Şahin Lokantası

Easy to miss this place, but the food is good and service very friendly. The potato soup was awesome! When the locals pointed it to me they told me «best place ever», and while I wouldn’t exactly put it that way it’s still definitely a nice homey place. :)

Amazing! Best (and most affordable) meal we had in Istanbul. A local hole-​in-​the-​wall with really high quality food. See my photos for details: the eggplant/​ground meat and the meatball soup were fantastic, and the sutlac (rice pudding) as well.
The service was great, everyone was really friendly, and knew just enough English to get us through the meal. The main chef showed us reach of his dishes, right there on display, and you can choose just by looking and pointing. See my photos for more food details.
We got there at 11:20 a.m.on a Saturday and it was empty. It started to pick up more as we were leaving near noon. There is no Wi-​Fi here.
It cost only 33 TL (before tips) for two entrees, one soda, and one dessert.

Amazing home cooking. Real Turkish food. If you are looking for an exceptional experience, you will find it here. It is a small place with just a few tables. No reservations are allowed and they close for the night when they run out of food. The first night we tried to go there at 8:45 and they were about to close down. The second night we got there in time to try 4 – 5 different plates of the most delicious meat and vegetable dishes. The soups were out of this world and the rice pudding desert tasted like something from the old world. The hospitality too is old world. With very little English, the warm staff made us feel welcomed and made us laugh. It is not a fancy place but in my life I’ve only had such love-​filled food in my grandma’s kitchen. Cost is below $ 10 per person and that’s with drinks and desert.