shop owners. I will need to visit the restaurant again for lunch to write a review of its other personality.
Karaköy Lokantasi
Address: Kemankes Caddessi, Karaköy
Telephone: 90-212-292-4455
Map:
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