This small stall in Besksitas is rated among the top street food stops in all of Istanbul, so I…read moremade an effort to give it a try. It took three attempts to get a doner at Karadeniz. Fortunately my hotel was not too far away. First off, it was closed on Sunday. I imagine some research beforehand might have alerted me to this, but the only other enterprises in the area also closed were the banks. Second and more disappointing was arriving at about 4 PM (hoping to beat the dinner crowd) only to be told as I tried to get in line that they were about to close and I was too late.
Well I finally got their basic doner, the easiest to order given the language barrier. The meat was unquestionably moist and tasty and the roasted veggies added to the flavor sensation. However, I found the proportion of bread to meat extremely imbalanced. Bluntly, I thought the meat portion was a little stingy. The bread overwhelmed the flavorful meat. The remedy might be to toss half the bun or, as suggested by another reviewer, purchase a plate rather than a sandwich and make your own.
Bottom line, a doner worth giving a try. But would I travel across town for it, probably not. There are many very good doner purveyors all around. And the margin of improvement that Karadeniz adds would not warrant such added effort.