Gunaydin Butcher and Steakhouse

Gunaydin is a small, popular chain of steak restaurants, with branch in various smart spots across Istanbul. We visited the branch in Istinye Park, to sample their meaty goodness. The place is all wood and cowhide, in a style that MJ would simply adore, with cabinets of beef dry ageing for maximum flavour.

On our visit, we picked a steady but not overly busy time, so we were quickly seated in a nice spot at one of the tables, just next to the adjoining fruit and veg market. As you would expect, the menu is heavy on meat options, with a good two pages of choices. The first page featured an array of different dishes featuring lean, fillet steak. The second offered their 30 day dry aged beef steak, in a range of styles.

From these, I opted for something called a New Orleans fillet, which was a tower of aubergine, steak, more aubergine, cured meat, hot sauce and topped with parmesan. My dining companions chose lokum, which was thinly sliced fillet, and a Dallas steak, which was a colossal ribeye. Dishes appeared remarkably speedily, and all looked rather good. I had severe ribeye envy. It looked like a mighty morsel that Desperate Dan might chew on for a moment or two. But my tower looked pretty enough.

Cutting in, the meat was perfectly rare and of high quality. Each mouthful was meaty and satisfying. The simple accompaniments of potatoes and a few leeks, mushrooms and carrots seemed a little strange but worked remarkably well. The dish was well-balanced, well thought out, and hit the mark accurately. It lacked a wow factor, but struck me as the kind of experience you'd be happy to repeat on a weekly basis. Overall, Gunaydin struck me as a very good, reliable steakhouse, with pleasing service, high quality ingredients and smart steakhouse setting. It doubles as a butchers, so you can happily take home many of their fine ingredients to cook at home. Our visit was a very happy one, so I'd happily return to have another go at one of their massive hunks of meat.

Scores
Blythe scores Gunaydin
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 16/20

Today's questers were: Mina, Emir, Blythe

We ate: lokum, Dallas, New Orleans

We drank: water, Efes, coffees

We wore: holiday steakware

Total bill: 156 YTL

Pelit

We can't let our fun of earlier this week pass without a word for the cake that Mina picked up from Peilt (their Istinye Park branch) for our dearest Laila's birthday.

Now, I don't know if you've heard, but I don't really do dessert, but I seem to have been making a few exceptions to this rule, lately. I think it's fair to say that I'm glad my exceptions extended to experiencing this mighty fine item.


Chocolate and pistachio cake; how does that sound to you? Intriguing, perhaps? You'd be right to be curious and your curiosity would be well rewarded. It was an absolutely top-quality piece of cake. It was even better than my homemade Lemon Tart! ;-)

I demolished my piece in record time. My fellow diners were slightly more challenged by its intense richness, particularly after a filling lunch, but it was smiles all round.

Perhaps Mina knows a little more about whether this is Pelit's speciality or whether everything they make is awesome, but I'd certainly recommend trying out their wares, next time you're looking for a little celebratory sweet indulgence.

No scores for this quest - just a recommendation for a great bakery :-)

www.pelit.com.tr
Branches across Istanbul

BIG PLATE

We open Lunch Quest Istanbul with a restaurant located in the Istinye Park Mall. Sounds...busy? The mall certainly is, but Big Plate is tucked away out of sight of shoppers in a back section of the building that can only be reached through a private elevator.

Located on the roof top, the restaurant is in a half covered area surrounded by potted plants and wood furniture that gives the place a 'garden' feel.  The lounge music, funky bookcases and murals done by prominent local artist Sena Cevik add a touch of the eclectic.

Mural by Sena Cevik (www.senacevikz.com)

Mina's Verdict:

I was really impressed by the service. Our waitress (Suna) was polite, efficient and all smiles. She brought us bread and dip to begin with (a mix of olive and tomato bread which was good, the olive oil dip was a little bland) then took our order promptly.

Not wanting a starter (though there was plenty of choice), I ordered the Aegean Pizza. It looked delicious, smelled wonderful and tasted good. The base was thin and crunchy, the tomatoes particularly fresh and juicy and it was really filling. Although the combination was good and the tomato sauce had a nice herby oregano flavouring, I wasn't completely wowed by the dish.

Aegean Pizza with cherry tomatoes, black olives, green peppers and feta cheese

Full up on 'cheesy goodness' as fellow lunch-quester Blythe Robertson would say, I let Patrick judge the dessert and ordered a double espresso. The coffee was good. Really good (I love my coffee!) And the biscotti that came with it was a real surprise; a combo of pistachio, raisins and hazelnuts.

My Double Espresso on the left, 'Brazilian' Cappuccino in the middle, Patrick's Mint Late on the right.

As a side note I have to say, I was most intrigued by the glass Patrick's Mint Late came in which was handleless and heat resistant. Wavered between being outraged at the thought of drinking hot coffee from a handle-less cup and awed by the prettiness of the glass.

Patrick's Verdict:

Big Plate is a nice plate to sit for lunch.  The atmosphere is relaxed and there is ample opportunity to people watch.  The menu is written in both English and Turkish which is always handy and contains a decent selection of pizzas, pastas, turkish food and brunchy-type stuff.  I was a bit hungry so opted for a pepperoni and jalapeno pizza.  It arrived fifteen minutes later and was perfectly crisp, with not too much cheese, tasty Italian pepperoni and nicely spicy jalapenos.  I was happy.  What did mystify me slightly was my fresh lemonade, which tasted of oranges.  This may be because of the half orange sitting in my glass.  Hey ho, it wasn’t bad, just not lemonade! 

Raspberry Lemonade on the left, Fresh Lemonade on the right

Anyway, there was plenty of room for pudding.  I plumped for the intriguingly titled banana carpaccio.  Great choice!  For those who like their sweets sweet, I mean.  Twelve slices of banana covered in sugar and grilled creme brulee stylee.  In the middle was fresh vanilla bean ice cream with a little sprig of fresh mint.  The combinations worked really well and the presentation was excellent although I can see how it would be too sweet for some. 

I washed it down with a mint latte which was mighty tasty.  All in all, a pretty successful first Lunch Quest Istanbul!

Scores on the Doors 

Out of 20 Patrick gives Big Plate:

4/5 for food

3/5 for presentation

5/5 for service

3/5 for setting

giving an overall 15/20

Out of 20 Mina gives Big Plate:

3/5 for food

3/5 for presentation

5/5 for service

3/5 for setting

giving an overall 14/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: Mina, Patrick

We wore: new (present from my sister) black and white top, canary yellow polo shirt

We ate: pizza, banana carpaccio 

We drank: Sparkling water, lemonade, espresso, mint late.

Total Bill: around 90TL/£32/$

Big Plate

Istinye Park, Istinye

Istanbul

(+90) 212 345 6288

http://www.bigplate.com.tr