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Tepebaşı and Asmalı Mescit are home to several great restaurants and bars, including some of the top restaurants in Istanbul. Some places are known only to locals while others cater to international diners.
Asmalı Mescit is especially well-known as an entertainment zone filled with excellent meyhanes (tavernas), restaurants, and hotels. I haven’t tried the most famous and highest rated restaurants in the area, but I have been to several great places. In this entry, I’ll start north and work my way south down Meşrutiyet Street, which runs through the heart of the neighborhoods.
Taj Mahal
First is Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant. It’s located on Meşrutiyet Street across from the British Consulate. I visited their old location near Tünel on a class field trip with my friend Tim and his students. The food turned out to be very good.
Çok Çok Thai
Further down Meşrutiyet Street at Kallavi Street is Çok Çok Thai. They serve good Thai food and it’s considered to be the best Thai restaurant in Istanbul.
On my most recent visit, we started off with two beef skewers. I had a spicy beef and vegetable dish while Marisol had a beef and noodle soup. The food was delicious although a bit pricy for Istanbul.
Grand Hotel de Londres
Across from Çok Çok Thai is the Grand Hotel de Londres, which has a nice rooftop terrace. It’s open after 4pm to all visitors and is a popular meeting place for both locals and foreigners living in the city.
The views of the Golden Horn are amazing, and it’s a great spot to have a drink with friends. They also serve appetizers and full meals. Prices are reasonable.
Fıccın
If you walk down Kallavi Street towards Istiklal Street, you’ll run into a collection of restaurants run by Fıccın. This is one of my absolute favorites in Istanbul. It started out in just one small space but has grown to take over pretty much the whole block. They specialize in Circassian and Anatolian cuisine. Prices are very reasonable.
Everything I’ve eaten there is delicious, but the best dish in my opinion is the Circassian mantı (Çerkes mantısı). It comes stuffed with either minced meat or potato, and they’re much bigger than the typical Turkish mantı. Try washing it down with white or red grape juice (üzüm suyu).
If you aren’t into mantı I can also recommend the shrimp stew (karides güveç). For starters, one of my favorites is the octopus salad (ahtapot salatası).
Canım Ciğerim
Turning left after passing the Pera Palace Hotel and walking a block down Asmalı Mescit Street is Canım Ciğerim. This simple little place serves up some of the best liver in town. Your order comes out on long skewers and is served with flatbread and all the fixings.
Aheste
Walking south down Meşrutiyet Street is Aheste, which is one of the best restaurants I’ve tried in Istanbul. They serve up a contemporary take on Turkish, Ottoman, and Middle Eastern cuisine. Don’t pass up a chance to eat there!
Aheste has an interesting tasting menu, but I opted for the a la carte menu for my first visit. I started off with an amazing grilled octopus followed by a house salad and the slow roasted lamb shoulder. I washed it down with a glass of Turkish red wine. The price is high for Istanbul but it’s well worth it.
Sahrap (Permanently Closed)
Turning down General Yazgan Street there are a few more good restaurants. First is Sahrap, which is run by Turkish celebrity chef Sahrap Soysal. They specialize in home-cooked Anatolian dishes.
We shared a few meze dishes including fried calamari (kalamar tava). For my main course, I had the Balkan meatballs (Rumeli köftesi). For dessert, our table shared the Cypriot dessert (Kıbrıs tatlısı), roasted halva with walnuts (fırında cevizli tahin helvası), and oven-baked pumpkin with syrup (kireçte kabak tatlısı). All of our food was good but we were more impressed with the desserts than the starters and main courses.
Antiochia
Another block down General Yazgan Street is Antiochia, which serves cuisine from Antakya (Antioch). I went with my friend Selen for lunch and we both left extremely satisfied.
We split a selection of eight spreads, including cheese, hummus, and eggplant spreads. For lunch, we both had delicious lamb chops. The lamb şiş is also a great choice.
Ozzie’s Kokoreç
Next door is Ozzie’s Kokoreç. They serve up the best kokoreç in the city (roasted lamb or goat intestines). It came highly recommended by my friend Deniz and didn’t disappoint. It’s a good idea to make reservations before visiting.
Marisol had a portion of kokoreç and I had a sandwich. We also shared a plate of sucuk. The kokoreç was incredible and the sucuk was delicious as well. Prices are higher than what you’d pay at your run-of-the-mill kokoreç place, but it’s well worth it.
