THE giddy whirligig that is Spinningfields is quite exhausting. A Kentish oasthouse cum bar here, a festive ice rink there, a Tasmanian devil of a deli called Peppermint Bay soon to rub shoulders with good ole BBQ eaterie Southern 11 in Manchesterâs new frontier. Phew!
What a relief to emerge into Bridge Street, resisting the take-home temptations of the city centre pioneer Waitrose and the post Purple Pussycat cocktail lure of the Liars Club tiki dive, to enter the timeless refuge that is Istanbul.
Sacit Onur has presided like some culinary Grand Vizier over one of the cityâs most consistent dining experience of the past three decades. Previously he ran a night club where the likes of George Best in their dolly bird-pulling prime strutted in their hipsters.
I imagine Carlo Stefani of San Carlo fame was still running his hairdresserâs in St Annâs Square and the legendary Arto der Haroutunian was still months away from launching that perennial Levantine rival, the Armenian Taverna on Albert Square when Sacit set up his much-loved establishment.
Not that time has stood still. The menu remains monumentally the same, but the decor gets refreshed. In 2003 it shed a ton of Ottoman baggage and two years ago Bernard (Panacea, Reform, Ampersand) Carroll masterminded a £200,000 refit that installed plush red seating, a startling blue tiled floor, beamed ceiling and fantastic glass mosaic light fittings. That created a new bar area and an open plan kitchen doubled in size. Now Bernardâs been back to help create an attractive new basement function room.
What designers canât create, though, is staff warmth and Cafe Istanbul is rich in that. Iâve never been there and felt less than gloriously welcome. Other long-running establishments do the same â say Dimitris â but unfortunately the food doesnât match up. Here it does.
A recent lunch exemplified all I desire from a visit to Cafe Istanbul. Not that the mains arenât good, but a the starters are inevitably better.
Muska Borek, feta cheese and spinach filo pastry triangles (£4.90) are a world away from the sort of example you might buy at Waitrose down the road, full, plump and freshly fried. Ditto with the vine leaves (£5.90). Supermarket and deli examples can be so dull but fill the leaves with a well-herbed lamb mix and youâve crossed the culinary Bosporus.
The Grand Vizierâs kitchen really works its magic, though, with its Tavuk Cigeri (devilled chicken livers, £5.90). Worcester sauce, spices and accompanying redcurrant jelly donât sing Turkish, but I donât care. Lovely. As was the Patlican Salatasi (baked aubergine with olive oil, lemon and garlic, £4.90). Elsewhere theyâd be talking tapas, but this is meze.
Mains didnât quite live up to what went before. Tandir (slow baked apricot lamb, £14.90) with rice was dense and succulent, but the highly recommended Kilic (char-grilled skewers of swordfish, £14.90) was, despite the presence of onions and green peppers, dry, flaky and dull.
A bottle of False Bay Wild Yeast Chenin Blanc 2010 from South Africa was a good fish dish match but the long apricotty finish was perfect with the lamb, too. A real bargain at £17.90 a bottle.
A shared plate of sticky, honeyed baklava to finish was delightful as was the coffee. Time to re-cross the Bosporus to a constantly changing world!
Cafe Istanbul, 79/81 Bridge Street, City centre, M3 2RH, 0161 833 9942 www.cafeistanbul.co.uk