Siirt Şeref Review

Barney Fisher-Turner: Istanbul Food Stylist/Food Writer
www.barneyfisherturner.com

Certain humans equate price with quality when eating out; perhaps the garish bourgouis element relate to this; two hours in front of the mirror trying on shiny clothing combos, even longer at the hair dresser flicking though out of date women’s magazines and drinking Turkish coffee; scrubbed, fluffed and bronzed to soak up appreciated ‘hollow glances’. I inhabit these ultra fine restaurants too as the tasty well crafted food which to me is always the interesting part is more often than not worth that tedious hour agonizing with trouser selection and ironing ageing shirt. Every true food lover in the biz that I have spoken to in Istanbul over the last couple of months harbors one shared notion that good food has nothing to do with inflated menu prices, expensive interior design or recognition of other perfume drenched, mammals : personally I cultivate a steady conviction that both refined presentations; slicks, smears, towers and good authentic rustic Turkish kebabs offer up just as much and are equally symbolic; Siirt Şeref my new favorite restaurant is producing the finest pit roasted lamb and Lamacuns using the best ingredients; the ayran is frothy fresh and the smoky deeply savory roast meat is expertly sliced and piled onto patient pides; accompaniments according to tradition consist of ultra fresh tomato ezme, topped off with the best Pommagranate syrup, parsley, sliced onions and so on. Frankly I don’t need to get dressed up to the nines every time I just want something to chew on; all I want from any establishment is to eat good food; sometimes this stuff comes in the form of Foie Gras at a five star! artisan roasted meats found in Fatih’s women’s market also represent that so called ticket and you can skip the formal wear and probing looks from empty vessels.

İtfaiye Cad,
Imam Niyazi Sokak,
No 7,
Fatih
Istanbul