Chunk is the latest venture by the entertainment company 909 Productions, with whom Istanbul’s night owls are bound to already be familiar. Unlike its predecessors High-End, Crystal and the recently closed down 11:11, Chunk offers entertainment as well as dining in a ‘café-bar-dancing’ setting. The previous venues all bore the mark of artist Emir Uras, and Chunk is no exception. As soon as you step in, you’ll see two of his large-scale paintings on the right wall across from the entrance. Inside is a low-lit bar surrounded by brick walls. We decide to seat ourselves right in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows to benefit from the last rays of afternoon sun and watch all the people crowding İstiklal Caddesi.
The headliners of the menu are the four burgers: Chunk burger, cheeseburger, veal bacon burger and mini burger trio. You can design your own version with toppings like caramelised onions, sautéed mushrooms and jalapeños. You’ll also find snacks, salads, sandwiches, main courses and desserts on the menu. In keeping with their slogan, ‘Don’t eat junk, eat Chunk’, they offer delivery service to the area. The venue strikes us as a good place to hold an intimate birthday gathering, and the owners must have read our thoughts, since they don’t hesitate to inform us that they don’t charge rent for private parties. At Chunk, you can hear happy house, nu disco and funky house, though the DJ tends to spin more house than anything after midnight. By ‘DJ’, we mean some of Istanbul’s legendary entertainers like Fuchs, Tangun and Cure Shot. Elif Eren Altınarık
FROM THE MENU
Crispy onion rings 6 TL
Chunk burger 14 TL
Salad with fried hellim cheese 12 TL
Cheesecake 6 TL Beer 10-12 TL