Köşebaşı

man, loved this place a few years ago. on my visit last week, i thought it was getting bad.
the lamb chops used to be so good… this time boring.
maybe seeing the waiter take a quick pick at his nose got me grumpy.
overall, i think you can find a lot better for a lot less.
giving it a ³⁄₅ because i have had three good experiences a few years ago, and one lame one this time round…

Kosebasi comes with high credentials. Not only the several high ratings on several review sites, but also posters in the restaurant announce accolades from Conde Nast. So expectations do tend to be elevated entering this nicely appointed restaurant in an upscale neighborhood.
Absent these somewhat lofty expectations, my experience (and ratings) might be a little higher. But as it was, I came away dissapointed. Things appeared promising: as the mezzes I chose were quite good: a pureed eggplant dish and sundried tomatoes in olive oil. The bread served with them was also quite nice. Regrettably, there were no wine-​by-​the-​glass options, only a house red, that was pleasant. But I have been favorably impressed by the local wines of Turkey, and have been able to sample them at other restaurants. But not here.
But overall, the meal was rather good so far. But then my main course arrived. Ali Nazik is a favorite dish of mine and I have tasted this dish atseveral other restaurants, not only here in Turkey, but also in London and Essen, Germany. It is ground lamb served over a yogurt-​eggplant base with grilled tomatoes and peppers. Kosebasi’s version was very respectable (with perhaps a little of the lamb being overcooked), but did not stand out in any way and will not rank among my favorite experiences with this dish.
Again, the dish is a victim of those elevated expectations. But my qualified response is also influenced by the prices at this restaurant. I have little quams with expensive meals when the food is commensurate with the prices. But only a few days ago, I had a very similar meal here in town (nice but less upscale restaurant) where the bill came to TL 50. Here my two mezzes, bottled water, house wine, entrée and dessert came to TL 135. And I enjoyed the earlier meal better.
To be clear, the food here is quite good. But it’s not in line with either the prices or the hype. I did discover, after the meal, that Conde Nast no longer lists Kosebasi among its recommendations for Istanbul. Perhaps a decline in quality of late???

Chosen as one of the ‘World’s best 50 restaurants’ by Conver Nast Traveler magazine, also cited as the ‘Best Kebab Restaurant in Istanbul’ by Time Magazine, Köşebaşı is the only restaurant chain that devoted to the traditional recipes of South Anatolia. Located in different corners of the city such as Nişantaşı, Maslak, Cadde and many more. Other branches are also in Amsterdam, Sao Paulo, Bahrain, Riyadh etc.

Great Turkish mix over at kosebasi. Excellent starters, good mix of lamb and chicken kebabs and nice selection of Turkish delights.

Terrific food. Great meze and on different nights I had phenomenal chicken abd beef kebabs. Awesome desserts (one with honey and pistachios was intensely delicious). Overall, terrific. Only minor grievance: there is a built-​in fee of 24 TLs which is not mentioned until the bill arrives (for bread and service?) … Great ambience and still a reasonably priced meal. Very enjoyable.

In the mood for some spicy minced lamb… raw? — Well, if you’d told me a few years ago that I would enjoy eating this, I would’ve laughed at you. But, having travelled all over the world for a while now, my mind has become much more adventurous and my palette much more accepting ;-)
I came to Köşebaşı with my colleague, who’d been meaning to try out this location for a while. Her being a local, made ordering for me so much easier and so I was in the fortunate position to have placed many wonderful dishes in front of me. What I really liked was that the waiter came to the table with a tray full of different kinds of mezes and we were able to pick and choose from that as we liked.
In fact, we went wild on the starters (meze) and so we ended up ordering only one main dish that we shared.
If you’re on the Asian side of Istanbul and have been shopping on Bagdad Street, I can recommend coming here for some good food. (As with many Istanbul restaurants, they have a huge outdoor space — some of which is covered and has heating lamps.)