Being betrothed to a Brit, I have quickly come to appreciate a good curry. Although I am normally enamored with Turkish cuisine, Fıccın being a particular favorite at the moment, there is very little in the way of heat. There are a few Indian restaurants around town, but they usually come with steep prices. So when I want food with a bit of a kick to it, I head to Kaset Restaurant & Cafe, a small cafe in Beşiktaş. It does seem like an odd choice – they have a wide selection on their menu, so much so that at first glance I was expecting standard sub-par cafe fare, the type where corn is strangely ubiquitous. But my first bite of their spicy Thai chicken curry (Tayland Usulü Tavuk Curry, acılı) made me quickly repent for such a hasty judgement. It is the spiciest thing I have eaten in Istanbul (though it is possible to get it non-spicy, just ask for acısız) and the flavors were right on point.
Kaset Restaurant & Cafe is now a go-to spot for me and not just because of the spicy food. They do an excellent fajita and köfte with apple chutney (I wasn’t lying about the wide selection), while serving Bomonti on tap and mulled wine in the winter months. Located on the ground floor of an apartment building, the bar and majority of tables are outside under a large awning, which offers a cool reprieve in the sweltering summer months (don’t fret, they cart in huge heaters in the winter). No other place manages to be as intimate and bustling as Kaset, which seems to accomplish this feat with ease. Even better, their prices are reasonable, with most main dishes coming in around 20 TL. Although a part of me wants to keep this hidden gem all to myself, I can’t deny a delicious spicy curry to all those forlorn curry-lovers searching for a bit of heat in the city.
Address: Sinanpaşa Mh. Selamlık Cad. No:5 34353 Beşiktaş
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Excellent. I’ve been craving a thai curry for months!