While they do serve regular meals at Mado, this is primarily a dessert restaurant. And they do desserts exceedingly well!
The dessert menu here is a good-sized book, and had I visited this place every day for my week-long trip to Istanbul, I would not have been able to try all of the sweet treats offered. Some of the traditional desserts (e.g. kataifi, kunefeh, baklava, helva) are served with ice cream, which is made from the milk from goats on a local goat farm owned by the restaurant. The seasonal fruit flavors (e.g. apricot and pomegranate in the late spring / early summer timeframe) are delightful, and the ice cream itself is rich and creamy.
The karamelli trilece (caramel tres leches) is perfectly moist, and is one of the best versions of tres leches I've ever tasted.
I imagine this Mado location must give the nearby Hafiz Mustafa 1864 (will review that sweetery soon) a run for all its euros and lire! read more