gianluca la F.
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Kind of a mixed bag.
I’d been wanting to try this place ever since I got to Istanbul with my girlfriend. When Michelin goes out of its way to give a star to a relatively new spot that doesn’t play by the classic fine-dining rulebook (no 10+ course tasting menu, no encyclopedic wine list, no French nods) it usually means one thing: the food has to be unapologetically good.
And it was, honestly.
It was a fresh, confident take on offal, which is something I haven’t seen done this well in years. The crispy brain was genius (only the second time I’ve had a comparable dish; the first was at Il Tiglio in Italy, with completely different ingredients, flavors, and philosophy). The tongue was excellent too, and the orange vinaigrette pushed it in a direction I genuinely didn’t expect. The craft is there: the meat is treated with real respect, and you can tell everyone working the grill holds it to a higher standard.
Then came the rest of the evening, and that’s where things fell apart, especially considering the price point.
I was intrigued by the open-kitchen setup, and curious to see how it would work without a tasting menu.
Running a kitchen is hard; running it under constant scrutiny is harder; and handling multiple à-la-carte orders at once seemed to be simply too much.
We spent two hours at the table before we had to leave abruptly because my girlfriend fell ill (unrelated to the meal: she wasn’t feeling too great before we even left the hotel).
In that time, we were served only three of the four dishes we ordered, which is a shame.
Their policy is no bread and no small bites between courses, so you’re basically just sitting there, watching things happen, with nothing to do but drink.
We also had to wait about five minutes just to have a dish explained, which isn’t what you expect from a starred restaurant.
The place seats no more than ~25 people, yet there were only five people working front and back of house combined.
It makes the whole experience both impressive and frustrating: the potential is clearly there, the philosophy is there, and so is a deep awareness in the cooking, but in the end they fail at the most basic thing: hospitality.
That said, I really appreciated how the staff handled our early departure. They were understanding, didn’t accept a tip, and didn’t charge us for the dish we never got to try (even though the shrimps were already cooked and ready to go).
I’ll definitely come back next time I’m in Istanbul, hopefully with smoother pacing and better service management, without compromising the food.
