The House Cafe is a fairly well-known bistro-cafe chain in Istanbul. Aimed at the city's affluent middle-class consumers, the House Cafe has opened up shop in some of the most fashionable shopping malls (e.g. Istinye Park, Canyon Shopping Mall) and exclusive residential districts of Istanbul (Bebek, Etiler, Sisli).
Prices are not cheap, almost on par with major cities in western Europe, but when compared to similar establishments in other parts of Istanbul or major coastal resort towns such as Antalya, the House Cafe actually offers quite decent fares at comparatively reasonable prices.
One of my favourite House Cafe venues is the one in Bebek, a petite yet elegant leafy suburb of Istanbul. The decor reminds me of those stately fin-de-siecle Kaffeehaeuser in Central Europe, notably Vienna.
Although there is no lack of restaurants serving western cuisines in Istanbul, it is not easy to find delicious Italian pasta dishes or European-styled cakes and pastries at affordable prices. Fortunately the House Cafe do have some selections of fruit cakes, tarts and cream pastries for those who are looking for something different to the extremely sweet Turkish desserts.
Light lunch such as salads and pasta dishes range between 15 to 25TL. Very pricy by normal Turkish standards, but such price range has seemed to become the norm in major towns and tourist resorts throughout Turkey.
The House Cafe also has a good selection of both alcholic and non-alcoholic drinks on offer. The one beneath is freshly pressed lemonade decorated with sliced green apples and lemon.
Copyrights@2010. All photos and text by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
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