Kanaat Lokantası

Beautiful presentation of traditional turkish food and the quality is competetive as well. Price is kinda bigh but stlection is rich. Plan to spend 50 – 60 TL/​person for a meal.

Overrated. Used to have normal prices now their prices are almost as expensive as a Michelin Star restaurant. Very greasy food. They have few good deserts and good ice cream. That’s all. I would recommend Karakoy Lokantasi instead (on the European side). Cash only.

Absolutely outstanding traditional Turkish food. Sample several dishes you will not be disappointed. For dessert try zerde. For main course try enginar it is artichoke.

This is one of the best place in Asian Side for both traditional dishes and desserts. My favorites are Kuru Fasulye and Ekmek Kadayifi but every other thing are fantastic enough to die…
You should try Yogurt with your meal or you can save some place for desserts.

Our first evening in Istanbul, we decide to take the boat to go to Asia (to Üsküdar) and had dinner in this wonderful place: tasty food offered in a very authentic place, not touristy at all. I really loved both the food and the atmosphere. It is totally worth taking the boat to come eat here (plus the boat by itself is very nice, even at night with all the lights of the city). You can eat very fast if you like as the service is super efficient but you can also take your time: it is entirely up to you. The big room is very lively.
To choose the food, you can either use the English menu or directly go to the open kitchen and show what you want: easy. I had the lamb which was so, so tasty, really delicious. I have to confess that it was super greasy but my god, it was also so good that I forgave all the fat. I also had a plate of chickpeas, very well cooked: the sauce was very tasty again. In dessert, we had the Albanese crème brûlée, which did not seem so appealing when it arrives but which we ended up liking also! The whole meal was a success.
So you can find here very traditional and simple food, very tasty and for very low prices: on of my favorite restaurant during our stay in Istanbul!

Uskudar is visited by few foreign tourists, and consequently doesn’t have a plethora of eating establishments where non Turkish speakers can order a meal without pointing out your desired repast from pictures or a display. Thankfully, Kanaat Locantasi has not only Turkish/​English menus, but staff which makes good use of limited English language skills. Menu items, while somewhat pricy in comparison to smaller neighborhood establishments, are well presented and varied. While being no expert on Turkish cuisine, the delicious lamb chops and lamb kebabs were well presented as were the accompanying sides. Apparently, the locals agree as the dining area was at near capacity at dinner time. Service was efficient and pleasant. Foreign guests will feel welcome, but be advised that this establishment is CASH ONLY!

Food was a 3 star (bland tasting) but price was a 1 star. 20 liras per small plate item is very overpriced for this quality (unless they just charged me a different price for tourists). Baran restaurant in sultanhamet serves better quality food in a very center location in old town and only charges 10 liras per plate. the doner joints up and down the street are better choices.

It’s no secret that Turks love and idolize this place because the food is traditional and well done, served in the same way your Turkish mum would have prepared it. As far as a lokanta goes, however, «meh, I’ve experienced better» is the best way to describe this place. I don’t think paying these high prices for food that is essentially the same as any other lokanta-​type place makes sense.
Really, prices for even a vegetable dish start at double the normal rate and the meat dishes are even more outrageous. They are pretty delicious, but no more or less awesome than my boyfriend’s cooking and that’s saying a lot actually.
The icing on the cake for this place for me was the lackluster service. I was with a guest from Belgium and I wanted her to experience some of that famous Turkish hospitality, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen waiters be less excited about two blonde foreigners in their establishment. On other days I’d be thrilled that no one was talking to me but on that day I really wanted to strike up a conversation with the staff. They were instead very grumpy and unfriendly, which made for a totally disappointing overall experience.
Turks will recommend this place, and you will probably like it. But if you have been to other lokantas or eaten a home-​cooked meal this place will seem a bit overrated I think.
By the way, it does not accept credit cards.

Hervorragende traditionelle osmanische Küche (Hausmansskost) in einem Restaurant aus den 30ern, dicht bei der Anlegestelle Üsküdar. Sehr günstige Preise. Viel Gemüse, Eintöpfe und Schmorgerichte ohne dem sonst üblichen Kebap-​Schwerpunkt Fast nur Einheimische. Mittelmäßiges kantinenhaftes Ambiente. Speisenauswahl eher an der Theke als à la carte. Wir waren dreimal da, jedesmal zum Finigerlecken.