Food & Drink

Ciya Sofrası Neighboring cuisines Looking for alternative flavors, Terry Elward paid a little visit to the city’s restaurants

Food & Drink & Food serving the cuisine from Turkey’s neighboring lands.

stanbul may be home to countless restaurants serving the with Turkey, countries like Syria, Ukraine and Georgia have a regional delicacies of Turkey, but what about the places that rather different dining scene, with exotic ingredients that are Ishowcase cuisine of our neighboring countries? They are harder hard to source in Turkey such as barberries and buckwheat. Here to come by than you may think, but if you look for them you will are some noteworthy eateries in Istanbul where you can sample find some true culinary treasures. delights from Mesopotamia to Crimea. While Greek and Armenian food shares many common dishes

ARMENIAN/CIRCASSIAN Jash

The line between Armenian and Turkish food seems a little blurry, but there is a difference. Armenian cuisine has Turkish, Russian and Azeri influences. It also shares the meze culture but adding its own ingredients to it such as phyllo pastry, sumac, orange blossom water, tabbouleh and pork. There is one restaurant in Cihangir that has Armenian food down to an art. Jash is like stepping into an Armenian Granny's living room. Meaning "food" in Armenian, Jash is a cozy little place consisting of a tiny terrace, a dining room downstairs and something of a parlor upstairs with a piano for sing- alongs after dinner. There is even live accordion music. An upmarket

32 www.timeoutistanbul.com/en May 2014 Ottoman home-style restaurant, Russian food Jash's menu along with features Crimean Armenian favorites and such as Circassian Chicken Kiev, delights such Ayaspasa's fried buckwheat, as the vegetarian calf brain and dumplings meatball called of course. If you're topik, the Circassian feeling adventurous, try boiled chicken with walnuts the fried calf brain – it's and garlic and lamb surprisingly tasty. stew. Traditional Greek and Turkish dishes are also Ayaspasa available. The Armenian style was definitely a hit – crispy and full of flavor. Lamb chops, liver and pork main dishes are particularly popular for dinner options. The super sweet quince SYRIAN pudding is offset by rich Turkish cream – it's as if With the exception of a few they were made for each falafel shops, Arabic cuisine other. hasn't made its mark in Food & Drink Istanbul. This is quite a shame. Jash Cihangir Caddesi, Syria has some spectacular foods, such as rich meat dishes that are sweetened with quince or pomegranate, on evening and most flavored with baharat – the national spice mix of cumin, pepper and nutmeg. Bab al-Hara is one of Istanbul's sole outlets for real Syrian cuisine: a spick- RUSSIAN/UKRAINIAN and-span diner behind Fatih Mosque where customers It’s hard to find Ukrainian order their meze in Arabic. and Russian food in Turkey, Everyone is welcome in this perhaps because the Turkish modest joint, which opened palate is not familiar with last year to accommodate new dishes playing with fried Syrian residents in Istanbul meats, offal and unusual grains like rye or barley – delicious but different. Dumplings are the kings of any Ukrainian meal. Crimean dishes vary with Russian, Tatar and Ukrainian influences, and pork and sheep are the favored meats in the region. Established by a Russian resident in 1943, Ayaspasa premiere Russian restaurant. You won't find the opulence of a Tsar's palace here; Ayaspasa serves traditional, Chicken Kiev

May 2014 www.timeoutistanbul.com/en 33 Food & Drink

looking for a taste of home. This simple, as Southeastern and Eastern no-frills eatery is filled with the aroma of Mediterranean food. Proprietor Musa fresh bread and spice. Dagdeviren is the consummate foodie The dip is outstanding. The who aimed to introduce "long lost heart shaped, crispy falafel comes with recipes" to a modern table. The vast tahini and salad. Bab al-Hara bake their menu includes simple dishes made own fatier – a kind of Damascene pastry from the freshest of ingredients, some made of pizza dough with meat, cheese of them quite rare such as mallow and and vegetables similar to pide. The buffalo products. Kayazagi ("goose highlights of the menu are definitely the feet") is a flavorful spinach grown in salad with pomegranate sauce and Bab salt water, steamed and served with al-Hara's buttery, Syrian cheese. yoghurt. Artichoke stuffed with rice and plums Bab Al-Hara is a menu highlight, as is the – a meal of wild greens with lamb, chickpeas, onion and wheat, popular in the Kurdish regions of Iran and Turkey. Most customers are quite delighted with Çiya's truffle kebabs. The fragrance MESOPOTAMIAN of fresh herbs pervades the restaurant from the salad bar – at least ten exotic Cafe Niko's famous khinkali dumplings Never heard of Mesopotamian cuisine? and healthy salads are on offer daily. You're not the only one. This is the The dessert menu is delightfully plain: ancestor of modern Arabic food, a poached pears, yoghurt with honey and GEORGIAN combination of modern Iraqi, ancient the candied pumpkins and eggplants. Assyrian and Iranian dishes – with a Absolutely delicious. After feasting like Georgia is the home of many distinctive little something different. Most food a (Babylonian) king, you'll be surprised dishes such as dumplings, from the Mesopotamian regions – like with a very reasonable bill. cheesy (a bread that large platters of stews, rice and salads resembles a pizza), fried pork – are meant to be shared with a group 3, and sausages. Pork is the meat of friends. Kadiköy - Istanbul / (90) 216 330 31 of choice, making Georgian food a rare Food & Drink & Food Çiya Sofrasi defines its cuisine 90 (Reservations not necessary) treat in Istanbul. There is one place to fulfill your Georgian culinary fantasies: Cafe Niko in Aksaray. This terraced cafe near the Emniyet bus station is very affordable, authentic and staffed by Georgians who speak a little English but no Turkish. All the typically Georgian dishes are there and the pork is directly imported from Georgia. A meal at Cafe Niko is quite an experience, like stepping out of Turkey for an hour or two. The pork-filled dumplings are only 1 lira each and are definitely the star of Cafe Niko's menu. To eat them in traditional Georgian style is to leave the knob of dough on top uneaten, pile them onto the plate and count them later. Be warned: the amazing runs out by early afternoon, so get there early to avoid heartbreak.

Cafe Niko

34 www.timeoutistanbul.com/en May 2014