Showing posts with label expensive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label expensive. Show all posts

February 6, 2009

ÇokÇok, Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey

Those who crave for decent Asian food in Istanbul know what I mean when they finally hear that a Thai restaurant is opened. It's been a year, I headed with a group of friends to this restaurant in search for some traditional Thai dishes.
The place is well-decorated, reflecting the Thai style. Definitely try the second floor where you can sit on the mats for a real Thai experience:) Attention: It is dark inside the restaurant
The menu seems to have it all which got us even more excited. However the dishes lacked flavour. Red and green curry didn't taste real Thai, maybe because adjusted to Turkish taste...And where is Thai aubergine in the curry?? Chicken satay is such a disaster! It tastes like sis kabap with a weird sauce.
Lychee dessert: Great, or is it?! It should have been indicated in the menu that it was canned fruit, so pretty disappointing for the ones expecting fresh lychee.
One very positive comment about the place: They have quite a lot of various tea flavours-from the classics like jasmine to oolong and many others. Tea comes with a small pot, well brewed and kept warm with candle light at the bottom.
Restaurant is pricy especially considering that you can eat much better Thai dishes in Asia for one fifth of the price!

Kitchenette, Palladium AVM, Istanbul, Turkey

+ Menu was kept quite simple -only 2 pages- which decreases the decision time.
+ Nice dish presentation
+ Although there was a smoking section in the restaurant, you could feel no smoke, very well ventilated.
+ Birthday cake was delicious!

- It was very expensive considering that they offer neither creativite recipes nor high quality service. Main dishes cost around 25-30 TL, even soft drinks are 7 TL which is ridiculous!
- Turkish tea was charged although it came in the form of an offering.