To call this “A Tradesman Restaurant” is not Fair!
I’ve been hearing around that Kantin is the tradesman restaurant of Nişantaşı. So while going there, I was imagining the place to be a relaxed place with wooden chairs, glass tables, a small and ordinary place. What I came across was a simply yet beautifully designed, a clean and neat lunch destination.
The tranquality of colours
Kantin Nisantasi has a peaceful decorum with the harmony of green colours with white. Tables are clean and pure white, and you can see the day’s menu on the blackboard attached to the wall. Like this, it resembles to French bistros. The first thing that attracts my attention is hygiene. There’s no one stain on the floor. The tablecloths are snow white. The first thing that crosses my mind is “To call this place a tradesman (esnaf) restaurant is not fair”. When I look at the menu, I decide to try cold tomato soup, sardines in crunchy rakı with vegetables, and I order cheesecake.
I find the garlic in the soup a bit overwhelming. I don’t know why, but lately I’ve come across the same problem where they serve cold soups. I don’t know about you, but I hate the smell of garlic during hot summer days. Especially during lunch, when the day is not finished yet, I don’t think this smell will be pleasant to anyone. It would be fine if it was lighter, but it was too much for this soup. Tomatoes are chosen well and of good product. There’s no fake sourness.
The crunch with vegetables is a kind of a thin pizza. Don’t fall for the comparison; the dough is completely different than pizza dough. The vegetables on top were rather uncooked except for broccoli. It created a beautiful contrast though. The view of the dish was as delicious as it tasted! However, the pleasure I got from the taste of this colourful view was not as good as the contrast of colours. They make their own dough, and it’s a thin product made in stove. I suggest this taste for those that like slightly light tastes during lunch.
Don’t ask me? if it’s luncheon food…
Don’t pay much attention to the rakı in my sardine dish. When they cook the onion of pilaki, they add a bit of rakı, and the alcohol evaporates during cooking. Instead, the light scent of anise remains. Sardines were beautifully cooked. They were still juicy and fatty. The bread crumbs on top of the sardines created the soft-crunchy contrast. So the ordinary experience is prevented. I think they could have contributed to the taste more, if they had added dill or laurel, but the taste was still good.
I found the cream of the cheesecake rather heavy. It stuck to the back of my mouth, and the softness was not on the same level as I expected. I can’t say the cheesecake totally meets your expectations. The most positive thing I can say about the cheesecake is that, the bottom part of the cheesecake was not made of ready biscuits. The balance of sweet and sour tastes pleasant.
Kantin is the right choice for a lunch in Nişantaşı. It’s not only for tradesmen, but also for anybody…
Evaluation 7/10
Address: AkkavakSokağı 30, 34365
Nişantaşı İstanbul TR.
Telephone: +90 212 219 31 14
