Rejans Restaurant, Beyoglu

Beyoglu restaurants, Rejans, Russian restaurant” title=”rejans-restaurant-beyoglu-istiklal-street-istanbul” width=”150″ height=”150″ class=”alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-11944″ />Rejans is an old Russian restaurant in Beyoglu. The restaurant was founded by Tevfik Manars, Veronika Protoppova and Vera Cirik in 1931 at Olivya Gecidi in Beyoglu.

Serving Istanbullu for 76 years, Rejans was founded in 1931 by by Tevfik Manars, Veronika Protoppova and Vera Cirik, White Russians immigrated to Istanbul after the 1917 revolution in Russia. Rejans hosted many famous people like M. K. Atatürk, Agatha Christie, Ibrahim Calli (famous Turkish artist), Muhsin Ertugrul (famous Turkish musician), author, musicians, artists and contributed to the cultural life, arts and literature in Istanbul.

White Russians
White Russians, who fought against the Soviet Red Army in the Russian Civil War in 1918-1921 and was eventually defeated and escaped from Russia, immigrated to countries like Turkey. They helped Beyoglu to become an attraction center and in the 1920’s they opened many restaurant, bars, night clubs etc.

Expert from The White Russians in Istanbul by Jack Deleon
After the revolution in 1917, Russian aristocracy found itself on the brink of disaster; they had a choice between being annihilated or leaving their homeland fast, and naturally chose the second course. It is estimated that nearly half a million White Russians passed through Istanbul, Turkey, between the years 1918-1921, most of whom went on to France, the United States or Canada. Some, however, remained in Turkey. A very small portion of the original immigrants are alive today, and those who have passed away have left their children behind, with faded potographs in ancient albums. As the White Russian community in Istanbul grows smaller and smaller, the memoirs of the survivors of the 1917 revolution become more and more important.

What to eat at the Rejans
Menu of the restaurant is very rich and varied. You can have soups like Russian soup, vegetarian soup, cold hors d´oeuvres like havyar, tarama, pate, olivye salad, somon carice (czarina), stuffed somon fish, slotka (pickled herring fish), Russian cabbage salad, Austrian potato salad, rozbif (roast beef), mezes for vodka, hot hors d´oeuvres like spinach meatballs, leek meatballs, grilled mushroom with cheese, pilmeni (Russian ravioli with minced meat), seafood foursome, meals like grilled season vegetables, Norvegian somon cutlet, roasted whiting, kievski (chicken breast stuffed with butter), duck, duck with eggplant and chestnut sauce, pork chops, lamb sis with special sauce, bitok (Russian meatballs), steak with 40 spice sauce, adbirnaya (escalop stuffed with ham, cheese, mushroom and deep-fried), stroganoff, schnitzel, Alexander steak, pepper steak, desserts like sirnike (Russian dessert with cheese, jam and vanilla sauce), strudel with apples, pavlova, mereng (with thick chocolate sauce), mereng with chestnut, chestnut sweet, fruit salad and many more. Afiyet olsun!

How to get there
Rejans is located near Galatasaray, Yeni Carsi street after walking past Galatasaray High School, at Olivya Gecidi, Beyoglu. You can call 0212 243 3882 for directions or reservations.

Olivya Gecidi, Yeni Carsi street, Beyoglu
www.rejansrestaurant.com

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