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Balıkçı Sabahattin review Rate it
Most visitors staying around Sultanahmet head to Kumkapı for fish, unaware that there's a far better option on their doorstep. In fact, Balıkçı Sabahattin is one of the few restaurants that will tempt Istanbullus down from Beyoĸlu and over the Golden Horn. It benefits from a gorgeous setting: a street of picturesque old wooden houses, periodically rattled to their foundations by the commuter trains passing in and out of Sirkeci.
There's no menu: instead, bow-tied waiters present you with a tray of various meze and, later, a huge iced platter of seasonal fish and seafood from which to choose. Entertainment comes in the form of skittering cats skilled at doleful looks and pleading meows. Reservations essential.
Balıkçı Sabahattin details
off Cankurtaran Caddesi
Area Istanbul
Transport Tram Sultanahmet
Telephone 0212 458 1824
Open 11am-12.30am daily
Starters from YTL7. Main courses YTL15-YTL45
Comments & ratings
To cut to the chase, after being deliberately misled and practically accused of lying with regard to our order (on top of a catalogue of other aspects of poor service) I told the manager and his waiter that the situation was quite unacceptable and that we would pay for what we had had and then leave. It was only at this time that apologies started to flow, and once they started to flow it was like the floodgates had opened. However, it was too late by then. Why leave it to you have driven your customer to question their own sanity and left his Fiancée, who is celebrating her 30th birthday in tears, to apologise for a ‘mistake’. Neither of us accepted their apologies and we promptly settled for what we had had and exited. I regretted that this whole incident created a bit of a scene in the restaurant and I felt sorry for fellow diners but the situation was quite unbelievable for a restaurant of such reputedly high quality. I have never experienced anything remotely like this in all my travels around the world. I assume that this was formerly a good restaurant, however, Rough Guide and A Hedonist’s Guide may wish to re-evaluate their forthright backing of it. Needless to say I would not recommend the Balıkçı Sabahattin if they treat their customers even a fraction as badly as they treated us. I suspect that this restaurant may have become a victim of its own success, as they have seemingly begun to believe the hype and let standards slip to an alarming extent.
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