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What food is good at Rama restaurant in Istanbul?

From messages by 3 participants in 2 sources · Last activity: 10 days ago

TL;DR

At Rama in Istanbul, the fish balik dürüm is recommended. The shawarma is dry and lacks white sauce. Dinner options are limited — pasta comes in soy-like sauce, mashed potatoes are a safe bet.

What the community said

At Rama, the ramen is considered a decent choice. The rolls are rated slightly better than those in the main restaurant, but the tom yum is merely spicy without much flavour, and the seaweed salad is not recommended.

51 days ago Ramen / tom yum / rolls

At the fish-themed dinner (visited twice), the presentation differed from the regular one — appetizers included baked shrimp and squid, and hot dishes were white fish steak and skewers on one visit, or just red fish steaks on another. Desserts offered included a pumpkin-based dessert and baklava.

Fish-themed dinner night

There are authentic Turkish-style manti dumplings — very tiny, each with a meat filling. Served with two sauces: a mildly spicy tomato sauce underneath (seems made from fresh tomatoes, not canned) and a garlic-yogurt sauce sprinkled with dried mint on top.

Manti dumplings

The restaurant doesn't cook pork at all — no pork dishes, including baked ham-style pork, are ever served.

There's a dish labeled 'diet' — some kind of stew (exact content unclear); in general vegetables are served boiled but meat is not.

Diet-labeled dish

Occasionally there are very tasty unsweetened donuts (seen only once). Whole fish is also always available on the table.

Unsweetened donuts

On a Chinese-themed dinner night there was Chinese noodles with meat and very tasty pirozhki (filled pastries). Fruits included cherries, apricots, watermelon, and plums, all sweet. Mashed potatoes are made from real potatoes, not powder. There was a lilac-colored dessert that actually tastes like blueberry, not just colored. Baklava is good, soaked in honey rather than butter.

Chinese dinner night

Whole lamb wasn't seen, but lamb kebab-style cutlets are grilled outdoors and taste good. Beef is also available.

Grilled lamb kebab cutlets

The stuffed mussels were disappointing: they reportedly contained almost no actual mussel meat, mostly spiced rice, with tough fibrous strands mixed in, so this dish is not recommended.

Stuffed mussels

Among the seafood, battered crab was praised as a hot appetizer, and octopus as a cold appetizer. Overall, though, the fish was described as fairly ordinary.

Battered crab / octopus

On fish-themed dinner nights there is a separate sushi station, but most of the sushi varieties were rated poorly and are considered not worth trying.

Sushi at fish dinner

The red fish (trout) is decent, while the white fish tends to be dry. Grilled items cooked outdoors in front of guests — kebab, chicken in various forms, and turkey — are all tasty. Inside there are also stews and dishes in sauces.

Outdoor grill

Squid is served hot with vegetables and in salad — not rubbery, apparently cleaned of the membrane. Crayfish are bland and not worth trying.

Squid / crayfish

The red fish is trout rather than salmon — softer in texture but decent in flavour. Despite its unappealing appearance and tendency to be oversalted, it works well paired with mild unsalted cheese and cucumber on a Turkish flatbread.

Trout

At the à la carte dinner, no sauces are served with meat — even a request for pomegranate sauce was refused.

À la carte dinner

Meat options daily include turkey and beef. Fish alternates between red fish (likely pink salmon or trout, sliced into pieces) and a white fish resembling sea bream. Every other day there are unpeeled cold shrimp. Other items include spicy beef stew, steaks, and fried liver. Squid is only available marinated — rubbery and sour. Rolls, including Philadelphia, are very salty.

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