When I go to fish restaurants in Turkey, I fill up on mezes and rakı, skipping the main dish altogether. On a recent visit to Kuyu in Arnavutköy with my friends Sarah and Emre, we started out with cold starters like white cheese with melon, patlıcan salatası (eggplant salad), barbunya pilaki (beans and carrots cooked in olive oil), deniz börülcesi (Aegean seaweed). Sounds healthy, right? This was followed by two mountains of fried things: sigara böreği (cheesed and herb stuffed pastry) and fried calamari. I think someone told me once that rakı burns off all the fat, so I consider this a light meal.

Kuyu
1. Cad. No. 56/A
Arnavutköy -Istanbul