Istanbul Restaurant

There are times I go to restaurants and really really really want to like them, but they're not quite there. One day maybe. Maybe not. In those cases, I try to focus on the things I like and hope the rest can improve.

A few nights ago I went with Rachel to the new-ish place that took over the space in the neighbourhood long occupied by North Coast. I never really "got" North Coast. Good sized breakfasts, but nothing special. Sort of Greek, mostly not. No one went there for dinner, and the one time years ago I went, I didn't think it bad so much as rather uninteresting.

I guess it was a year ago (I think) that Istanbul went in. Funnily, Conrad and I never seem to be walking along that stretch of Broadway, so Istanbul Restaurant was probably there a little while without us knowing. A BYO place. The menu posted looked suspiciously Greek in parts. We didn't feel compelled to drop in.

Our friend Rachel, however, reported good things from her times trying the place. And so it was that this week, with Conrad back in Honolulu for work, Rachel took me under her wing and invited me to go dine there.

Downside first:

• the plating is a mess
• the service alternates between hover and neglect, though I sense it is sincere, and bonus points to the waiter for chasing us down (we hadn't got too far) when Rachel forgot her doggie bag
• suspiciously Greek things on the menu
• dead quiet (no more than 6 tables the whole time we were there)
• wrong neighbourhood

This last one was something I commented to Rachel. Boystown is, well, pretty white. Not fully, but quite a bit. And to look at the restaurants, it would seem that Boystown tolerates a limited amount of ethnicity: the "safer", better known Asian cuisines and Mexican. Or, as I also described it to Rachel, food that the gays can drink a lot with.

I do wonder if Istanbul would be better off in a different neighbourhood with a welcoming population, not necessarily Turkish. Perhaps.

Upside then:

• big portions
• great bread
• Rachel's soup - lentil in a tomato base, bright with lots of mint and zingy from the squeeze of the lemon wedge. I would order that in a minute anywhere.
• mujver. The menu described them as cakes of shredded vegetable, but I think that fritters is closer to the truth. They look kind of not good, I admit. Fairly well fried - too dark, perhaps? They look dense and heavy and awful. Nope. Very light, still moist inside without being raw. The flavour wasn't too strong, and so it paired very well with the garlicky yogurt on the plate.
• imam firinda - fried baby eggplant filled with vegetables and topped with cheese. The vegetables were nicely textured and had the crunch of almond scattered through. The rice was overkill, though.

We declined dessert. We brought our own bottle (a white blend - no corkage!!). The bill, with tip (and a generous one, all things considered) was $44 in total.





So I'm torn - there were things that I liked, and now I almost feel like if I don't go back the place will go under. Silly of me, I know. Ask me someday about how I took pity on a piece of sushi at a sushi boat place in San Francisco once. Anyway, I will get back at least once, this time with Conrad. See what he thinks.

Really, I hope it survives. I also hope it improves. Istanbul Restaurant makes a nice change from the usual in the neighbourhood, truly. And amen for that alone!