Litera Restaurant

Did not try the food but the menu looked spectacular… it was a rainy night in Istanbul and we were looking for a fancy place to relax and scape from the wet and cold weather… Litera was the perfect place… really good music + the amazing view + drinks (including one of the best hot chocolates) = perfection.

Great view, but not at all impressed with the food, especially at the prices charged. I suppose if you’re craving your home country’s dishes, then you should come here since they take a stab at everything from Scandinavian to Thai (simultaneously mis-​attributing the wok to Japanese cuisine… what the wok indeed).
My friend and I both chose Turkish for obvious reasons. I guess that’s what was most disappointing, that the Turkish food here in Turkey was lackluster! My Pazi Sarma (meat stuff chard with yogurt topping) was satisfying enough, but still underwhelming. And my meat loving friend just didn’t seem to care for his Sultan Kebab platter.
I recommend coming here for the view for sure, and something like cocktails I guess (note that European coffee drinks weren’t all that great either). But I wouldn’t look forward to a full meal here. Plus, there was a rude service fiasco with the card reader not taking our MasterCards, which were specially designed for international travel and the smallest of mom and pop shops elsewhere in Istanbul seemed to have no problem with to date.
Just all around bleh.

For the first few days of our Turkey Travels, we ate mostly very traditional Turkish foods in very traditional Turkish restaurants. We were in the «old town» section of Istanbul. It wasn’t until a friend invited us for drinks, to which we invited the Istanbul CM to join us, that we had REALLY tasted some of the best food on our trip.
For starters, let me just tell you that the company — our friend, and the fabulous Istanbul CM (
) — was wonderful. And dinner could not be surpassed by any of the others we had on our trip. None of us had ever met each other face to face before, and this was the most memorable event of the trip. We spent hours getting to know each other. The evening turned to night and we walked the streets near Taksim Square, and acted like locals — we danced, we drank wine, ate nuts, and we had coffee together. We walked into our hotel at about 5 AM … It was a fabulous night (did I even need to mention that?).
Ltera Teras (Litera Terrace) is located on the top floor of the Goethe Institute, on a hill in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul. The views are outstanding. I DO recommend going early. It’s a very relaxing atmosphere up there and if you go early enough, you get a beautiful sunset. The way the sun lights up the buildings of Istanbul when it sets is simply breathtaking. With a wonderful view of the Bosphorus as well as Topkapi, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the New Mosque too, this place can’t be beat!
We started with wine and the choices were surprisingly plentiful. Since the restaurant has more of an «international» feel, there were a lot of selections from all over the world, not just Turkish or Greek wines, as we had seen in other restaurants. They had a pretty decent cocktail menu as well. When it came to food, we opted to allow our host do the ordering and she picked well. We had a vast selection of small plates that were just perfect — in fact, every item that came out was better than the last — yet I couldn’t tell you what I liked most. The service was excellent — they wait staff knew when we wanted them, yet not a word was spoken. They brought the food at perfect intervals, being aware that the heavier items needed a little more time to «digest» and so they didn’t rush out the next course. If you are offered this option, go for it.
Overall, a PERFECT experience, and I can’t wait to go back!

Das Essen schmeckt lecker. Tolle Aussicht. Vorher unbedingt reservieren.

Genialer Ausblick, kann mit 360 auf jeden Fall mithalten.