IS IT A SCHOOL? OR... A RESTAURANT?
At first, a school, I thought, with a name like Istanbul Culinary Institute ... But, on closer inspection, it's simultaneously a top-notch yet mundane eatery at VERY decent prices, considering Istanbul's ballooning cost of eating out that had been, at least a couple of years ago, still relatively cheap compared to the rest of Europe.
But I'm diverging.
There's no fancy haute cuisine air here: Just good ol' Turkish cooking presented in a stark bistro manner, meaning wide-rimmed, platter-like white dishes that feature what appears to be a tiny amount of sustenance, relative to the size of the plate. Once plopped on the table, let me assure that the portion is as adequate as it is sumptuous. What's good? Everything, but during my last trip I enjoyed spinach stew with chunks of the most tender lamb. I'll just say that while it doesn't measure up to my mother-in-law's (shameless plug), it's the best I ever had while eating out. The yogurt! Ahhhh... There's absolutely nothing like it; light, creamy, and a smoothness that must have taken hours to achieve. And for dessert, Irmik Helvasi-- a dish made of semolina, pine nuts, sugar, and a half-day's worth of whisking the mix over extremely low heat. It was good, but the espresso that accompanied it was served sans crema. That, Hande Bozdogan (ICI's owner) will have to rectify if she wants to attract the international clientele known to frequent her restaurant's Tepebasi neighborhood.
For about 20 TL (15USD) a head, there's a three-course table d'hôte menu that gets updated daily, as well as an á la carte menu.
ADDRESS: Mesrutiyet Cad. 59, Tepebasi-Istanbul
PHONE: +90.212.251 22 14
WEB: Istanbul Culinary Institute
STRICTLY SPEAKING: Soup--Çorba [Pron. chorba (as in chalk)]