Fıccın Restoran

Chock full of locals, but dishes are rather meh. Assorted cold vegetables were all overlooked, hardly fresh, and humus was the worst I’ve had ever, including the ones you can buy in a supermarket. Most of the street is actually the same restaurant, so there’s a lot of toing and froing by staff. Staff is generally unfriendly.

Great place, amazing food and even more amazing prices. It is the perfect place to have meze accompanied by rakı near Taksim. I don’t know how they do it but this is the best food you can find for your buck. The food and the service doesn’t feel cheap at all.
As a person with Circassian people in my family, I found their chicken spot on. The other meze were amazing such as the pickled fish (lakerda) and cold dishes with olive oil (zeytinyağlılar). The fried zucchini paste (mücver) was done in a shape kind of similar to meatballs (köfte), which is different than the traditional thinner shape and I think it added a lot to the dish.

Very friendly staff, great service, and a lovely place to people watch. I couldn’t be happier.

Calm and well decorated place with friendly stuff. Nice restaurant to have a dinner. You should, and maybe must, give a chance to «Ficcin» and try it. It’s the yummiest meal on the menu.

— Outdoor seating leaves you open to cats and passing by musicl artists for money
— Kick the cat in the ass, and politely telly the instrumentist no thanks
— Just like the cat, another personal serenader will come by your table
— We got there just before closing, they were out of a lot of stuff
— the meatball and fries were delicious

Ficcin is located in a side street of the famous Istiklal Caddesi, in the Beyoglu area. Ficcin is actually the name of a typical Circassian dish, and as I understand, the original idea of the restaurant was to serve purely Circassian food. However, the owners seem to have lost that somehow along the way. My husband is Turkish, but from Circassian descent, so when we travelled to Istanbul, we were excited to find a full-​fledged Circassian restaurant (which in Belgium you don’t find — you’re lucky to find something Turkish that remotely qualifies as a restaurant) In Istanbul, of course, the situation is far better in that respect, but Ficcin still doesn’t really go beyond the standard snack bar.
First of all, there is the interior, which is quite shabby. In addition, you feel as if you’re in a box of sardines since they have tried to make the most of their limited space by stuffing as many tables into the room as possible, which can leave one feeling claustrophobic. The one fun thing I did really enjoy were the little Circassian puppets in traditional Circassian attire, it gave a nice touch to the room.
Since we basically went for the sake of having eaten Circassian food, we didn’t really mind a too much about the quality of the food,. But if I were to be really honest, I’d have to say my husband and I are better at preparing traditional Circassian cuisine than Ficcin was. (and I think the point of going to a restaurant is eating something you can’t make as good yourself, no?) I had the ficcin, which is some sort of pasta with ground beef in it. The ficcin was ok, nice and crispy, but not memorable, and not enough onion, as it is supposed to have. My husband took the Velibah, which he — to his own saying — could have made better, and he’s not quick to complain. It’s too bad really, because it’s a really nice concept; a Circassian restaurant in the heart of Istanbul; it could really show the variety Turkish cuisine has to offer. Too bad the menu only contained some 5 or 6 Circassian dishes and for the rest all Anatolian dishes. Nice try, missed shot.

One of the best meals I had in Istanbul was at Ficcin. The restaurant is located in a trendy area so the restaurants are typically expensive but Ficcin keeps their prices low and the food is amazing.
It’s Circassian aka Northern Caucasian food along with Turkish specialties. The lamb cooked in a crock was beautifully flavored and amazingly tender. It was my favorite dish. The Ficcin special is sort of like minced meat cooked within a pizza-​like dough served with salad. The look can be deceiving because it’s more delicious than it appears and the salad was fresh and vibrant. The Circassian ravioli was unlike any other ravioli I’ve ever had. It was stuffed with cheese and meat and had this yogurt sauce on top. Incredibly good!
Definitely make this a stop if you are visiting Istanbul. The servers are helpful and you can ask for an English menu. Try to visit during non-​busy hours. We came just before lunch and thought, wow it’s pretty empty. Within 5 minutes of noon, it was packed. Every table was filled and every time someone left a table, there was another party waiting to sit there. We were happy to have come early enough to snag a table.

Wonderful and authentic Turkish restaurant featuring a variety of meze (appetizers) to compliment your meal. The shrimp güveç is sizzling and among the favorites of the locals. Ficcin has a nice wine list if the guests are not drinking Turkish raki. I highly recommend Ficcin to anyone visiting istanbul seeking a local flavor and inexpensive dining experience.

Once upon a time there was a restaurant located on a side street off Istiklal Street in Istanbul, Turkey. This restaurant was not just one restaurant but actually three physical restaurants branded and owned by the same person, all marketed under the same Ficcin name and located next to and across from one another on the same street.
Ficcin would employ staff to stand out front of the three restaurants and entice passerbys to dine in one of their three same-​but-​different restaurants. Ficcin would also supply menus with photos upon request (gasp!). Ficcin was a tourist trap camouflaged by great reviews on multiple online review sites.
At Ficcin you would only find tourists because no local resident would eat because the food served at Ficcin is less than average, tailored to tourists who don’t know any better and allow themselves to become so hungry that they’d rather eat at Ficcin than chew their arm off.
One day in May 2015, a tourist relied on Unilocal for a restaurant recommendation and made the decision to dine at Ficcin. That tourist was left feeling as though she «got schooled» and vowed to spend more time searching and reading reviews for multiple restaurants for dining adventures going forward, regardless of how «hangry» she was at the time of searching/​researching/​setting out on a dining adventure.
The end.

Ficcin restaurant was one of our two favorites during our stay in Istanbul and we liked it so much that we even planned to come back a second time but unfortunately we could not in the end. It offers a delicious cuisine from Caucasus and prices are really correct given the quality and taste.
We had different dishes that we shared and it was indeed a good idea to taste more things. As dishes are quite small, you can easily take 3 or 4 for two persons. We had of course the specialty: some delicious raviolis from Caucasus (with some yogurt on top, after all we are in Turkey!) that i highly recommend. We also had a cold fish that was incredibly tasty, i was surprised because i was not betting on this dish initially. We also had a dish of cooked cheese with peas, that can sound like a weird dish to conceive; but again: delicious!
So to sum up, absolutely go there, the cuisine is delicious. And i will not forget the dessert that was exceptional. It was a cake made of almonds and it looked like a delicious, delicious madeleine (type of French sponge finger cake).

Came here with a Turkish friend on the first night of our arrival because this was one of her favorite restaurants in the area for what she called ravioli. Got here and the guy didn’t have talked yet was doing what looked like he was pawning us off to another restaurant. What actually was going on was it was the same restaurant back to back for a handful of restaurants!
We sit down and were handed the English menu of course. Ordered the Circassian ravioli with ground meat and stuffed grape leaves with meat and rice. They both came out fairly quickly and a side of bread and condiments were served with it. Our friend asked if we liked garlic. And of course we said yes! Who doesn’t? So out came a side of garlic yogurt to go with our ravioli. The whole meal was very delicious and flavorful and unique. Would go back just for the dumplings

I was thoroughly impressed by Ficcin. In fact, I would say it’s in my top 3 istanbul meals.
It was packed with tourists when we walked in for dinner — about a ten minute walk from our Airbnb, so I was immediately skeptical because often touristy restaurants are really expensive and don’t have great food. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
The waitress spoke impeccable English and they had an English menu. She patiently went through the menu items with us, recommending dishes and answering all our questions.
We opted for the ravioli (half beef, half potato), the eggplant with yogurt, the hummus, and the red pepper dip. What a flavor explosion! Everything was exquisitely delicious with great flavors, portions and prices. The ambiance itself was romantic with mood lighting, but still casual enough to have conversations at a normal volume. This place is so popular, in fact, that there are 3 or 4 storefronts, all located on the same street.
Our bill ended up being less than $ 25 total which was amazing, considering what we ate. I really wish we’d come here another time before we left, but alas, we wanted to «explore.»
Highly recommend for Turkish mezze!

Ich esse seit Jahren immer wieder hier — dank der täglich wechselnden Speisekarte wird das auch nie langweilig. Das Essen ist günstig und gleichbleibend gut, die Köfte gehören zu den besten, die ich je gegessen habe.

Das Ficcin liegt in einer kleinen Gasse die von der istiklal caddesi abgeht. Mit einer kleinen Karte mit ausgewählten Speisen ist diese Adresse kein Touri-​Standard. Das Restaurant erstreckt sich in der ganzen Gasse und ob vor einem Schaufenster oder einer Eingangstür, Stühle und Tische stehen überall, was das besondere Ambiente ausmacht. Sicherlich zu empfehlen, da es sehr voll und wohl auch bei Einheimischen sehr beliebt ist.

Good value for money. We liked the circassian ravioli. The menu is available in English. Food came out quickly.
This recommendation was written by Katrin S. If you enjoyed my recommendation, I’d appreciate a «helpful» or «cool» given.

Great location. My food came out to fast and wasn’t really hot. It was tasty. The Turkish tea was the worst one I’ve had on Istanbul. It took a whole to get service initially. Not sure if I’ll return.

Menu in English was helpful. Service can be improved. I didn’t enjoy the shrimp casserole.

Ficcin is just perfection. We had a lot of great mezze at Lemontree and Karakoy Lokantasi, which were delicious and wonderful as well, however those were high-​end restaurants and almost twice the price as Ficcin. The mezze here were just as good as in a more casual laid-​back setting. The food was so good we came twice on our trip. There is the usual suspects on the menu, eggplant in multiple forms, kidney beans in olive oil, hummus. The chicken mezze was a surprising winner, it comes shredded almost like a rilette or pâté. We had 5 mezze, enough for two of us for dinner, and managed to keep the price under 40 tl, or $ 20. Can’t recommend this place enough!

Great concept of cooking food according to the daily offer of local farmers.
The food is amazingly good and made with that something special.
It gives you that feeling that you spent your money in something good and not like other restaurants where you think «I could’ve cooked that at home.»
Highly recommended. Great atmosphere and service. And also in the heart of
Taksim.
Don’t miss it.

Often, in places with a lot of tourists, restaurants realise that familiarity is appreciated. They do versions of local cuisines that won’t challenge the clientele. I’m not being some kind of food snob who blabbers on about how experienced and sophisticated I am with food, I just don’t want the stuff I get at home. Sorry…

We came here for dinner and this was one of my best meals in Istanbul. We had the eggplant with ground meat, assorted dumplings, pizza like pie and mixed appetizer plate. The service was super friendly and they were accommodating and had nice English menus. The price was reasonable and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Istanbul :)

I discovered Ficcin through one of the many travel sites. As usual, the best food was off the beaten path and you need to venture a half block off of Istiklal just past one of the many starbucks on the corner. There are three separate Ficcin dining rooms, but I was assured that all menus were the same.
We ate Humus, Circassian style raviolis with meat, and a cold Circassian style chicken dip with walnuts and spices. Everything was amazing. We have never even heard of Circassian style cooking (which we later found out was a mountainous region located in the Caucasus of Eurasia, located within Russia on the Black Sea coast). If this is any indication, they eat very very well.
My wife was not as thrilled with the Circassian chicken as I was, but we both agreed it was the best humus we’ve ever eaten and the raviolis were incredible.
All in all… it is a must stop for anyone in and around the Taksim area.

Erster? Egal, Ficcin ist ein super Tip für Istanbul. Es gibt in der Straßen mehrere Ficcin Restaurants, die vom Ambiete her unterschiedlich sind, aber alle die gleiche Küche haben. Und die ist sehr gut! Einfache, aber äußerst schmackhafte und frische Gerichte, guter Service, nette Stimmung. Ficcin ist durchaus auch für Touristen, aber eben keine Touri-​Fütterungs-​Adresse sondern ebenso beliebt bei Istanbulern.