On our 2nd night here in Istanbul we hopped a taxi from the hotel and we were absolutely sure he knew where he was going, indeed his English was pretty good and he used his translator app to say that it was his friend who was the taxi driver the night before who was extremely distraught over what happened... We told him it was OK and he told his friend that we were not mad and that we were out for another great night of food.
Neolokal Is is located on the 3rd floor of the M Gallery hotel very close to the Galata Tower and our table had the best view across the Golden Horn to the magnificently lit Sülemaniye Mosque(Sulaiman the Great's homage to Islam). It had started to rain but it didn't matter as the view was spectacular and we were ready for a wonderful night. We debated the various menus and finally selected the 6 course tasting menu with paired wines after our server, Yildirim, assured us the portions were small. WRONG! We were stuffed by the 4th course and barely ate any of the meat course but it was a wonderful experience and the wines were truly spectacular including a repeat of the red wine we had discovered the night before that we fell in love with.
Istanbul and even more Turkey are very inexpensive for Americans. Most of the meals we have had for 3 people have cost $20, Neolokal is a very special restaurant and it was $65 for the tasting and $50 for the wine pairing, but back home this would have cost over $200 at one of the top restaurants in any city. There were mostly foreigners here, thought some locals that were celebrating special occasions or such.
Sourdough bread with parsley butter and cep mushroom powder was brought to the table along with an amuse which consisted of two amuses: crispy cucumber with yogurt sauce inside, as well as a timbale of tomato paste with cumin and garlic. They were both very nice but what came next really got us excited. Baked Celeriac Börek comes with Apple celeriac butter, carrot and Celeriac sauce and celery mayo. This was basically a deconstructed Borek pastry with a layer of phyllo on top of the creamy rich vegetable purée, it was one of our favorite things all night. Yildirim paired this with a Hasandede(local white varietal) 2019 from Vinkara in the Kalecik region near Ankara, which was a super crisp wine with apple notes and extremely dry and refreshing to cut the richness of the dish.
Stuffed leek with bonito, raw bonito dried bonito Mayo, dried bonito and bonito juice was an interesting dish but since the bonito is extremely close to the Mackerel ,the intensity of the fish really overwhelmed us. Turasan 2020 Emir(another white varietal) from Cappadocia was a mineral intense wine worthy of the strong fish.
Kalecik Karasi is Turkish for Pinot Noir And they really know how to make this wine with a huge nose much fuller, less fruitier and way more oomphier than anything I have ever tasted other than a truly aged French Burgundy. Vinkara made this wine as well from 2017 called Mahzen." It was served with the Kadinbudu: ground chicken and lemon compote in crispy skin with an extremely rich rich rich heavy sauce, chicken demi-glace and potato chip atop. I think the fact that this dish was so rich is what completely filled us up as it was also really delicious.
We went back to white wine with a Blanc de Noirs from Vino Deserra 2020 which was creamy and citrusy and loaded with acidity to fight the bluefish that was to be served with it. Black Sea Bluefish was cooked in fish broth and served with Badalan beans and carrots, Bluefish sauce, leek and onion, scallion oil. The fact that the 2nd fish was also intensely fishy got to me. The seafood here I am sure is awesome but we seemed to get two really strong fish dishes.
We asked for a very long break and they accommodated us perfectly and then came a yummy lime sorbet followed by the main course of Slow Roasted Lamb, Fig Beğendi and red plum sauce with an eggplant paste served with our new favorite wine, the Porta Caeli Ament blend 2017!! Perfect! We barely touched the meat and in addition 4 women from Spain sat down at the next table and were wearing so much perfume we were beginning to choke. If the late Charlie Trotter was the chef at this restaurant, I'm very sorry but he would have died from the perfume scent mixes.
Şekerpare Is a Semolina Orange cake served with peach cream and caviar pearls along with a Turkish coffee ice cream that was absolutely spectacular. This was paired with a nice refreshing Late Harvest Muscat(called Misket) from Sevilen in the Izmir region. Chocolate truffles and Madeleines followed which we packed up to take home for dessert in our room tonight!!
The experience was amazing but it was sadly way too much food and a lot wasted. I think if we return we will definitely not eat anything all day long!!
