15. April 2011: Restaurant Sohbet Ocakbaşı

The Restaurant Sohbet Ocakbaşı is a typical Turkish restaurant – we were by far the only tourists in the restaurant. We ordered a nice selection of different meze for the starter (each 5 TL).

The spinach (left side of the picture below) was absolutely tasty – really great in taste. The eggplants were quite good too. The two different vegetable meze were really tasty.

The red pepper meze with garlic was not bad either but not as good as the vegetable meze. The curd with spices meze was good as well but …

… the garlic yoghurt meze was pretty disappointing compared to the other meze.

Together with the pita bread the meze were pretty good overall.

As main dishes (each about 10 TL) we had several plates again. The livers were not bad but too dry.

The kidneys on the other hand were rich in taste but had a special consistence most people probably would not like (and to be honest, it is something you need to get used to.

The meat skewer was the tasties main dish we god served. The meat was nothing special but at least the spices made it really tasty.

The pork spare ribs were not bad in taste but there was way too much fat and really not much meat – so it made the whole thing quite chewy.

The regular meat was okay but too dry and nothing special really. But if you want to have kind of a safe card, then this is definitely the right dish for you.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is not that great. There is a large grill where all the dishes are prepared in the corner which is somewhat special but the tables, the furniture and the whole room are really simple and not really appealing. The waiters are friendly and helpful and the prices are absurdly low.

Overall, the Restaurant Sohbet Ocakbaşı is an original Turkish place where you can find original Turkish food for really low prices in a not so great atmosphere. If you’re looking for the real kind of Turkish food experience, the Restaurant Sohbet Ocakbaşı is definitely a good place to go (although you should be careful when it comes to ordering your main dishes).

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Sohbet Ocakbaşı

Şht. Muhtar Mh.

Mis Sk 3

34440 Istanbul (TR)

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.