Kalamar Restoran

In our brief experience in Turkey the country doesn’t have much that can be called a cuisine. Most restaurant specialize in kabap (kabob). It’s always been good but nothing special. Kalamar was recommended to us as a good seafood restaurant. It’s quite good. We had two starters (seaweed and eggplant & tomatoes) and two main courses (sea bass and fish casserole). All four dishes were well done and served in style. We are used to good restaurants back home in Los Angeles. This want high cuisine, but it was better than the kabap places. The service was also quite nice, and the price was very reasonable. Kakamar is in a small community of seafood restaurants in the Kumkapi district — near the sea and west of the old city.

This place does a great job of capturing the al fresco dining experience of Istanbul but is also a bit too touristy for my liking. We picked this particular place because Anthony Bourdain dined here and he seemed to have liked it. The pros and cons for this place seem to be rooted in the same themes. A knowledgable and nice waiter who tried to up-​sell a lot, really fresh and well prepared seafood that was almost as expensive as a fine dining restaurant in the states or Central Europe and a great al fresco setting that almost felt more rehearsed than authentic.

Recommended by Hotel, really good place. Must try the king prawns in butter and garlic (see picture). My wife and I had the salted fish for two, really good, although could use more flavour. Appetizers we had taziki and hummus only because my wide does not like sardines. The waiters are really nice and friendly and will accommodate your needs… we had the king prawns without the shells and deveined. He also made sure to take out as much bones from the salted fish.