Eating out in Istanbul: Kumkapi

photo: english.istanbul.com

When I travel for business I typically have no more than two nights in each city, which doesn’t leave very much time to explore.  At the airport, at the hotel, and then in meetings all day, I look forward to a good meal at night – preferably in an interesting spot.

My first night of my recent two-week overseas excursion was in Istanbul, one of my favorite cities to visit.  I love Turkish food, and am always grateful when my local colleagues take me to a new place. This time it was Kumkapi, a neighborhood I’d often overlooked while whirring by in the taxi on the way from the airport. It’s a little more than halfway from the airport to Taksim Square, in the Eminonou district. 

Kumkapi, which means “sand gate”, is filled with fish restaurants. You know the main dish must be fresh since the neighborhood is right across the street from the huge fish market that’s on the edge of the Marmara Sea. My colleagues told me that while Kumkapi has become more touristy in the past few years, it’s still far less so than other areas.  The neighborhood, they said, used to be populated mostly by gypsies.  Gypsies still go from restaurant to restaurant playing music for tips.

Our early Sunday dinner was at Capari Arif, a restaurant popular with one of Turkey’s major soccer teams. Unfortunately there weren’t any cute soccer players there that night, just our group (hey – I can still look!). Many plates of meze followed by a huge garden salad that looked like a sculpture of veggies and finally our choice of grilled fish fresh from the sea. I wish I’d been less jet-lagged and had more energy to explore after our meal. Oh well! Another time.

Get there:
Capari Arif
Capariz Sok No 47-49
ph: (0212) 517 22 71

Rating: Fair. Overall everything was tasty, but my fish was a bit dry and service was slooooow even though we were the only group there.