New Restaurant

[mercury]

Gunlukbasi is actually up to  the market area but Brits call it Calis Market...

[snowtop]

I went there tonight and I am glad I did
The owner who's surname is Sarge has lived in UK for quite a while and speaks excellent English.  His staff are very friendly and I felt totally relaxed there.
The menu is in Italian with English explanation of the dish.  Do not expect to see guvec or kofte or steaks etrc.  It is Italian, not Turkish or English.
I had a lasagne, ( not my cup of tea but I gave it a go). It was Top Notch and I will certainly try another meal.
Beer is 8tl for those who are interested.
If you are feds up of the same meals all the time, give this place a go and make your own mind up.

[philrose]

Well we finally got around to giving this place a try last night and I'm afraid it was a total disappointment all round.

Three of our group ordered the Carbonara which when it came was in a runny tasteless sauce, with penne pasta rather than spaghetti, some mushrooms and no ham! When we pointed this out to the waitress the lack of ham or bacon she said "oh the chef did cook it but has forgotten to put it in"! So the plates were taken away for the meat to be added. My lasagne was ok but very dry served with (frozen) overcooked chips and a piece of letuce with an an unidentifyable dressing on it. All the pasta dishes were overcooked and were supposed to come with a side salad but they did'nt.
The chef did come out to ask about the meal and we did point the shortcomings. He explained that menu was an English one and he had trouble reproducing some of the dishes!
The owner did offer free coffee and a 10% discount as an apology but as all but one person failed to finish the meals we felt it was not enough and we eventually agreed on 20% and no coffee.
All in all a pretty poor experience and I really wanted to like this place! On the plus side the staff were plesant and the wine was good, but why, why, open an Italian style restaurant when you do not have the faintest idea about Italian cuisine and how to cook it....

[mac2010]

Talk about two totally different dining experiences,

[JohnF]

but why, why, open an (insert any cuisine) style restaurant when you do not have the faintest idea about (said cuisine) and how to cook it....

It's a Turkish thing.  When it just used to be mainly locals eating they kinda got away with it as folks had never experienced these foreign cuisines first hand, or first generation for those used to eating out in the UK.

It's also a "tourist area" thing.  One guy see the restaurant down the road doing well selling pasta and pizza, half an hour later (after a quick trip to the 24hr printers) he's got pasta and pizza on his menu.  And a guy in the the kitchen going "what the phuck is a carbonara?".  Hence the menus that read like Marco Polo's travel itinerary, and an output that relies more on variety than authenticity.

I remember the excitement in Istanbul when Dubb opened, a real Indian restaurant with a real Indian (or Pakistani or Bangladeshi) chef and they charged accordingly.  Didn't stop every ex pat and their dog hustling like mad to get a table on a Friday or Saturday night, often being unsuccessful.  Still going strong I believe, nearly twenty years later.

JF

[Stortman]

Tried it for the first time last night. 3 of us had a meal lasagne, penne arabatica and chilli and (unusually) wine. Food was fine, nicely cooked nicely presented etc. Owner is of course perhaps a bit over keen but that's not unusual as he's just opened up. I think the restaurant and the staff are still getting their act together but we'd go back again. It's odd how these restaurants can be good one day and bad another.