Every dish at Diver is sure to please your appetite

Run by Turgay Kokoç and his two brothers, who hail from Rize, the restaurant has a great location and ambience for its customers.

As soon as you step into the restaurant, you are met with wonderful food that is unique to the Black Sea region. The restaurant has many delicious dishes such as kuru fasülye (beans), lahana sarma (cabbage leaf rolls), kebab with vegetables, Rize kavurma (sautéed meat dish), boiled meat and Akçaabat köfte (meatballs that are left to stand for two hours after preparation and then cooked). Kokoç successfully moved his grandfather and father’s restaurant business to İstanbul, where it has become a favorite for a variety of people, not only those from the Black Sea region, over the last eight months, contributing to the restaurant’s success.

In addition to its Black Sea specialties, the restaurant also produces dishes from Ottoman times such as saray kebab, hasanpaşa köfte (meatballs) and güveç (Turkish dish made of meat and vegetables baked in a clay pot). Most of the ingredients used come from the Black Sea region, which is why the food at Diver tastes so good. The chefs generally use meat (especially veal) from Black Sea cities, butter and cheeses from Trabzon’s Beşikdüzü district, kavurma and corn flour from Rize and yogurt and ayran (a yogurt drink) from Kokoç’s hometown of Çandara in Rize. “Our cuisine showcases the Black Sea region for everyone. Our restaurant is also a favorite place for many politicians as well as locals because we emphasize quality when preparing our delicious food,” Kokoç notes.

Patrons have described Diver’s mıhlama (Turkish fondue made with cornmeal and Trabzon butter and cheese) as having a unique flavor, but say they enjoy it because it is a light meal. The Rize kavurma is also popular, as are the cabbage leaf rolls and the pide filled with various ingredients. One can eat many dishes at the restaurant and leave without feeling any heaviness.

The restaurant has wonderful desserts, such as laz böreği (a syrup-soaked dessert of pudding sandwiched between layers of pastry), homemade baklava (sheets of phyllo pastry soaked in syrup and sprinkled with nuts), kadayıf (a similar dish made with shredded wheat) brought from Rize, sütlaç (rice pudding) and kabak tatlısı (pumpkin in syrup). The two-story restaurant also has two private rooms, each with a capacity of eight-12. If necessary, these two rooms can be converted into a one for large groups who want to eat together. Approximately 40 people work in the restaurant.

When you go to Diver, you can’t ask the waiters for special meals, as all the meals are special. Kokoç says: “We love it when someone asks us what dishes we recommend because we want them to try four or five portions of various meals. We want them to have a taste of all the flavors of the Black Sea region’s cuisine; however, some people might think we do this in the interest of business.”

Every day there is the opportunity to have a beautiful breakfast. A portion of breakfast has seven or eight varieties of cheese, honey, butter, jam and roasted meat. You can enjoy breakfast between 8 and 10 a.m. on weekdays, and between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. on the weekend. Of course, people who want to eat mercimek çorba (red lentil soup) and boiled and roasted meat can have a good breakfast at 5:30 a.m. Diver is a good choice for people who want to taste the cuisine of the Black Sea region.

Diver, where everything contributes to the experience

The restaurant has a capacity for 300 people, which it can easily seat without overcrowding.

Ander, mineral water from Rize’s Küçükçayır village, is offered to customers and the chefs also use this water when preparing the food, giving it a special flavor.

The restaurant is open between 5:30 a.m. and 12 a.m., giving İstanbulities a place to eat traditional food at almost any time.

The restaurant is located on a street that has ample parking nearby and a small prayer room (mescit) is available there for both women and men.

Diver offers people traditional food from the Black Sea region, and in addition to the region’s famous fish, hamsi (European anchovy), there are also various varieties of fish such as horse mackerel, haddock and sea bass to try.

You can ask for food to be delivered for special gatherings or reserve a place for your meetings or special occasions.

The food is prepared by women -- maybe this is why it tastes so delicious!

Diver’s menu and prices are as follows:

Soups: TL 3-3.50

Boiled bean salad (piyaz): TL 4

Çandara yoghurt: TL 4

Çandara ayran: TL 2

Akçaabat köfte (meatballs): TL 7.50

Rize kavurma (kind of

sauteed meat): TL 9.50

Mıhlama: TL 8

Dried beans: TL 6.50

Boiled cabbage: TL 6

Diver mixed portion: TL 10

Kebab with vegetables: TL 6.50

Cabbage leaf roll: TL 6.50

Pide: TL 7-12

Shredded wheat (kadayıf): TL 4

Rice pudding (sütlaç): TL 4

Pumpkin in syrup (kabak tatlısı): TL 4

Laz böreği: TL 4

Diver Karadeniz Mutfağı (Diver Black Sea Cuisine)

Akdeniz caddesi no: 6 Fatih, İstanbul

Telephone number: 0 212 534 26 01