Asitane: Fine Ottoman Cuisine

Continuing the culinary journey through Istanbul, I wanted to write a separate post for one of the restaurants that is my personal favorite. Preparing for my trip, I had come accross an interview with Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's Nobel Prize Author, describing his favorite places in the city. Asitane, which was mentioned as one of the author's picks caught my attention. 

The restaurant has been around since 1991, serving genuine Ottoman recipes from the Topkapi, Dolmabahçe and Edirne Palaces. The menu displays the original Ottoman name and date of each dish. Even though a few restaurants in Istanbul claim to offer genuine Ottoman cuisine, Asitane was the first to receive an official license from the Imperial Kitchens. 

At Asitane, the lady in charge of guest relations, Hanzade, was extremely accomodating and sweet, as were the rest of the staff. The food was exquisite and as I had mentioned to the staff, I am confident that if we had not tried it, we would have missed out on a important part of Istanbul. Below are the dishes we tried:  

Stuffed Melon with mincemeat prepared with rice, herbs and almonds is a popular recipe dating from 1539. 

The Mahmudiyye (Mahmut’s Dish) also dates from 1539. It consits of boneless chicken cooked with dried apricots, grapes and almonds, with pinch of cinnamon. 

For desert we picked the Sour Cherry Bread, since it was the only thing we hadn't seen anywhere else. Dating from 1844 this bread dipped in Sour Cherry Syrup (Visino as we say in Greek) was served with Vanilla ice cream and topped with crushed pistachios and a sour cherry. Turkish Delight indeed!