Lokanta Armut Review

We had heard of Armut Restaurant ( Lokanta Armut) and wanted to visit it for dinner. It is located in a poorer area of town due to high rents. However there is a Ferrari Showroom just across. It is a very safe place, no need to worry about that. Easily reachable by taxi. It is a small and cosy place, very tastefully decorated and can house around 30 people. It is easy to have a conversation as there is no music and the tables are placed apart. Service is very good, kind and attentive staff ( Our waiter was Ilhan) giving very good information about food and wine which is also from their own vineyards in Tekirdag ( Barbare) . The menu is not full of different kinds of food, apparently it changes from season to season and has approximatelt 8 appetizers, 5 main courses and 3 desserts which are all good. We had the spinach salad with pear ( armut) , pomegranate and Roquefort cheese and avocado humus. We had steak with potato cake with a special pekmez sauce as the main course. We were full but shared a pudding with whisky and almond which was definitely the highlight of the dinner. We would recommend this modest fine dining restaurant whose owners don't have high targets but would like to keep a small but good restaurant.

Lokanta Armut is a cozy little restaurant in its namesake Armutlu neighborhood, in an area which is slowly being populated by up and coming spots like sushimoto. It is rather difficult to find by car, but that's what the GPS is for I guess. We had dinner on a Tuesday night and it was almost completely packed. Our waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable about the courses and helped us choose the appetizers. I must say that the quality of the food is above average and the dishes were inventive, mixing Turkish ingredients into popular European dishes. The risotto was especially delicious. One thing I noticed was the fact that the chef is a bit too distracted. He was either working hard in the kitchen, smoking outside, or talking to a select few of his guests throughout the night. A personal touch to each table would help tremendously.