Four pides and a legend: Japon Erdal in Galata

According to a January 2026 report in Gazete Oksijen, Japon Erdal had opened in Galata about five months earlier, on a side street just below Serdar-ı Ekrem. No sign on the door gives the restaurant's name; there is a small red-dot mark and the word “Pideci” on the corner. Writing for Odatv, Salih Seçkin Sevinç likens the interior to a ramen shop: you enter through a curtain, and the logo carries a Japanese sun. Guides and visit videos mention a small pool in the dining room and a stone oven in view.

Orders are written on the white paper spread over the table, and while you wait you can draw on the same sheet with coloured pencils. The blog Bir Doz Minik Güzel Şey describes the paper as both tablecloth and bill.

The story behind the name

On its website, the restaurant ties its name to a tale: a master baker in Samsun named Erdal, nicknamed “Japon” (Japanese), whose face no one ever saw but whose pide everyone knew. The team writes that they never met him and learned from the bakers who carried on his way. In an interview with ChefStory, the founders Harun Ulu and Agah Uz explain that Japon Erdal is a fictional character and that their aim is to make the best Çarşamba pide, named after a town in Samsun province. They told Gazete Oksijen much the same thing: they want to teach the world Çarşamba pide all over again.

Four pides

1. 1Kapalı kıymalı (closed, minced beef): lean minced beef, raw or pre-cooked; 150 g filling, 130 g dough, 580 TL
2. 2Kapalı peynirli (closed, cheese): lor, kaşar and Ezine cheese; 150 g cheese, 130 g dough, 480 TL
3. 3Açık kuşbaşılı (open, diced beef): striploin with tomato and green pepper; 130 g meat, 130 g dough, 720 TL
4. 4Açık pastırmalı (open, pastırma): Kastamonu pastırma cut from ribeye and striploin; 70 g pastırma, 130 g dough, 780 TL

The dough rests for about 36 hours before it goes into the oven, which is why the restaurant says it sometimes runs out early. There is no cheese on the meat pides, so the meat comes first. Visit videos and guides show a raw egg yolk added to the pastırma pide; this option is not on the official menu.

At Flu's table

Flu's “Olmaz Öyle Gastronomi” programme made this the third stop of its pide episode in December 2025. A speaker from the restaurant ties the name to a minimalist approach and describes a dough thinner than usual with a generous filling. The three people at the table gave Japon Erdal 9.5, 10 and 9; the episode's other two stops got 9 at most. The speaker who gave 10 explains it as the tastiest pide they have eaten so far, and another says the open diced-beef pide may be the best they have had. Opinion is not unanimous: the speaker who gave 9 recalls a pide eaten in Bafra, and someone objects to diced beef counting as pide at all. The team says it took no advertising from the restaurant; the episode's description does carry a Samsung Wallet link.

Who it suits

A quick, filling lunch in Galata or Karaköy, two pides shared on a walk through the neighbourhood, or an easy introduction to Black Sea pide for a visitor. With a menu this short, ordering is quick; there are no reservations.

Note: Japon Erdal is a business in which a founder of Gidenler has an ownership interest.