Little hidden restaurant in the heart of Istanbul

At the end of last year, sometime in October 2022, my fiancé and I spent 2.5 months living in Istanbul (Türkiye), one of the most crowded cities, filled with people, things to see, and food to try. Before my travel, just like any of you, I checked numerous blogs, TikToks, and YouTube videos on what to see, where to go, and what to eat there. From the beginning, I knew I would probably check at least some things from everyone’s lists, but as I had enough time to investigate, we came across places I would love to share with you that probably no one talks about.

As this particular article is dedicated to this restaurant, on whom I am not writing a sponsored review, I will keep the list of “Things I did in Istanbul for 2.5 months” for some other time. You may let me know in the comments if this is something you would be interested to hear about.

Okay, let’s get back to this particular restaurant. The first I gotta mention is that it is cheap… VERY CHEAP! 

I know you are going to say that most of the things in Istanbul are already pretty cheap compared to rest of the Europe, and that is indeed true. However, most Turks are trying to overcharge you because you are not a local (even my Balkan identity brotherhood didn’t help as I am white and blonde). But this is a restaurant that, by looks seems a little sketchy, it has one hell of a chef. I am not even exaggerating. You will see how it looks in the picture below.

The restaurant is called DÜRÜMCÜ ÇETO and is one of those low key purely local restaurants offering chicken and kebab. It is located near Aksaray Metro Station (Aksaray/Fatih) near the Historia Mall or about 20min walking from the famous Suleymaniye Mosque. You can get a better sense of direction from the map below.

This restaurant is not a fancy “Instagramable” place, a “dancing” chef trying to upsell you by bringing a show to your table to make you spend more even when you didn’t order or ask for it, is not present on social media and they aren’t doing much regarding it. However, it has one of the warmest hosts ever, a chef that prepares the best chicken wings and bulgur I tried in my life. Believe my word because I do know my chicken.

Portions are big! Salad and bread with a meal + tea are free, and it all costs about 8€ (180 lira) for two big portions of food and drinks of choice. Not a single restaurant we had been to could beat the food, and we did indeed sit in restaurants where food cost up to 200€ for two people. The particular meal we had, and for which we returned for about once a week in those 2.5 months, was chicken wings (turkish : Kanat), so do check it out if you got a chance to because it is worth it! And, don’t worry, it is not the only food on the menu..

We all have that one person that is taking pictures of every meal, yes, that person is me. My fiance doesn’t care as you can see, as he is attempting to ruin my picture.. Photo: Adria.fun