While our 1st meal here in Istanbul started out as basically as a disaster since the taxi driver had been misinformed of the address for the restaurant and what should have been no more than a 30 minute drive took almost 2 hours to get us to the restaurant through the horrific traffic here, in the end the evening turned out to be a total delight once we arrived. The hotel was so horribly upset about what happened they took care of the taxi and sent a private car to pick us up after dinner which turned out to be a truly spectacular affair.
The staff greeted us at the door warmly and escorted us in to a cute little space with a large bar and cozy seating(with good spacing) and offered us a cocktail menu and we immediately chose the Çarkifelek, a delicious of spicy meets a tad of sweet mix of passionfruit, and Isot(Turkish native pepper)pepper vodka.
Hakan was our server and sommelier and was thrilled we wanted to try new Turkish wines and we hit the jackpot with a Porta Caeli "Ament" 2017 from the Gelibolu region which was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot with a 14.5% alcohol levels that made is hugely gutsy and reminiscent of an American red zin!!
Hey UK folks --Yeni Lokanti now has a London branch where the owner/chef, Civan Er, himself is on site at 55 Beak Street W1F 9SH!!
A delicious amuse of Onion and Ginger dumpling in a yogurt sauce with chili oil was a hint of the magnificent meal to follow. Bread arrived in the form of a delicious homemade roll with a peppery butter.
Çig köfte tartar was an excellent Steak Tartare with a Potato Croquette perched atop and amaranth flowers. The surprise treat was when you cut open the crochet a is at a yolk burst out and covered the entire dish which was seasoned with sumac and isot chili.
Kitel, antep kuru patlican, kestani mantari, yoğurt was a novel version of a traditional dish of Bulghur Fritter with Antep dried aubergine(eggplant) with chestnut mushrooms, cabbage and yogurt with chili oil. There are photos on FB for your viewing of these amazing preparations.
For our mains we shared two dishes: Odun Firinindan is a melt in your mouth Oven Roasted Beef ribs with isot chili. Cumin and yogurt sauce, while the second dish by a similar name was Oven Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Procini Mushrooms, Spinach and Tamarind.
We were stuffed and exhausted after having traveled in from Nairobi on a flight from 4am to 1030am and headed home without dessert, but fully thrilled with our first meal in Istanbul.
Hey UK folks: Yeni has opened in London at 55 Beak Street, W1F 9SH and is headed up by owner/chef Civan Er, who has left his Istanbul home in great hands!
