Ok, so when you go to Istanbul (and you have to go at least once in your life), you will probably make a trip to the Spice Bazaar, one of the oldest bazaars in the city. It’s right off the Eminönü stop on the tram, next to the Yeni Camii mosque aka the New Mosque. Right near that mosque is a place I still dream about: Tatseven.
It’s nothing fancy. The first thing you’ll see is probably the rotisserie chicken being cooked out in front. I randomly get really intimidated when there’s rotisserie displays at any restaurant…something about it seems really…brutish to me? Is that weird? But my little sister insisted the chicken here is one of the best. She discovered it when my aunt and uncle came to visit her in Turkey right before I did. They needed directions and the owner (who was actually a Turkish guy who lived in Ohio for many years if memory serves me right) was so nice, my uncle insisted that they go back to eat there.
I ordered the boneless chicken kababs. They were so juicy, tender, delicious! My sister ordered the rotisserie. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it as much since I tend to favor boneless, but WOW.
The chicken is so fresh and spiced just perfectly. I guess I wasn’t expecting it to be that great because it seems like any other food stand but it’s a great place for a pit stop — especially after all that shopping.
Restaurant Info:
Tatseven
Mesih Paşa Cad. No:1/A
Aksaray, Fatih, İstanbul – Avrupa (I’m not 100% sure if this is the right address — but I think you should just go off my directions 🙂 It’s right off the Eminönü stop on the tram, near the mosque…just look for the chicken?).
x
Shy
I didnt realize you were listening to me when i told you about the story of the owner. nice =)
The word bıldırcın on the sign of the restaurant means quail 🙂 that is interesting coz i never ate it before :)I think they are really small birds, i am not sure if you can eat them 🙂 I know they sell the quail eggs but i have never tried it before…r u sure u didnt eat some quails there? 😛
Oh my God, did we really eat quail?? If we did, we had no idea but…wow, they’re pretty good haha…I’m so glad I have Turkish reader for this very reason haha, thanks Yusuf!
haha Hajera’s food definitely looks like chicken though. U are welcome…
Great restaurant, highly recommend. Owner speaks English, very welcoming and served us a huge tray of food which we ate at an embarrassing speed. Absolutely GORGEOUS food. Highly recommend. Eve