MIRACLES do happen. I have wanted to visit Istanbul for so long, and never having managed to stuff the piggy bank with enough cash to do so, Istanbul has finally come to me. Or, at least its food has. Istanbul:
A slice of Turkey
in KapahuluAnother who waited was Olcay Kaytaz, whose circumstance was a bit different. A native of Istanbul, Turkey, he's lived in Hawaii for seven years, and understandably said, "I always wanted to eat something from home, but there wasn't anything."
So Kaytaz opened Istanbul Restaurant a few doors down from Pyramids restaurant on Kapahulu Avenue, and boom! Within a week I was there. No jet lag or muscles aching from 100-pound carry-on bags. No sir. Just the stress of trying to find street parking. But that's normal.
The decor isn't luxurious, but it's on par with most of the other small neighboring restaurants. At first glance I thought the lighting too garish, but I guess the staff sensed that also. Luckily, they have a dimmer switch, and over the course of the evening, it kept getting darker and darker. I thought it was my eyesight fading away. Then, the lights would come back up. Same with the music. It blared, it shrank to a delicate pianissimo, it swelled, it softened again.
To be fair, the staff just wanted to set the mood for a 7:30 p.m. belly dance performance. Frankly, I could do without the floor show, but my friend's curiosity was piqued. "I wonder if that's hard to do?" she said. Who knows? By now the belly dancer ranks may have grown by one.
IF you know what you want, it's possible to get a very good, inexpensive meal here. The problem is, you may spend a lot of money before deciding on the perfect combination.My first impulse was to go for the Meze ($19.50), a typical Turkish first course of mixed hors d'oeuvres. For the price I expected a fairly ample platter laden with Yaprak Dolmasi (stuffed grape leaves), Pastrima (cured, dried beef strips), Humus (chickpea-sesame paste), Tursu (mixed pickled vegetables) and Sigara Boregi (white cheese and parsley rolled into flaky pastry). All are also available a la carte, and for the price and portions, I felt I would have done better to order what I really wanted, starting with the garlicky humus ($4.95), which I swear I could live on.
The Sigara Boregi ($5.95) was also worth trying again, as were the Yaprak Dolmasi ($4.50), only if you've never tried it because you may like the tangy grape leaf and rice combination. I found the leaves too stiff to stomach.
To my repeat list I'd add Imam Bayildi ($4.95), a simple dish of tender eggplant sauteed in olive oil with tomatoes and onions, generally served cold, but served here at room temperature.
Of interest to sausage fans is the Sucuk ($8.99), grilled and topped with cheese. Though spicy and flavorful, the sausage might well have been a wine cork since you really have to gnaw at it.
Main dishes include kebabs of lamb ($14.95), chicken ($9.95), ground beef ($10.95), or a house special of Iskender Kebap ($14.95), spit-roasted, sliced beef. There is seafood also - grilled shrimp ($15.95) topped with a yogurt sauce, mahimahi ($14.95), lobster ($19.95) and fried mussels ($12.50). All are served with a small tossed salad and bulgur rice cooked in a rich tomato broth.
Desserts tend to be extremely sweet - cakes and cookies soaked in sugary syrup. You would do just fine ending the meal with a cup of sweet Turkish coffee.
Istanbul Restaurant
Where: 740 Kapahulu Ave.
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