Hacı Abdullah Lokantası

Ottoman home cooking since 1888

Budget: About 800–1,000 lira pp
Address: Atıf Yılmaz Cd. 9/A, Beyoğlu

A long-running restaurant with jars of preserves and pickles lined up near the entrance. Its founding is dated to 1888, and it now sits on Atıf Yılmaz Street near Taksim. The kitchen sticks to Ottoman court food: hünkar beğendi (lamb stew over smoky aubergine purée), braised lamb shank, stuffed pilaf. The dessert list includes fig and poppy-seed sweets. Prices run high for the area, so it suits a day when you want to splurge on one meal.