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My last day in Turkey, *sob*, and it’s off to the neighborhood resto for an Ottoman feast — the splendid Altinsis. We’re welcomed sequentially by some 8 smiling men into a large golden room, spangled with beams from the setting sun through its panoramic windows. The gal in charge of the children’s playroom is a little wide-eyed when she spots the Solley 4 trooping in her door, and we are immediately marched off to the table assigned to parents, where we can monitor kid shenanigans through the glass wall separating us. We kick back with a sigh and study the menu. It’s formidible and told in pictures–some 93 of them.

We can’t resist the stuffed grapeleaves, the pide, the kebaps, and a bunch of tasty meze–but take a look at the incredible pictured Eksili Ufak Köfte soup. It’s a fragrant and spicy broth thick with bits of tender lamb and tomatoes. But how about those exquisite and rich dumplings filling the bowl–and how about the fact that they’re punctuated by a large dark splash of heady mint oil? Quite spectacular in appearance and what an exciting combination of flavors. We’d love a recipe!

We felt as pampered as the women in Altinsis’ pictured artwork, and we highly recommend the soup and the restaurant:
ALTINSIS
Turan Günes Bulvari 19.Cadde 1/B MSB Lojmanlari karsisi
Oran Sehri - ANKARA
Tel: 0312 492 07 07