Tefikhane Sokak No 1

Sultanahmet

0212 638 8200

Sunday brunch served 11.30 – 3.00

Up until the 1970s, occupants of the Four Seasons in Sultanahmet could avail themselves of the gym facilities that used to be where the restaurant is now.  Of course, that was when the building housed a prison and the Sunday Brunch wasn’t quite up to the current high standards.  Today’s visitors enter of their own free will, imprisoned only by the urge to keep going back for more at the huge open buffet.

On the cold buffet, everything is presented in bite size amounts, Basque pincho style, so you can sample as much as you like from the spread of sushi, breads, pastries, Turkish mezes, cured meats, smoked salmon, scoops of kaymak and lego bricks of honeycomb, as well as an extensive cheese board and salad selection, without overdoing it. Hot dishes in the same Lilliputian amounts are brought to your table, rather than sitting out in vats.  Our visit coincided with the catwalk debut of roast beef on mashed potatoes, a surprisingly tender Singapore chicken with mild curry rice, and a pleasingly pink-on-the-inside salmon on bean sprouts. 

At about this point you should ask yourself if you are due to visit the bathroom, before you venture upstairs to the egg and pasta station, as the toilets are so far away it takes longer to go than it takes to, well, go.  Once that’s settled, the pasta display is like being in a jewellery shop, stunning rolls and twirls of handmade pasta and gnocchi so beautiful it resembles sea shells.  Choose from about ten different sauces, pick your meat, vegetables, fish and spices and the chef will tactfully adjust your choices to bring a restaurant class dish to your table.  Whilst waiting, sample a couple of Italian classics like rich aubergine parmigiana or lightly truffled polenta. 

Towards 3 o’clock the staff, courteous to the last, asked us if it was OK to clear away the buffet.  Panic showing clearly on our faces, we leapt up to rush to the dessert station we’d been eyeing since we arrived.  Tiny cakes, tarts, mousses and éclairs set out like elf-made, brightly coloured toys were, unfortunately, more visually than orally stimulating although the crème brulee in a doll size teacup and a sliver of pecan pie-esque, caramelised walnut tart were good enough to go back for seconds.

99YTL (children 49YTL) incl. non-alcoholic drinks.

Wine 15-19 YTL per glass