Park Hyatt & Kosebasi Restaurant, (Istanbul-Turkey)

We arrived back to Istanbul. I was actually very happy to be back. This time; we decided to stay at the Park Hyatt which is in the very chic neighborhood of Nistanasi. Lots of chic shops and cafes around the area. We heard lots of great things about the hotel and we also got a very good rate. The hotel is very modern with amazing friendly staff. The building used to be an apartment building and they renovated it to its modern glory.


Since we arrived very late into Istanbul, we decided to eat at the restaurant right NEXT door to the hotel. We were lucky that it is considered to be one of the best in town. The restaurant is called Kosebasi and is considered one of the best kebab restauarnts in Turkey by TIME magazine. And; Kosebasi was voted "One of the top 50 restaurants on Earth" by 14,000 readers of the Conde Nast Traveller. And, Kosebasi again received the highest rating in the 2009 Zagat Survey. I can keep going on and on and on about this restaurant but I am sure you get the picture. This is one of the best restaurants around and we were going to eat there. Yeeeppeee!


The first dish was artichoke with potatoes & carrots slices. A very refreshing dish It came cold, nice presentation, the artichoke was very fresh, a nice consistency and was tasty.


The second dish was Turkish yoghurt. Very creamy, rich and sour. You never need sauce when you have a whole dish of yoghurt. It goes practically with everything.


The third dish was humus. Creamy and tasty. I always enjoys humus; a simple dish but very satisfying with good bread.


The bread at the restaurant was incredible. The bread arrived at the table warm and they were puffed up like balloons. You crack them open, break a piece off and use it to accompany the the other dishes like the humus. The bread was crispy but tender inside.


This dish was a complementary (very nice of them). I was not sure what it was but it reminded me of a mini-pizza on the bottom and on top was a mini-calzone. The pizza was simply made with fresh tomato and herbs and the calzone was filled with cheese. Both were tasty.


The fifth dish was a parsley salad mixed with tomatoes and herbs. A very refreshing dish; a dish full of contrasting flavours, sour, tangy and acidic. Very nice.


The sixth dish was a fresh tomato salad. I think ever since I arrived in Istanbul, I have never eaten so much tomatoes in my life. I have had tomatoes in every meal I have had. I am not even complaining. The tomatoes in Istanbul are so full of taste. On top of that tomatotes are good for your health and fights cancer.


The seventh dish was minced lamb and grilled to perfection. A simple dish but I just love it. I can eat this stuff all the time. The lambe had a fabulous flavour.


The eighth dish was lamb chops. They sure know how to cook their lamb in this restaurant. So juicy and tasty at every bite.


The red wine we had was Doluca, Kave 2006. Another very nice Turkish wine what paired with the food perfectly. Drinking well with lots of fruit and the acidity was not overwhelming.


We were the last ones at the restaurant. As you can see; the waiters cleaned up the al-fresco dining area and left us alone. The main restauarnt is across the street. The staff were sitting there waiting for us to leave. We felt bad and asked for the bill.

If you want to know more about Kosebasi; please click on:

www.kosebasicom