On an extended business trip in Ankara, a colleague who had lived in Ankara in the 90's insisted…read morethat we HAD to try this little, hard-to-find restaurant with wonderful seafood. We agreed nod one evening set out from the hotel. Fortunately the taxi driver knew where to take us, as we were soon lost in the Southern suburbs, amid small residential streets, finally stopping at an apartment building with a ground floor row of shops and small restaurants. At the very end of the row was a small restaurant- maybe ten tables-our destination!
Entering we had few expectations. The staff was friendly, but the size and location of the place had somewhat limited our hope. Oh, we're we wrong and our colleague right. This was Turkish seafood cuisine taken to an entirely new level!
First we were called over to a counter to pick out our own appetizers. The staff spoke enough English and our colleague enough Turkish to get along. Among the wonderful delights: artichoke heart stuffed with a (not-hummus) chickpea concoction. Then there was the shrimp wrapped in a kind of shredded wheat and deep fried! The grilled baby octopus was unbelievable-and this from someone who is dubious about tentacles! And the whole calamari, stuffed with some kind of cheese and then grilled was out of this world! And that was just the start!
We ordered a couple of main courses to share. The highlight was a sea bass, stuffed with some kind of vegetable ragout and then baked. Wow! But the monk fish brochettes were not to be ignored either! Together with the bread, beef and Raki, we were stuffed with no room for their famous and lovely looking deserts!
Service was good, but the food came at a certain pace as it was cooked fresh! No microwave reheating here!
Price is a relative thing, of course. On person's expensive is another's cheap. But the entire meal with drinks and gratuity was only 65TL a piece (about US$22 as I write.). Phenomenal bargain as far as I was concerned!
So, if you are in Ankara, do yourself a favor! Get someone to help make a reservation and find a cab that knows where this place is. It will be a memorable meal!
