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Bahria Town, Istanbul Grill; No Trace of Turkey

A few weeks ago, my friend and I went to Bahria Town, Karachi and somehow ended up at Istanbul Grill. We were all hangry and unsure about trying out this particular eatery, because the menu had a lot of Pakistani food mixed in with the Turkish. We would have moved on and tried something else had the owner/manager not persuaded us to stay. To sweeten the deal, he said the food was on the house if we didn't like it (before you come for me, we didn't take him up on that offer and paid fully) and that we could give our honest review online, which is finally here.

We went entirely with the suggestions given by the staff, and ordered the following:

- Afghani Pulao: Didn't have it but the others said it was okay

- Istanbul Boti: I didn't understand what was so Turkish about this. The boti itself reeked of that meaty smell which people, myself included find unpleasant. It was also a little dry and I couldn't eat more than one piece.

- Kelash Kabab: This was probably worse than the Istanbul Boti because there was a legit metallic flavor to the kabab. When we asked the owner/manager, he said the foil it was served in was greased with butter and cooked in it. We still don't understand what kind of foil they're using which imparts an unpleasant flavor to the food being cooked inside it.

- Kashmiri Handi: This was probably the best thing we ate there, even though there was absolutely nothing Kashmiri about this dish. I should know, I am a Kashmiri. We don't slather cheese into a makhni handi and call it Kashmiri *eye roll*

- Naan: This was your average naan, nothing spectacular.

There was one other dish which was recommended and never served, so that was cancelled from the bill without our perusal, thank the Lord.

Was the total damage worth the food? I came away feeling like I wasted my calories on a meal I didn't really enjoy, but the amount paid wasn't crazy insane. Would I go there again? Nooooo thank you.

Afghani Pulao

Total Bill

Entrance

Istanbul Boti

Kashmiri Handi

Kelash Kabab

Naan


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