Star rating system

For a city that has so many places to eat from street sellers to lokantas to high class restaurants, there is surprisingly little in the way of guides.  OK, there are a couple that feature food reviews, but, let’s just say I refuse to take the time out to wade through their editorial heavy, up their own backsides, substance-less magazine to get to the restaurant section.

It’s fairly hard to get a bad meal here if you stick to Turkish food and often the more unimpressive the location, the more simple and satisfying the food.  The international scene is where the pitfalls lurk.  Maybe you can’t blame the Turks for thinking their food is so good there is so need to eat anyone else’s, but to the foreigner there are only so many dolma (stuffed somethings) variations you can try before eventually craving the more exotic.

I promise to go to as many restaurants as my waistline allows, to ALWAYS sample the desserts and to warn you if the toilets are scary.  I’m not a drinker so wine enthusiasts may feel the gap in my reviews unless I dined with someone who drank.  My star system goes from 6 stars as the highest to 0 and represents the following:

6 stars : Excellent,I was still thinking about the taste of my meal the following day- for the right reasons.

5 stars : Very good, I’d go back like a shot.

4 stars : Good, I’d go back in a couple of months.

3 stars : Fairly good, I’d go back if someone I was with wanted to.

2 stars : OK, but I wouldn’t go back.

1 star : Go if the only other option is starvation.

0 stars : Stay away!

**December 22

Some of my original fiery contempt for certain Istanbul publications has been muted by a change of editor.  Oh, and the teeny fact I’ve started writing for them.  Some scruples are shortlived when faced with the opportunity of an actual readership and first ever byline. 

**

October 2

Pretty much now, all my reviews are ones I have in the magazine so overlaps are not plagiarism, it’s all me folks!