Istanbul

Going next month, wondering if anyone has any recs?

No, but these should whet your appetite:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15348

In the fall of 2007, we had a wonderfully authentic meal at Restaurant Ciya. It's in the Kadikoy District, across the bridge on the Asian side of Istanbul. Many tourists remain in Europe visiting the Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Topkapi, etc. but it's well worth walking around this charming area.

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides ... 4674492283

Here's a whole thread about Istanbul from last year -- including "after" report with photos.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20284&p=211662&hilit=istanbul#p211662

Looks as if this will be a great trip. Just kind of picked it for it's exotic allure (and zildjian cymbals, which I collect) as the preceding wk I'll be in Paris and just wanted a mindblower tour de force to share with my girlfriend and figured what the hell, it always sounded interesting to me.

Thanks to all.

Hello All,
Bad news first: we are nearly on our own when looking for information on interesting local restaurants in Istanbul Turkey. The guide books clearly look at each others' notes on the same tired old tourist traps. If I read one more review of Pandeli I may scream. Web-based resources are extremely thin and usually flooded with ads. I tried them all and the only reliable voice I've found is www.istanbuleats.com
Good news: man there is a lot to eat in Istanbul. This cuisine is so rich and diverse, a week in Istanbul doesn't even scratch the surface.
I am a real fan of food from the Black Sea region of Turkey, up toward the Caucasus. Istanbul has some great places to try this food. In Beyoglu there's Pera Sisore up the Bosporus in Ortakoy I tried Pafuli. Pafuli is a bit fancy and service a bit stuffy. but the muhlama (Turkish freid cheese in a skillet) hamsi ekmek (sardine-laced cornbread) and laz boregi (sweet pastry) were right on the money.
It's easy enough to avoid the crumby traps but you'll have to toss the guide books aside and follow your instincts.
good luck!

Are you only going to be in Istanbul, or are you going elsewhere in Turkey? I just got back Sunday night from TUrkey, and if you will be in Selcuk, you MUST go to Ejder's. The mushroom stew we had there was probably the best thing we ate in Turkey.

(As for Istanbul, we had some decent food, but really did not have the energy to go hunting for specific places after long days on our feet, so we really didn't have anything super-fabulous there. I have to go back and finish!)