Balkanlar Lokantası — Restaurant in Beşiktaş

I had two different experiences:

I asked for a dish of köfte (meatballs), but got only 4 of them with a lot of potatoes and 1 slice of tomato. Everything was really rushed also. It costed 10TL and I don't think it's worth it. Finally, there was no sign of english at all.

5 days after I went again, it was past 8pm in a sunday and I didn't have many options for a quick, healthy dinner. This is already a good point. I knew what went wrong last time and decided to observe the portions others got before ordering mine. With this strategy I got a good amount of chicken and vegetables, well worth the 7.5TL. There were WAY less people at this time and I could apreciate the comfortable chairs. Also, I needed to go to wc and they have it (with paper. This seems basic but a lot of places don't have it in Turkey,...

SG folks can rest easy. This should be familiar as the Turkish version of the SG chap chye bpun (mixed veg rice). Literally a canteen like atmosphere whereby you can select from heaps of local dishes and eat till your heart's content. Seems like a place where the locals goes for their meals so prices are very reasonable. Food quality wise is definitely authentic and decent but not overwhelming. I'll say try it for the experience. 😃. They even supply drinking straws n tooth picks! 🤗

Go for the traditional Turkish chay (black tea) in the local tea shop just outside the canteen. Definitely local ambience whereby you sit on small stood and have a smoke or play backgammon (or whatever) while sipping tea..how...

A self-service, canteen-style restaurant franchise that serves very affordable food in Istanbul. You enter the restaurant, grab a tray and tell the staff which dishes you want, and then pay. I paid 103 lira.

It is "Turkish home cooking food". Not the best tasting. I found it was bland, but does fulfil the job of filling your hunger. I had the chickpeas, bulgur pilav and soup. Thankfully, there were condiments such as olive oil, salt, black pepper, chilli pepper powder, sumac, oregano, etc, to make the dishes taste better in accordance to one's preference.

Suitable for dining alone or with one other...