Cozy Pub & Restaurant Istanbul Turkey

For our final day in Turkey while untrained eye. We took a subway to Taksim, then a taxi ride to Sultanahmet and short walk to Divanyolu. Pradaoxally it's not so easy to find a restaurant in Istanbul near Sultanahmet is an interesting place that occupies a series of many restaurants and small store spaces along the street. Istanbul is a vibrant city full of surprises, one of those surprises is the food. While looking for place to eat, we stumbled into this place called Cozy Pub is located on the main street at Sultanahmed. One of the oldest restaurants in Istanbul. Its just near the tramway and on the main pedestrian street is just right behind the Blue Mosque (see picture) with great views from the terrace. The menus were straight forward with pictures on it. They have a large menu that can satisfy any taste: meat, seafood and vegetarian.

Dinner at Cozy Pub was spent in a cozy with candlelit nook so the pictures it wasn't clear.  Going back to the food!!! I chose to get a side portion of egg plant salad was nice and simply made; aubergine puree, olive oil with minimal seasoning  and great balance of lemon juice.

Next up, the second salad itself consisted predominantly of bite-sized pieces of smoked salmon with romaine lettuce, some sliced of tomatoes, pickle cucumber, onion and capers. They were fresh and it was a perfectly nice salad.

Then on to the main course; My husband, in particular, loves their stir fry shrimps with chicken meat and mixed vegetables which complement the pilaf and roasted potatoes. The stir fry dish have a solid spice flavor to them, which is either a great or a bad thing, depending how you feel about. This dish was absolutely savory and delicious.

We opted for kebabs and my daughter went with chicken kebab so flavourful and complemented the roasted potatoes and pilaf rice beautifully.

My son and I, we chose their lamb kebab which came with a plate of a pilaf rice and roasted potatoes as well. The lamb kebab was a little disappointing it was hard, dry and pretty under seasoned which predictably plain.

The final course of the evening was dessert. We had kunefe and kazandibi with ice cream to share. Breaking up traditional Turkish desserts with influenced French and Italian on their menu was a crepe and tiramisu. Just before we order our dessert someone came up and highly recommended to us was a kunefe that has not been included in the menu. They told us it was one of their secret Ottoman sweet dessert. Künefe which is made with shredded pastry filled with fresh cheese, baked, covered in light syrup and topped with pistachios. Künefe is served hot so the cheese is gooey, and this is absolutely phenomenal.

The kazindibi with ice cream was a burnt chicken breast budding was simply made; milk, sugar, potato starch, sugar, some spice and etc. etc. It sounds like an odd combination but it was so right. It was not overly sweet which was perfect and slightly smooth and chewy, like mochi. It's something you would eat last, felt very much like a palate cleanser.

The chocolate banana crepe, my husband had selected this plate. A generous amount of chocolate sauce that they've laced with whipped cream, next to a crepe stuffed with banana slices.

The tiramisu it was relatively decent. The service was slow, makes you feel thirst and order more drinks while waiting for the food to serves. Its almost late at night when we finished but the waiters who seemed always eager to please. The food was good and reliable except the lamb kebab. The atmosphere was clean cozy, romantic indeed and we ate on the roof top. The kazindibi and kunefe are definitely our favorite. It was incredible desserts that you have to try when you’re in Turkey.

***

Cozy Pub & Restaurant

Divanyolu Cd. No 66, Istanbul, Turkey

Website:

www.cozypub.com