The Turkish take on an Italian staple

For a early dinner, we tracked down a must-try specialty of Turkish cuisine: manti, or Turkish ravioli. The purveyor of this fine dish was Hala Manti, right smack dab on the middle of Istiklal Caddesi.

First was a wave of soups as starters.

My specific soup was vegetable minestrone, the special of the day. Totally fine as a soup and a warm start to the meal. Not more memorable than that, however.

Others tried a cucumber soup and a lentil soup. Both were similarly good but not great. The lentil soup would become a staple of meals, however, as Sahana would often go for it.

For non-liquid starters, we had a selection of two gozleme. One with yellow cheese and one with meat. We could see the woman making these at the front of the restaurant. They were also good but not great, as it turned out. A bit too greasy, and something about the bread to filling ratio was off. Also, I think I prefer my gozleme folded, though I'm not sure exactly why that would change the taste.

There was one more dish before the: dolmas. These were the traditional grape leaves stuffed with rice, served with a side of yogurt. They were very tasty, as there was enough but not too much brine or vinegar on the leaves to bring out some flavor from the rice. I also learned that dolma means "stuffed" in Turkish, and they stuff a whole bunch of other veggies as well.

And then it was time for the star: spinach manti. These were very small ravioli, and green from the spinach. They were a bit hard as they were al dente, but as soon as I released my expectations of what ravioli should be, they were pretty good. I was a fan of the sauce, a mixture of yogurt, garlic, and hot sauce.

To pair with the spinach version we also got a batch of regular manti. These were surprisingly very different. Large, dumpling-like ravioli that were much mushier than the spinach variety. I had to change my expectations once again, but, that done, enjoyed these as well. And, I can't say enough good things about the sauce. Yogurt! Garlic! Spice! What is not to like about that, I don't know.

Because we had a big crew, our final dish was a lamb stew with peppers. This was alright enough. The meat was a bit gamey but the herbs as seasonings were a nice touch.

So it turns out that when one is going to a place called Hala Manti, it is best to focus on the manti, getting other dishes only in so far as you need to fill your stomach.