We had a 21-hour layover in Istanbul, and when it came time to eat, we were wondering around off the beaten path in the Karaköy district where there were plenty of restaurants and street vendors. Also the language barrier in Turkey is no joke so we were basically on our own. We knew that we had to try a couple particular Turkish foods somehow: flatbread & meatballs.
Eventually we happened to walk by this place and it had pictures of the foods they served and guess what, they had flatbread and also meatballs among other things. And there was no one in there except a few policemen, which, if there are only locals in there, is a good sign to me.
So our waiter was 17 and spoke essentially zero English, but thanks to us pointing at stuff and saying the word "one" a lot, and him saying "ok" a lot, he nailed our order. Because of this experience I now have less tolerance for places that have no language barrier but still mess up my order. And then his 8-year-old brother showed up and he was adorable.
So, if you're ever in Istanbul for a night and are looking for 100% Turkish foods and don't mind not really knowing what you ordered and don't mind getting looked at by puzzled locals because you're the only tourists around than this is definitely the place for you.
OH YEAH also the food was seriously really good. The flatbread was off the chain and the meatballs were smokey and redonkulous. read more