All Turkish people love mantı. Locals gush about the garlicky little lamb dumplings as much as I do. After my experience learning to make the dish myself, I was determined to make it for myself at home. Instead, other than once at an extremely good but fairly pricey place in New York, I hadn't had the pleasure in months.

On our last night in Istanbul I was resolute about eating mantı, as so far only Patrick and Rubina had experienced their glory with me in New York. Fatih from the Turkish Art Store recommended Otantik for traditional Turkish dishes at a reasonable price.

Otantik has several branches, including one on Istiklal. I'd passed by before, but would never have thought to try it—possibly because the costumed ladies kneading dough in the doorway are a bit of a turn-off. However, I was starting to think that those women were not there for the benefits of foreign tourists, but to convince Istanbul natives of the "Anatolia-ness" of it all, and I assumed they were discerning enough to still recognize good food.

In addition to the friendly doughmakers up front, the restaurant was coated in greenery. I'm not sure what the look was meant to be, perhaps just general down-home country goodness. It took a while to get a table large enough, but the food was well worth the wait.

Our waiter didn't speak English, so I attempted to order in Turkish. Considering my level of Turkish only involves being able to correctly pronounce menu items and say whether we wanted one (bir), two (iki) or three (üç), I thought I did astonishingly well.

We ordered several rounds of gözleme, Turkish crepes. We tried them filled with a feta-esque white cheese, a sharp yellow cheese, spinach and meat. All excellent. Two orders of mantı were gone in a flash—truthfully the ones I'd made myself in Göreme and the ones in New York had a slight edge, but Göreme was a one-time experience and the New York version costs $16 rather than 6YTL—huge difference. We also ordered hunkar beyendi—one of my favorite dishes involving an exceptionally rich puree of smoky eggplant, cheese and butter topped with chunks of lamb—a lamb casserole, and delicious potato dumplings.

As par for the course, the staff was warm and welcoming. Not for the first time I noticed that when I made my feeble stab at responsible tourism and started with a simple "Hello. Six." in Turkish, the host foolishly assumed I actually spoke Turkish and let through with a barrage of friendly conversation. Much embarrassed laughter ensued. It was the perfect last-night meal, a survey of the best foods of Anatolia, with the décor and costumes combining for a charming experience.

Cost: 12YTL each.
Otantik website

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