Susam Cafe — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

Lovely turkish breakfast here, nice vibes.

Drinks: home made lemonade ice tea is more tea than lemonade, barely sweet which is nice, serious tang from lemon and strong tea flavor. The fresh fruit is a nice touch. The watermelon mulberry drink is quite refreshing as well, not very sweet.

The bread that comes first is quite fresh: moist with a nice chew and structure. Crumb isn't too big so you're not just eating air. You can ask for olive oil with crush olives in it - very nice oil, quite buttery. The olives have a very deep earthy flavor, so use sparingly.

Menemen with cheese and soujouk - delicious, very robustly flavored though so you need bread. Not overcooked, not undercooked, just right. Cheese adds richness, the soujouk adding spices and saltiness.

Turkish breakfast set: the simit (sesame ring bread) was very toasted on the outside so just a little tough, but deep flavor. Simit was great with the mulberry jam and honey with butter. From the cheese plate, the string cheese was milky and milk, like a low moisture mozzarella or colby jack. The white block is like a feta but may be cows milk, and more creamy than feta, but similarly salty and strong. The darkest wedge is like a gouda....

Fifth time eating here and after a bad 3* review in May'22 we are back to 4* tonight. The food is never anything less than 5* always but tonight the main course took 34 minutes and no-one even noticed. Luckily they have the best bread and oil ever to keep you going! I had finished the wine and would have expected a replacement but was charged. The accompanying 'lentil salad' were these microscopic lentils you needed a magnifying glass to see and the older waiter in white was very dismissive when I asked where they were!

The salt/pepper haired waiter was super nice this time around as was the other tall waiter. Plus they now sell one of my favourite Turkish wines.

As for the cats it's all part of the charm having them try to steal your food or sit on your lap and I really don't mind them and have an album of cute photos as proof.

Hope next time we are fully back to the 5*...

I discovered this place by chance, climbing a staircase that can be tackled by people in excellent physical shape (but fortunately there are also less demanding routes to get there). It is located in one of the most beautiful, romantic, elegant and pleasant areas (in the sense that it is far from the chaos of the city) of Istanbul, and its location, at the intersection of quiet, tree-lined streets that are cool even in summer, will probably help improve your mood after almost any kind of day. In fact, once you have finished your meal, you will want to cancel your other commitments and stay there longer. We only tried two main courses and they were delicious. The prices are also good, affordable considering the average for those neighbourhoods. If and when I return to Istanbul, I will definitely try to have a meal...