Our first meal in Istanbul was a late one, arriving into the hotel relatively late, we decided to have dinner in the hotel and went down to their restaurant.
Relatively quiet, there were only a few other tables seated and we were shown to a nice table by the window. It being late we ordered drinks and mains only, grilled octopus with aubergine for me and a grilled prawn salad for the lady.
Bread and dips came to the table, the bread freshly heated and puffed up, which went very well with the olives and I would guess tzatziki.
My sparkling local wine was surprisingly good, and my main was a large amount of octopus, freshly grilled with a nice char to it. The body was perhaps a little rubbery, but the tentacles were just right. The salad came with the complaint that while good, the prawns didn't have too much flavour...
We had a run at the dessert buffet before it closed getting some baklava and other sweets. All made in house apparently. They were good but nothing too exciting.
It being a hotel, I wasn't expecting too much but I had a good meal and it filled a spot. Would I go again? Well, we went for breakfast but that was about it for the remainder of the trip. With so much of the city to explore, and so many options, there are better things outside. read more