Kasikci Dede Cig Kofte - Istanbul

Not as cheap, tasty, big or entertaining as çiğköfteci ali usta, but it was good. I feel bad for the previous reviewer, but my experience was easy. simply order a thin (wrap) çiğ juice, he will ask if they want the sauce, enjoy and pay 5 bauch.

Ok, I admit this one eluded me! I had it twice once I went and ordered a wrap, and another time someone bought one of their party boxes. The experience for me was similar both times... I assume the kofte is supposed to be room temp? To me,this made the fake-meat aspect less than appealing. It also followed (apparent) Turkish tradition, with little in the way of vegetable accoutrement (it was thin outside of the fake meat). Finally, with the sauces (and I'm not sure where the flavor would be without it), it was highly acidic. And I like tart but this was a bit over the top. They were very nice (though, quite understandably, the ones working when I was there spoke little English, so in my ignorance of Turkish I had to stumble along which meant the wrap, but I'm not sure what their selection would have been for me otherwise perhaps greater) and the location is handy to Taksim and a couple other veg spots. I'm glad it exists and clearly other people like it, but even though I love street food, I just did not see the appeal of the food, sad to say.

So having spent the last couple of weeks in Bulgaria, and seeing nothing but grilled vegetables after grilled vegetables after grilled vegetables, I was really excited to find some delicious Turkish food. And Kasikci Dede Cig Kofte (man, that's a mouthful) certainly satisfied that. They seem to make essentially one thing, which is their delicious nut-made-fake-meat-thing in a tortilla, with a bunch of vegetables and some sauces. It's awesome. Like, super super good. After having one, I couldn't resist a second. Spicy, tasty, with a bunch of rich flavors. Then they even give you a free little cup of tea afterwards. Apparently I was lucky enough to hit Monday's, when everything is half off, so each wrap was only 2 lira 1), though I guess usually they're 4 lira 2) a piece. Awesome little place (just a note, it's not right on the corner, it's just a little bit up the side street. Super tiny, it has like two tables)

The place is small, with very friendly staff. Cig Kofte is a delicious and typical turkish food. Its a nice alternative to Falafel! However, no other options on the menue.

Had this for a light dinner and it was fabulous. Very cheap and the staff there was very nice although we could barely communicate. Definitely will be back again for another quick snack after a few drinks!