Restaurants Near and Middle East cuisine Route de la soie

Comfortably installed on the terrace in fine weather, do not be surprised to find yourself breathless: the view on Sainte-Sophie, Mosquée Bleue and the Bosphorus at sunset  is simply unique. On the menu, turkishes and Othomans specialities of a great refinement: fish, grilled meats, salads, range of mezze cold and hot... the desserts are also fine and gourmet  for a very correct value for money. As for the wine list, many good local bottles, let your host advise you: the waiters are very careful and will be happy to guide you in your choice. At the nightfall, the lights of the city at your feet, you are there: in the heart of one Thousand and one nights!

For all the gourmets who want to taste the different specialities of Turkish cuisine, try the doy doy mixed kebab, pides, kunefe for dessert and finish with a traditional Turkish coffee. The Doy-Doy Restaurant has everything to please you: a simple and generous cuisine is offered, the reception is friendly, the prices are very affordable and in addition you will enjoy a spectacular view of the Blue Mosque from the terrace located on the top floor of this great restaurant. A very good address in the neighborhood!

How beautiful the nights of Beirut are! This is what the "Layali Beyrouth" brand literally means, this Lebanese establishment's sweet name. Nights which are all the more beautiful that the room has just been renovated with a new Oriental-style decor and that you can always enjoy the pleasant terrace in the peaceful Rue du Dauphiné. Nights and days when you come to enjoy the cuisine of an experienced chef, a graduate of cooking in Lebanon and who has practised his talents for two years at the Crillon hotel, a reference. To miss nothing in all the delights of a traditional cuisine and a menu where you will find the classics (hommos, tabbouleh, moussaka, moutabbal...) and specialities, especially excellent raw meat made on order (kibbeh nayeh, habra nayeh, kafta nayeh, frakeh jnoubiyeh), you will, of course, be recommended the remarkable mezze which bring us all the happiness of the city of knowledge and pleasures. It is possible to order platters for groups, made according to everyone's desires. You can accompany the whole by a Lebanese wine (kefraya and ksara), before falling for the pleasures of homemade pastries (mouhalabieh, moughleh, osmaliyeh...). Adorable service to help us discover a country during a wonderful meal. Smart address.

An address that has taken some time to enter our guide, but we can no longer separate after having tasted. André Melkonyan offers us in his eponymous restaurant a cuisine with the Mediterranean flavours in a room tastefully decorated, where you can feel well at noon with work colleagues, and in the evening with your lover. Daily special carefully prepared in the well-presented dishes and the menu with oriental flavours, with a preference for Armenian cuisine that offers us excellent keuftés, slightly spicy meatballs, with a traditional bulgur. As a starter at €4.50: tabbouleh, vine leaves stuffed with rice and tarama, with an Azur plate that gathers all for €10. For the main course, we recommend a whole aubergine stuffed with meat and finally, the noodles or a famous Greek yoghurt with honey or confit violet petals... Simply adorable service for a really exotic address.

From Alep to Damas, the succeful trip to Syria is probably done in one of the only Lyon restaurants that offers many specialities of a very interesting country... But that's another story. With only forty seats, this little place is hosted by the owner who is also an artist and, after a hand-kissing to women at the entrance, is particularly available to explain all the dishes on the à la carte menu, how to eat them and in what order. With his expert advice, we can start with a famous tabbouleh with fresh mint or yabrak, stuffed vine leaves, unless you prefer the dish of the kalife to taste everything! Then, we will discover dajaj, chicken sautéed with sesame cream, beef with cherry or chicken skewers with lemon, without forgetting the nanaa kebab, beef with mint garnished with aubergine. And for dessert, we can finish with mamounieh, the dessert of the Arabian Nights. So we can leave happily after making a gastronomic discovery, at a very reasonable price.

A very good address, again and again in the lively Opera district, for lovers of Western Armenian cuisine. The restaurateurs are more precisely Armenians from Syria, which broadens the palette of flavours to the whole Middle Eastern cuisine. The establishment has been in existence for some time, but it has retained all of its assets, despite competition from many restaurants offering similar cuisine, which were created shortly after the arrival of Armenians fleeing the civil war in Syria.

Located in the heart of the old city of Istanbul, this restaurant guarantees a refined dinner in a pleasant garden with a magnificent view of the Cafera Medrese (Sinan's work), lulled by soft Turkish classical music. On the menu, an Ottoman cuisine that was served in the Palace, revisited, delicious and copious. Mahmudiye (chicken with honey, lemon and cinnamon sauce) is retained. The restaurant is in a hotel but it is worth a visit.

A magnificent terrace spreads out in front of a beautiful Ottoman building with a wooden facade. A pomegranate tree and its garland, a bric-a-brac of glass jars and above all a breathtaking view of the Blue Mosque. Inside, the decoration puts us in the mood: woodwork, cushions, carpets, and some portraits... On the menu: Ottoman and Turkish cuisine, and a beautiful wine list to accompany the dishes. A last praise for the team of smiling waiters and always there for our pleasure.

This brand no longer holds any secrets for the people of Istanbul who like to sit down at one of the three Çiya restaurants on the street. You can choose between Çiya Kebab or Sofrasi. But rest assured, in both, the dishes are excellent, the meat is of high quality and the mezze is perfectly seasoned. For dessert, try the pumpkin syrup, which is really typical and surprising! The only downside is that the service is sometimes a bit rushed. If the prices are higher than average, they remain very cheap for a European clientele. No alcohol.