Fish on Brick - Fenner Fish Restaurant, Kumkapi

Some say that one must never leave Istanbul without dining at one of the many fish restaurants , since the fish here is super fresh.

But as a tourist, though we may be at a disadvantage price wise, in getting a better deal, only a local would be able to recommend you a place like this, which by being way off the tourist belt , costs more reasonable. Thus it boils down to whether you can trust whoever it is you choose, to do the booking and recommendation for you. In my case, again it was thanks to the very handsome Ismail

As expected, the waiter brings a tray of mezes for us to choose from but, I think I over ordered.

Anchovies wrapped around olives, spicy peppers ( tasted like sambal tumbuk with onions ) and cool spinach. Only found out later, from observing others and don't repeat my mistake. You're supposed to take the bread from the table, butter it , then spread your choice of meze on top of that.

We are distraced momentarily by this voilin player who lulls out hauntingly arabic sounding tunes with a gypsy like edge to it . Loved it.

Waiter recommended the Fish On Brick. Now, that was good. Like having fish with yummy mozarella and tomatoes.  True, only the freshest of fish can be cooked in this manner .  Added a grilled Seabass ( in Malaysia, they've wrongly labelled Siakap as Seabass so take note that this is not the same species ). Um, maybe I sould have tried the Salt Fired seabass instead because I think I much prefer the style from our region.

Give you a close up on this unique dish.

Capped off with this pretty order of a fruit platter, on the house

 

Total , much less than 1 order of Testi Kebab from say Sultanahmet or one of the posh restaurants around Besiktas. With a complimentary gift for you to take home.

Would I recommend this, yes, if you're on a budget, but if you're looking for atmosphere, at the back of my mind, something tells me that, I think they've got the potential to bring the house down, with boisterous merrymaking.... only I think they're holding back and on their best behaviour, seeing how there was only us Orientals and the the two Italians that night.

 Location : Kumkapi, Istanbul