Cezayir means Algeria in Turkish and stands for excellent cuisine in Istanbul. The restaurant with the North African name is well hidden behind the Galatasaray High School and offers a state of the art blend of couscous and kebabs modernised and improved.
I bring my visitors there when they think they know all about what Turkey has to offer in terms of grilled meat, fish and mezze starters. Cezayir takes them to the next level.
Take the crispy pastry rolls (börek), which you will find in many Turkish restaurants. In Cezayir they are as thin as a pencil, twice as long and they come with pastrami served sticking from a small glass with a shot of a slightly spicy tomato sauce. And then, oh boy, there is the chicken liver pate made with whisky and pistachios. Usually it goes down very well even among those of my friends who don’t appreciate chicken liver or whisky.
From the list of main courses the sirloin with yoghurt and pita as well as smoked salmon with dried rose petals are all time favourites.
It all comes with an extensive wine list and an unusually knowledgeable and pretty good English speaking staff.
Cezayir, Hayriye Caddesi 12, Galatasaray; Beyoglu; Istanbul