Restaurants

This new restaurant has enthusiastic staff who flit between the wooden tables and rush to open the door for people as they come and go. The lights are dim and the atmosphere favours dating couples, though a blackboard lists lunch specials along with daily changing dishes and wine offers. The menu and the look tend towards the Mediterranean, but the room displays the lamps, ephemera and photos that seem compulsory in most modern Turkish dining establishments. Food, though, goes beyond the standard Turkish grills. Good, own-marinated olives and a spicy tomato dip with yellow pepper were supplied to start our meal, along with plentiful hot, fresh pide. We followed this with a very large Petek tantuni: thin strips of fried beef mingling with strips of pitta. Dishes were presented elegantly on oblong white plates, and our meal was accompanied by a good, dressed salad. Petek is trying hard to establish itself, and its efforts seem to be paying off.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008