Restaurant Spotlight: Aheste in Istanbul, Turkiye

By Bushra Rahman | April 7, 2025

Imagine walking through what seems like a 12th-century palace that just came out of a dark romance novel – that’s what walking through the restaurant Aheste. It was amazing, it was beautiful, and it the darkness added to the romance and promiscuity so much more.

When we walked in, we were immediately greeted by the hostess upon walking through curtains that tastefully hid the restaurant. Walking in, we initially thought the restaurant was pretty small as we only really saw the bar and a few tables. Little did we know that the restaurant opened up as we walked further in to a palace-like interior – and with an open kitchen! We could see right into the kitchen while dining, and as a current chef-in-training, it was incredible to watch.

We opted out of doing the tasting menu and decided to go a la carte. My boyfriend isn’t the biggest fan of tasting menus, but I am, so we decided to meet in the middle and do a la carte while choosing some stuff off the tasting menu.

They started off right away with their amuse bouche which began with a decadent chestnut soup. I mean we couldn’t have asked for a better start. This was our first night in Istanbul, and it was cold and rainy AND SNOWY  (if you can believe that) so we wanted to something cozy and warm. This amuse-bouche soup was filled with so much flavor. Next was their second amuse bouche – a topik cracker topped with a parsley pesto and filled with a pumpkin puree. The crunchiness of the cracker, coupled with the creamy texture of the puree, topped with the smoothness of the pesto, made for the perfect bite of this small plate.

Next, came out our first and second courses. We got the calamaraki, tuna kadyuif, and artichoke confit. We tasted everything first before diving into each dish fully and each bite was filled with so much flavor and cooked to perfection. I mean the CALAMARAKI! It was charred to perfection and the yogurt sauce complimented the savory flavor of the squid. The tuna was the perfect buttery feeling you want in your mouth from tuna and the kadyuif added the perfect subtle of sweetness. And don’t get me started on the artichoke confit – this garlicky flavor is something I wish I could replicate for myself at home.

Our last dish was the slow roasted lamb shoulder which was the perfect ending to our already amazing dinner. The lamb fell so smoothly off the bone and almost melted in our mouths as we devoured our last dish. It was served with a side of rice pilaf and was portioned just right for my boyfriend and I.

Refer here for the website link

Aheste

Asmalı Mescit, Meşrutiyet Cd. No:107 F, 34430 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye