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After getting my morning coffee, I headed over to the area near the Spice Bazaar as that is where my food tour was starting from. I arrived a little early, so had a quick walk around the area. It was pretty quiet. I came across a little statue of a man and a boy with a table between them. The man was giving the boy a Simit and the boy was counting out his money. It was interesting because the table was empty, and there were some actual Simit and baguettes on it. I wonder if it was a good luck thing. I headed back to the cafe Brew Coffeeworks and met a couple of other guests who were on the tour and then the guide turned up and we went inside. The guide explained a little bit about the tour to us and that one person was running late so we would head over to the Spice Bazaar area and meet up with them there.
We didn’t head into the Spice Bazaar, but headed to one of the food stalls outside. I liked this area; all the little stores were open and selling similar things. There were a few
people about doing their shopping, but it wasn’t too busy. I liked that it was quite a gloomy morning, but all the lights from the small shops illuminated the area giving it a cosy glow. Our guide went inside to buy some bits and pieces, and also got use some samples to try. The store sold a mix of different cheeses, olives and cured meats. There was even a cute kitty there. The olives on offer were amazing, I had never seen olives so big or in so many colours. We got to try a couple of different ones. I can’t remember what the first one was, but the second one I tried the guide called a blueberry olive as it was like a huge light pink blueberry. It was very nice. I also tried some cheese, which I think was a type of fermented cheese. It was kind of stringy and flossy, and reminded me, in appearance only, of those dried fish snacks that were popular in Korea, especially to take to the cinema. The cheese tastes quite a bit nicer though. We then went and bought some Simit from one of the small carts and had a look
at some of the other stalls that sold flowers and gardening stuff.
We headed to one of the small restaurants that lined the other side of the market and sat at an outside table. We were still waiting for the other guest to arrive and while I did sympathise, I really just wanted to get stuck into the food. I drank some water, which was provided and soon some small glasses of Cay, Turkish tea, arrived. It was just what I needed to help me warm up on this cold and wet winter’s morning. I enjoyed the tea, it was nice and not too strong or tanniny, if that makes sense. Everyone else was adding sugar, I think that is how you are meant to drink it, but my taste runs more savoury and bitter. Our guide had ordered some dishes from the restaurant too. It was a cute little breakfast place. He laid out all the stuff he’d bought at the shop and explained what each one was. There was quite a few different things and while not the most aesthetically pleasing looking breakfast banquet, it did look good and I was dying to dig in. We had
two types of bread; traditional Turkish bread Simit and a baguette style bread. There were two types of olives; black and green. Two types of cheese were also placed on the table; Tulum Peyniri a Turkish goat’s milk cheese ripened in a goat skin casing, and Ezine Peyniri a cow and sheep’s milk white cheese. We also had some cured meat, I am presuming it was beef, Findik Ezmesi which is a hazelnut cream paste, our guide called it Turkish nutella, Muhammara which is a hot pepper paste with walnuts and breadcrumbs, and Bal and Kaymak, which is water buffalo clotted cream covered with honey. Those were all the things that our guide had purchased from the market. The two hot dishes that came from the restaurant were Menemen, Turkish style scrambled eggs with tomatoes and green pepper and Sucuk, a spicy cured ground beef sausage that was sliced and still sizzling away in its dish when it arrived at the table. The breakfast spread was amazing and I pretty much enjoyed it all. The cheeses, olives, dips, cured meat and breads were all really yummy and I could happily eat these kinds of foods for breakfast everyday. While the
Findik Ezmesi was yummy, since it had no cocoa in it, it did not remind me of nutella at all. The Muhammara reminded me a little of Lyutenitsa, a tomato and red pepper paste I’d sampled in Bulgaria. I was surprised that I loved the Bay and Kaymak as I am not really a sweet foods first thing in the morning kind of person, but this was so good I ended up having a second helping. I loved scrambled eggs so had high hopes for the Menemen, however I was disappointed by it. I prefer my scrambled eggs to be dry and firm whereas these were very wet and runny. Also I didn’t get any of the flavours of the vegetables in the Menemen either. I was very happy with the Sucuk though. It was warm, tasty and greasy. Perfect! I would have that again in a heartbeat.
Once we’d had our fill of breakfasts foods, we headed into the Spice Bazaar for a look around. I liked the inside of the Bazaar and prefered it to the Grand Bazaar. It was smaller and I enjoyed looking at the stuff on offer more. It was also immaculate and I
think it had been recently renovated, too. The vibe was just cosier in there. I didn’t buy anything, just had a nosey. Our guide told us not to bother buying anything in there as it was all overpriced and not the best quality. From here we wandered the streets, past the New Mosque again and headed in the direction of the ferry terminal. I enjoyed looking over the Bosporus and seeing the Galata Tower in the distance. The ferry terminal was quite quiet, I think because we had just missed one, but we didn’t have to wait too long for the next one. It was time to leave the European side of the city.
We took the ferry across to the Asian side of Istanbul. I was quite surprised that the ferry journey took so long. I think it was around 15-20 minutes. I was expecting a quick hop like the Star Ferry in Hong Kong. I enjoyed looking at the views, but didn’t feel the need to go outside to get a better look. I could just imagine how cold and windy it would be. I will have to come back and do the journey outside in the
warmer weather. We headed up into Kadikoy when we got off the ferry. It did feel a bit different in comparison with the European side. It felt a little bit grungier, but I liked it. It would be a great place to live as student or young adult. Our first stop was a restaurant called Kadikoy Midyecisi, which had a cooking area outside that sold Midye Dolma. Midye Dolma are mussels stuffed with rice and spices. Our guide told us that the food tour company only trust this one stall as some of the other places are known to have bad mussels that make people sick, so if this place hadn’t been opened we would have skipped them. I was glad it was open and quiet since it was still fairly early. Our guide ordered three different types of mussels; one regular, one in a spicy sauce and one in the house special sauce. Since two of the group declined to eat the mussels, I don’t blame them if I’d had an experience with some dodgy seafood I would have probably swerved them too, that meant me and the other guy got to share the lot. We squeezed plenty of
lemon juice over them and tucked in. We ate them on the street, a proper snacky food. I really enjoyed all three types and it was hard to choose a favourite.
We wandered the streets of Kadikoy. There were plenty of cats about, chilling and doing their thing. Our guide showed us that the people of the city cared for the animals as a community and various people left containers of water outside their homes and businesses so the animals didn’t get dehydrated. Walking deeper into the neighbourhood, we came to our next stop. This restaurant was pretty busy when we entered but we got led into a quieter room in the back. This restaurant looked deceptively small from the outside, but was a lot larger inside. There was even more seating in the basement. Obviously a popular place. Here we were trying Beyran Corbasi, a spicy lamb soup. I’m not a big lover of soups, I mean they are fine, but that’s just it fine, not something that really knocks my socks off. Therefore I didn’t really have any expectations about the soup. Well, it was amazing and although I enjoyed pretty much all the food I’d tried,
this was my favourite dish of the day. The soup was just perfection. It was warm, well flavoured and nourishing. The perfect meal for a cold winter’s day. I could have happily eaten two or three bowls of the stuff. I also tried not to eat too much o the bread it came served with as a lover of all things carby, it was hard, but I knew I had lots more delights to sample.
Next up it was time for something sweet and we headed to a bakery which was only a short walk away. The bakery was called Izmir Inci Boyozcusu. Here we sampled a couple of different biscuits/cakes. The first one was a nutella filled cookie that was really good. All melty and gooey, chocolate heaven. The second was flaky pastry filled with cream, also lovely. This made a nice change after all the savoury stuff we had been eating. We then spent some more time walking around. We went to the umbrella street, which looks like it would be a popular instagram place. It was quite cute. I liked all the street art we passed. There were lots of pictures/mural of oldish men and I
wondered how they were. It was nice to have some time to build up our appetites again for the next stop as we would be getting a lot of food there.
After walking along the main streets we headed down a smaller side street that opened up onto a restaurant street. It felt a little crowded but in a good way as all the restaurants had outdoor seating, which on this dreary day was not being used. I bet in warmer weather the place is absolutely buzzing. Our destination was Ciya, a restaurant that the guide on my walking tour had mentioned and I was really happy that I was getting the opportunity to eat here. Musa Dagdivren, the chef that owns Ciya doesn’t just do bog standard Turkish cuisine, but travels to all corners of the country looking for local recipes to bring back and add to the menu. He really champions all types of Turkish cuisine and changes the menu daily to incorporate all the dishes. We headed upstairs past the counter. I like this almost buffet style as you can see what is on offer. The first thing we tucked into was a meze
plate of different dips and some Pide. I lovely this picky kind of food and fresh bread so much I could have just eaten this as a meal and been totally satisfied. The plate had five different things on it and they were Humus, Kisir (bulgur salad), Zahter (fresh thyme, parsley, onions, and pomegranite molasses), Yogurtlu Patlican (fried eggplant with garlic yogurt like baba ghanoush), and a chopped beetroot salad. I enjoyed them all and was surprised that my favourites were not the humus and baba ghanoush, which I could eat everyday given the opportunity but the zahter and beetroot. Maybe it was because they were new and different, not something I eat frequently so I liked the new taste. I don’t think I have ever had beetroot in China. The meze was accompanied by a shot glass filled with Uzum Serbeti, a fermented grape juice, which was nice and sweet. Then it was time for the main event as or guide chose five dishes from the display downstairs for us. He did give us a description of each dish, but it was information overload, so I have forgotten some of the details. First up was Dolma (stuffed grape leaves),
I don’t think I have ever hadthese before as they just don’t look the most appealing, however these were tasty and I would have them again. Next was Perde Pilavi, which translates to curtain/drape pilaf as the rice mixture is enveloped in dough. The rice mix contains chicken, pine nuts, currants, almonds, and onions. This didn’t really appeal to me as I felt like rice wrapped in pastry would be too stodgy. I don’t know why I felt like this as a lover of a chip butty or a crisp sandwich I normally have no problems with double carbs. I think also because it didn’t look like there was any sauce so it might taste quite dry. However, I was very happy to be proved wrong. I really, really enjoyed the rice dish. It was lightly flavoured and not too heavy in a carby way. It was something I would happily order again. There were three other stew like dishes that I didn’t get the names of and looking online, I can’t find explanations for. The first two were nice, one meat and potato and the other meat and vegetable, but didn’t wow me. They were just nice combinations of
meat and vegetables. However, I really enjoyed the third one. This was more a nut and roasted veggie stew and had a balsamic tang to it, which I loved. I must have a bit of an acquired taste as nobody else at the table seemed to rate this dish. After all the food, I was starting to get a bit tired and in danger of slipping into food coma territory, even though I wasn’t stuffed. Thank goodness it was time for some Turk Kahvesi, Turkish coffee. This was my first time to try it and I enjoyed it. I love coffee but am not a connoisseur, so long as it is hot (or cold depending on the weather) and strong I am happy.
The next stop was the Kebapci Iskender to try the famous Iskender doner kebab. I was really looking forward to this and had purposely not stuffed myself so that I had plenty of room left in my stomach to enjoy it. The restaurant was budy when we entered, I was quite surprised at how busy it was. This must be the place for kebabs. There were also pictures of the different owners over the years as
this was a family business that had been passed down through the generations. The Iskender kebab was invented in the city of Bursa in 1867 by Iskender Efendi. Mr. Iskender was a butcher and he revolutionised the way lamb was cooked. Previously it was cooked as a whole and therefore the delicious parts of the meat were not distributed evenly to everyone. So he separated the meat from the nerves and bones and stacked it vertically to be grilled. We didn’t have to wait long for the food to turn up. I think we also got another shot of juice here, it was similar to the one we’d had in Ciya, but not identical. The plates arrived with pide (Turkish flat bread) covered with meat in a tomatoey sauce, garnished with some tomato and chili peppers and a giant glob of sour cream style yogurt. However the best bit was when one of the chef turned up with a pan of melted butter and poured that over the kebab. Talk about heaven. The kebab was delicious, the meat well flavoured and the addition of the melted butter just elevated it. I enjoyed skewering the meat and some bread on my
Cay
Turkish Teafork and dipping them into the sour creamesque yoghurt before popping it into my mouth. I was really tempted to have a second one, but knew I still had dessert to come. If I return to Istanbul or go to Bursa (where they have several branches), I would definitely seek this restaurant out again.
Our last stop of the tour was for dessert. We headed to a place called Mado Ferin. This was a popular cafe and a lot of tables were taken inside. It seemed to have quite a wide menu as I enjoyed looking at other people’s tables and seeing what they had ordered. If I ever get the chance to go back, I would love to try some of their savoury stuff as it looked good. Here we got to try the traditional Turkish ice cream, Dondurma. It is made from goat’s milk, sugar, salep (wild orchid root powder) and mastic (aromatic resin). It is different from traditional ice cream in that it has a flexible gummy texture, doesn’t melt like ice cream and is often eaten with a knife and fork. I am not the biggest fan of ice cream so while this wasn’t high
up on my list of Turkish foods I wanted to try, I am happy the tour gave me the opportunity to try it. I was surprised that I actually really enjoyed it, so much so that I ended up having a second portion. We were also able to sample some baklava. Any baklava I have had in the past has been pretty meh, and I didn’t have high hopes for this. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know of it was just better quality stuff or my tastes have changed. We had a pistachio one, which was really nice and a hazelnut/walnut one, which was fabulous. I wish I could have eaten more of that one. It was the perfect end to the tour. I was full but not stuffed which was good.
We were just across the street from the ferry terminal. I was gutted as I’d just missed the ferry back to closer to where I was staying, so I had to take the ferry back to Eminonu. I did die a little bit on the inside when a busker set up his equipment and started singing and playing guitar. I’m just too English for this
kind of thing. He did play something in Turkish about Istanbul, that was the only word I could understand, probably going for the tourist dollar and then a poppy number for the local lira. Luckily, the crossing was over before there were any more songs. One reason I was glad I hadn’t eaten too much on the tour was that it would have made the uphill walk all that much harder. I was feeling a little sleepy and wanted to fight it so headed to a coffee shop near where I was staying for a caffeine boost. While the place was pretty, it was quite expensive though and a bit meh. I think I interrupted the staff member’s lazy afternoon.
I decided to go for a walk to see the Galata Bridge all lit up in the evening. The walk took me about 40 minutes and I quite enjoyed it. It took me along the street that was parallel to Istiklal Street and sloped gently downhill for the most part. However at the end of the street the gradient increased rapidly. I then headed down to the flat road which the tram line runs along. I passed some good
street art as I was walking along. I headed down to the Bosporus to was nice to see everything lit up across the water. I walked over the bridge using the lower level path. I passed all the restaurants there. The guide on the food tour had told us that they were pretty crap, and I am sure they are probably beyond my budget too. Although I did like seeing them all lit up. Halfway along the bridge, the path stops and you have to take the stairs to the upper level. It was nice up here too. I liked watching the people fishing and seeing all the mosques lit up. After taking some pictures, I headed back. I retraced my steps. I headed up to the Galata Tower as I thought I might go in. There was no queue when I got there, but the sign outside said that there was some renovation works going on so part of the tower was closed. I think it was the observation deck. Well, there was no way I was paying 25-30 euros to only get half the experience. So I nixed that idea. I was feeling a little hungry so I
decided to get a small bite to eat. I walked back towards the restaurants on the corner of Istiklal Street. I don’t have the patience for the ones with the massive queues so I opted for Çılgın Dürüm as it wasn’t dead, but wasn’t heaving either. I ordered a lamb doner wrap. It was okay, nothing special, especially after all the deliciousness I’d had earlier in the day, but it did fill the gap. After that it was time to head back to pack up. I have enjoyed my time in Istanbul and I would love to return, preferably when the weather is a bit warmer as I feel there is still lots to see and do in the city.
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