An amazing dinner at Giritli on June 16, 2012

Saturday night Berke and Cicek picked us up and took us to Sultanamet to eat at an Aegean restaurant called Giritli. This was another amazing experience. The seating area is in the courtyard of a home that was owned by the propreitor's grandmother. The seating is comfortable underneath colorful lighting. The kitchen is outside as well. The table is initially covered by 15 or so different meze dishes including blackeyed peas, raw cheese with olives, smoked fish, marinated fish (similar to ceviche), two types of seaweed, a cheese like spread with fish eggs, etc. Then, after working on that for awhile, they brought us grilled octopus which was the most fresh and delicious that We had ever had. Then came some large pieces of squid, fried calamari style with an interesting ground nut sauce. Finally, there were fresh sardines wrapped in grape leaves and grilled--unbelievable.
The night was made more interesting when the space next to us was prepared for a group of 25 people. The guests trickled in and finally the guest of honor appeared. It was Kenan Imirzaliogli, one of the most famous movie actors in Turkey. Heads turned and the restaurant was abuzz. He was soon joined by another equally famous actor whose name I cannot remember!
It was time for dessert and our waiter took us over to the open kitchen to watch the spooning and frying of small dough balls called lokma. After frying they are dipped in honey and served with ice cream. Delicious. We rode back home, well fed, and learning very much about Turkey from our new friends. We then strolled Istiklal and settled in for the night while Troy and Darius stayed out until 2:00 a.m. Troy was able to get Darius into some of the hopping clubs in the neighborhood. Maybe it was a bit of a slow night as it was Muhammed's birthday and even the least devout Muslims don't drink on this night.