Istanblue Kings Restaurant

TURKEY 🇹🇷

The smell of paint was still fresh from the recently completed renovation. The restaurant had just reopened five days prior to this visit, modernizing their interior with many new materials and frankly questionable design decisions. Seafood seems to have been cut from the menu, so come ready to eat meze and meat.

The small plate of mixed meze ($13.25, below) was probably the hero of the meal, a selection of six options that were all strong. Unfortunately the bread they use is a bit subpar for a Turkish restaurant, but eating less of it made more room for the other dishes later.

Do not focus on the red bandana.

Inspired by the old Beyti restaurant in Istanbul, this Brooklyn establishment offers a special Beyti kebab ($17.50, below) which does its best to honor this classic. Ground lamb is wrapped in a thin lavash bread before being drenched with tomato sauce and yogurt.

If you have never tried a beyti kebab before, they are worth checking out. Quality can vary dramatically, and the sauces and lavash are key, but thankfully the version here is tasty. The yogurt gives a sourness that plays off the sweet tomato sauce.

Normally when Turkish "pies" are ordered, a sojuk usually comes out, so we were determined to try something else on this occasion. The pastrami pie ($15.75, below) was the choice we took, thin slices of the halal meat combined with nice melted cheese when baked.

These slices are very nice when combined with scoops of the leftover yogurt cacik from the appetizer plate.

Everyone in the place seemed to have other things on their mind, and even though we were the only guests during this dinner, it was hard to get their attention when necessary. This will hopefully smooth itself out over time, as it was a bit off putting. But just when we thought all hope was lost, a complimentary portion of rice pudding (below, free) was slipped into the takeout bag.

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GRAVESEND Brooklyn

428 Kings Highway