The Galata Evi, a small restaurant near the Galata Tower with excellent home-cooked food, can boast a unique location, being situated in the building known as the Eski İngiliz Karakolu or Old English Jail. For 15 years, beginning in 1904, this was a civil prison controlled by the British; after the first World War it turned into a military prison and remained such until 1923. 

And yet this solemn gray stone building, with a bay window on the second floor, is strangely unobtrusive among all the old houses of Galata. It is the sort of place you could easily pass by in a hurry without registering – unless you looked upwards and saw its gabled roof (a rarity in Istanbul), or noticed the atypically thick moulding over the door and windows.

Whatever its ponderous exterior, the building is small inside, reminding one of the many Ottoman-era houses in Kadıköy that have been converted into bars or cafes. The atmosphere of the Galata Evi is intimate and friendly, and its patrons, Mete and Nadire Göktuğ, are happy to sit and chat with you for a while. This husband-and-wife pair has been running the restaurant since 1999; both are trained architects, and are extremely knowledgeable about the history of Galata and Istanbul in general.

There are several rooms on the first floor – a larger room which can hold 12 people, and a smaller one, with a fireplace, which can hold six. A door leads out back to a small inner courtyard; leading off the courtyard is the Galata Evi’s kitchen (unchanged from its days as an army canteen), and a thick metal door that once opened onto the prison’s interrogation room.

Even if you end up dining here, you must see the second floor, which is really the most interesting part of the Galata Evi. On the street side there is a larger room with paintings by local artists. On the rear side is a room that was formerly the prisoners’ dormitory: here you can see an unplastered wall with century-old graffiti made by former prisoners. Some of these are in English, marking the days (or months) the men have been in prison.

There is also an old German piano in this room, and if you come after 8:00 PM you can have the pleasure of hearing live performances by Mrs. Göktuğ, who sings songs in a variety of different languages including Turkish, Russian, and Tatar (her family is of Tatar origin.) 

In the author’s opinion, the best place to eat at the Galata Evi (weather permitting) is on the terrace above the inner courtyard. The menu at the Galata Evi is small, but the food is superb, with Russian, Tatar, and especially Georgian dishes that are difficult to find elsewhere in Istanbul.

The Russian-ness of the menu announces itself immediately from the soup course – consisting of borscht – as well as from the blini on the appetizer list. On this visit we did not try either (though I made a mental note to order them next time), opting instead for the mixed meze plate. The meze too have a distinctly Russo-Caucasian flavor, with beets and ground walnuts figuring prominently in the lists of ingredients. Our meze plate came with no fewer than six different meze, one of which I can only describe as a kind of Russian sushi roll, consisting of walnut wrapped in eggplant, flavored with pepper and saffron. All were quite tasty: I especially liked the acılı peynir ezmesi (a mildly spicy paste of cheese and tomato), and the squash-and-yogurt salad flavored with dill.

For the main course, we ordered hingal mantı, a special Georgian variety of dumpling that seems about ten times larger than Turkish mantı. The hingal mantı’s savory meat filling, and the tangy tomato sauce served on the side, were perfect. Other main courses on the menu which I mean to try on future visits include Georgian Çakapuli (lamb stew with tarragon and plum sauce), Ostri (veal goulash with pepper, tomato, mushrooms and coriander), and Baje (stewed chicken thighs with walnut and saffron.)

The Galata Evi serves alcohol, including beer, Turkish and Georgian wines, and Russian vodka. For a quiet dinner in an intimate and unique setting, right in the center of the city, the Galata Evi is an excellent choice. Try it once – you’re sure to come back.