i visited zubeyir ocakbasi with my parents while they were in istanbul. i wanted to take them to a nicer place where they could try traditional turkish meat dishes, mezzes, and raki in one fell swoop. this place had been recommended to me, and not having had a chance to try it out beforehand, i was taking a bit of a chance. luckily, our party of 4 was able to get in despite making a reservation the day off (make your reservations early!!), and we were all impressed with the quality of the service and food. our server let us sample all the mezzes before selecting a few. the gavurdagi salata, eggplant, and haydari were all excellent. it was nice to be able to see our food being cooked at the hearth in the middle of the restaurant, and of all of the meat dishes we ordered, there wasn't one that i wouldn't eat again. i was surprised to see that many of the patrons were turkish locals rather than tourists. i had expected to see more tourists, but happy to see otherwise knowing that we were in for a real turkish treat :)