hasan ustam barbecue restaurant — Local services in Beyoğlu

Edited to add additional details. In summary, a tourist trap. I have had a lot of better kebabs and barbecue meats. This is by far the worst barbecue meat I have ever had. First of all, the lamb chop is an utter failure. The cut he chose was low in quality, basically 70% fat and 30% tough meat. That cut is not tender at all no matter how you cook it. As expected, tough like rubber, dry (coz he overcooked it, for ~60 mins, yes we waited that long). And know that such long cooking time (on the grill) is not due to staffing issue, but that it is by his choice. Many questions here. Why does it take over an hour to grill kebab? And even if it is something that takes magically that long to be tasty, he should have told us it will take 1+ hr to cook. At that time, there were only 2 tables of guests. He attempted to “compensate” for such low meat quality through over-salting it, however, another utter failure because it further dries out the meat, and making it unpalatable by any proper human. He also didn’t trim out any of the fat. He saw that we didn’t enjoy the dish. He walked over and took away the half eaten lamb dish without our consent and put them back onto the grill to cook it more (yes, why cook it more? It’s already overcooked. Since he put our food, which we bit with our mouth while trying to pull the meat out, onto the grill, our saliva is now on food of future guests, which is a huge hygiene issue (fortunately, we aren’t sick 🙂). He also commented that “women may find it too fatty”, trying to put the blame on, gender? That’s sexist. The ground beef-lamb item (first item on menu) again is too dry and too salty. The big portion of meal and all the freebies (tea, coke) doesn’t resolve this core problem of this restaurant - poor food quality. We refused the tea and coke but he still put it on our table, thinking it could remove some of his guilt. We wanted to pay (unfortunately because we chose this restaurant and the food was cooked for us) and leave but the owner kept insisting us talk to his google translator, defending himself, and didn’t let us leave for a while. In fact, we shared our concerns but he double downs on the “exceptional” quality of his dish and didn’t apologize. Price point is extremely high compared to local kebab joints. It’s a scam. And shop owner proudly runs this shop thinking there is no problem at all, which is the problem. He needs to be more humble and just go around town to find out how kebab should be cooked, and how possibly yummy kebab can be. It’s an utter failure and a horrible dining experience. No local dines here. Only tourists come. We wanted to walk out but we didn’t, thinking we could give him a chance but man, we should have walked out. He also looked at my face and kept calling me Chinese when I told him I am not from China, despite me correcting him multiple times that I am not from China. To him all Asian looking person = Chinese. He went on telling me that the people from another table are therefore “fellow countrymen” with me since we are all Chinese. I see his intent to try to create a friendly environment but his execution unfortunately dropped the ball. The good thing is that tonight I achieved low calorie intake after a you know what, a meat dinner ! (As I only barely consumed this meal, which costs 2250 Lira for two items. I had better food elsewhere like this for...

Five stars. And you don't have to read anymore, just go and consume. If you are hungry, don't watch the video and photos :) And I warn you, portions are really large. We had to take part of the order home, but nothing was wasted :) Follow the below paragraphs if you want to skip a certain section. Paragraph 1 - the introduction. Paragraph 2 - a little about the menu and the experience itself. Paragraph 3 - a summary. This time, the story will be told mainly by photos and videos and Hasan himself was the art director as well as photographer :) What a treat! Of course, I also took a few photos but most of them were taken by Hasan. He literally took the phone out of my hands and started his show :) Not only a master of grilling but also of marketing, as you can see. He simply did the job for the tourists :) For me, it was a true joy of being in such a place, especially that the weather wasn't kind to us this year and there weren't many opportunities to barbecue outdoors, so denying ourselves a pleasure like this grill heaven would be inappropriate :) Hasana's restaurant was located only a few dozen meters from our apartment. Sitting on the balcony determined the dilemma about the meal, because the wonderful aroma of grilled food floating in the air made us salivate and quickly decide where to eat. We were the first guests because it was 12 noon :) Tourists eager for monuments run around Sultanahmet and this gave us the opportunity to enjoy a meal without any rush or the participation of a crowd of people. If Hasan is the owner and the nice gentleman who hosted us, I'm glad that such places still exist. Our choice was a mix of meat (that's me) and vegetables (Paulina is the herbivore in our house) but there is a vegetarian and even vegan option (I think). The appetizing skewers speak for themselves. Hasan demonstrated to us step by step how to eat vegetarian kofta in his restaurant. It's probably eaten this way everywhere but it's a pleasure when the owner shows you what and how. Side dishes, starters and appetizers are great! After the flavorless vegetables that we eat every day, those at Hasana's restaurant give us hope that there is still a chance to eat good tomatoes or cucumbers somewhere. The kofta was so delicious that I will make it myself at home so that the memories don't fade too quickly. Grilled eggplant is soft and melts in your mouth. The meat is perfectly cooked. You can feel the hand of the master in every bite, and the lamb is simply wonderful. I looked at the photos and I'm hungry again. There is nothing more to write. You should go and consume. The place may not be very beautiful but we are not here to admire the interior but to enjoy the taste of the art of grilling. A must-visit place for barbecue lovers. Hasan, thank you very much. You are a wonderful host and grill master. I consider grilling in 2023 accomplished...

I honestly don't know what all this rave about this place is about—all the writings and pieces of paper expressing the thank you on the wall seemed further like a flop to this owner's cooking techniques and styles. I have to agree—the food here was horrible. The quality of the lamb cuts served to us was so poor that there were more fat (60 %) than the meat which made the whole dish unappetizing. While the owner should be manning the grill station, taking extra care to properly prepare this dish, he simply left it on the grill, walked out of the restaurant for more than 10 minutes to get the ice; after, attempted to greet other customers and take their orders at the same time, clean the table, set up the cutleries, and all other things unrelated to the cooking. By now, there were only 2 tables of customers yet the owner seemed as disorganized and as busy as ever on everything, except on the cooking.

We waited for condiments, i.e. salt and pepper and water that never came. When it finally did at the end of the meal, the shakers were empty inside. By then the poorly chosen piece of meat had dripped so much fat that the whole dining room was completely fumigated like a lingering smog. The table across from us had issues with their dishes like us, and the argument erupted from the outside and to the inside which further added to the irritation and agitation of the owner. We were charged extra for a dish that was never ordered and disguised as a free condiment to the kebab. The bread served tasted like it had the kerosene doused on it and set on fire to create that crackling crispiness, which was hard and dry to the touch and on the palette.

There are many issues with this place. It certainly did not deserve all the good ratings it had once received so far. Maybe it once did, but not the standard the owner showcased to us last night. There are so many other exceptional alternatives in the area rather than this place.

We picked it and it was a wrong choice for us. Let it not be yours on top of a hungry stomach for the evening.

Regardless, we took the remaining meat, cleaned it up, and fed to the hungry cats around us—and we felt...