Kosebasi, Nisantasi, Istanbul

Lamacun, Pide, Pita

Joghurt with watercress, Couscous and Eggplant appetizers

Tomato, Taboule and mixed meat selection

Chocolate cake

Some writers position Turkey as the third most important cuisine, after French and Chinese, so Istanbul sounded like the place to find out. The fun thing is reading a coward’s Lonely Planet article about not to eat mussels stuffed with rice on the streets, because the Sultan’s revenge aka diharrea will follow right away. Even more fun is buying afore mentioned snack, handing them to your friends and looking at their faces once you quote from said article. Anyway the story was greatly exaggerated, nothing happen to anyone. Looking for a “good” restaurant in a foreign city can be a bit of a lottery, luckily a gentleman on the airplane gave me some pointers. The Kosebasi seemed like a safe bet. The Turks all dress to impress, so it can pay to bring some business casual clothes next to your tourist wear. Kosebasi has a good vibe and is probably a favourite with the more affluent people of Istanbul. Starters was a mix of Lamacun (turkish pizza), pida and pita bread, mains were mixed meats with different sauces, some taboule and vegetables. Turkish is strong in flavours, has a nice variety and a good balance of meats, vegetables and starches. The quality of the inidvidual dishes at Kosebasi was high, the impression is that if you want to go for a nice dinner, you can’t go wrong here. It’s solid but with a bit of more time, I’m sure you can find a more exciting place. A bit overstretching the limit is the quote on the website stating that it’s one of the Top 50 restaurants in the world.