While burger bars have become the food equivalent of Spanish Flu in Istanbul, it is hard to see the market for such a staple slow. Burger shops are opening every week in the city, and each seems more decadent than the last.
Burger Project has opened just recently, and it isn’t just the burgers that makes this place stand out.
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mahallesi is a somewhat tumbledown neighbourhood that sprawls between Maslak and Etiler. It started life as a gecekondu network, and looks like some dusty Anatolian village has been whisked up and dropped in Istanbul by some very large whirlwind. And somehow, an upmarket burger bar from Nişantaşı seems to have been picked up and dumped in the middle of this.
The logic of the location was only revealed to the author one Sunday afternoon. Like one out of two Istanbullus, he was looking for a dinner option but was weighed down by the traffic challenges that come with going out. Burger Project is the rarest of Istanbul restaurants: there is parking.
In front.
With no valet.
And no charge.
While you allow the shock to settle over you, we should turn to the burgers. The menu is restricted to about seven different settings, with nothing garish or grasping. The most flamboyant of the burgers is the Roquefort and Fungi, but the others are standard American classics with cheese, a soft yet punchy relish and raw red onions.
The meat is juicy yet holds together, and draws in the smoky flavour of the grill. The workers and the setting imbue the diners with enough trust to ask for rare to medium rare, and the pay off is a real meat flavour. The burgers are not over stuffed, which is just as well, for the bun doesn’t really encase its contents with enough hold to keep the meat from slipping.
Despite that sin, the bun is actually one of the main draws of Burger Project. It is as close to a brioche as you can get in Istanbul. It has a lot of character and is not in the least chewy, meaning that it helps you focus on the main attractions: the meat and the soft, orange cheese.
Burger Project has a couple of good sides: fries or onion rings. While both appear to be frozen, this does not detract from their greasy goodness.
While the setting is incongruous, there are plenty of trees about and a lack of artifice to make eating on the patio very pleasant. As an added bonus, most of the burgers cost around 20 TL, which is pretty competitive in a competitive market.
Burger Project finally gives some joy back to Istanbul’s motorists, and once this excellent little restaurant gets accepted by the Yemeksepeti gang, they should reach a wider audience.
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All images courtesy of Timothy Mottram.
Burger Project
FSM Mh. Bilgi Sk. No: 30/D Armutlu
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