We've used the Osmanli Sofrasi, mainly at lunchtimes, on a number of occasions over the last year or so. The setting is very pleasant and inviting and we have had some passable lunches there. The owner has always been very friendly and when we first started going an English woman called Jane worked there I think mainly to get customers in. The food was quite good value.
We ate their one evening with friends late last Autumn. Jane was nowhere to be seen; instead there was a Turkish man who was waiting at table and encouraging customers in. He had clearly had a fair few to drink and looked in desperate need of a few more! The meal was mediocre and the bill pretty hefty because of the alcoholic drinks we had. Nothing worthy of complaint but nowt really deserving praise either.
We hadn't been for several months and decided on the spur of the moment to have lunch there last Thursday. The owner wasn't there and we thought perhaps it had changed hands although the waiter said it still belonged to Mr Ramazan and the young woman sitting in the corner on a laptop was his wife.
We ordered our lunch - me kofte topped with cheese, Mike a beef casserole and a small portion of rice between us. A plate of salad was brought over, a small basket of bread and two small bottles of water. We ordered a beer and a coke. The lunch appeared very quickly. The portions were much smaller than we remembered and the food was lukewarm. The waiter was a bit of a pain. Kept hovering and told us he was Chinese and then pretended to speak Chinese. Then Japanese......!! We ordered two rice puddings one with honey (waiter's suggestion) and one without. Both came with honey and it wasn't important enough to get wound up about. However, they were the sloppiest, runniest rice puddings we have ever eaten - Mike eventually picked up his dish and drank his!
The owner returned as we were looking around for the waiter to get our bill. When it came there were no surprises but taking into account the portion sizes, the cool food and the lack of any ambiance we probably won't be hurrying back. The setting is very nice but we could find more appetising dishes in many of the small locantas a little further out of the centre.
