I finally come down to the concluding part of "Tastes of Europe" series with this write-up on Istanbul,Turkey.
We landed at the Kamal Ataturk Airport, Istanbul by the late night flight from Zurich. I was travelling to Istanbul after 10 long years and was as eager as a beaver to re-visit the only city in the world present in two continents i.e. Asia and Europe. Istanbul is historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople and is rich in history.
We landed in Istanbul in the last few days of the Holy month of Ramadan/Ramzan and were skeptical as to whether the tourist attractions, restaurants etc will remain open during daytime. To our pleasant surprise, the city was a humdrum of activity and bustling with life. All the restaurants were open and many of them were also serving spirits in good spirits!. The locals continue with their fasting and prayers but keep life for tourists as usual.
The evenings during Ramadan are festive like in Istanbul, the whole city is lit up and at the time of breaking the fast, families gather together in public plazas and gardens with their picnic baskets and enjoy their first day time meal. Surprisingly the weather in Istanbul was astounding, a few degrees cooler than Zurich !
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| Hagia Sophia in the background. Families gather to break their fast. |
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Festive like atmosphere in the city.
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We stayed in the Sultanahmet area of Istanbul which is on the Asian side. In my earlier visit, I had stayed at Taksim Square which is on the European side. Sultanahmet is actually the heart of Istanbul, walking distance from most attractions in the city and with its cobbled streets offers tourists a great eclectic mix of culture, cuisine and chutzpah!
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View of the city from the Bosphorus River |
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| The magnificent glimpse of Dolmabahçe Palace |
While we were soaking in the sights and sounds of Istanbul, we were also fortunate to discover some wonderful restaurants and some new dishes to tickle our epicurean instincts.
After 2 weeks in Italy and Switzerland, we thought of visiting an Indian restaurant in Istanbul which was in Sultanahmet restaurant called "Dubb". The service put us off, my drink was served without ice, when I asked to be served some, the waiter had conveniently forgotten and this despite the restaurant being practically empty. We ordered their set meal/thali. The Paneer Mutter ( cottage cheese with green peas in a gravy) was the only dish which we thought was good, rest of the food was nothing to write home about. So unless you have a really strong craving for Indian food, I don't suggest visiting this restaurant. Perhaps we were unfortunate to visit them on one of their bad days.!
On the first night in Istanbul, we tried the famed "Doner Kebab" at one of the roadside cafes along with the usual hummous and salads. Good beginning but the best was yet to come...
We visited the Amedros Restaurant opposite the McDonald's in Sultanahmet after it was recommended by the Manager of our hotel where we were staying. The experience was so good that we went there thrice to enjoy the service, ambiance and the lip smacking food to say the least. The bartender was so good at mixing the Mojito's that I had to visit the place again and again. I learnt how to mix a Mojito from the bartender and in fact he was delighted with the attention he got.
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| Amedros- great experience! Cant wait to go there again.. |
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| Mojito at the Amedros with the ever smiling bartender |
Since we visited the restaurant thrice, we were confused whether to eat what we had ordered earlier or to try something new. Every dish that we ordered and tried was enough to satisfy our otherwise untrammelled gustatory demands. What did we try there?
- Mezze Platter- which has seven different appetisers including hummous. Rating 4*
- Chicken Salad- Grilled chicken with lettuce, salad leaves, tomatoes, walnuts and orange. Rating 5*
- Rocket Salad- Rocket or Roca leaves with cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn and topped with some grilled halloumi cheese and pomegranate sauce Rating 5*
- Stuffed Mushrooms- Mushrooms stuffed with halloumi cheese on a bed of sautéed spinach with peanuts, red peppers with a soya sauce dressing. Rating 5*
- Vegetable Kebab-Grilled seasonal vegetables served with yogurt and rice.Rating 4*
- Sultan Chicken- Grilled chicken breast topped with mushrooms, red peppers, saffron mustard sauce and cheddar cheese, served with rice.Rating 5*
- Grilled Sea Bass- served with potatoes, salad leaves and butter.Rating 5*
The presentation of food, the cutlery, soothing music in the background added to the overall experience. The portions were generous and the prices were surprisingly moderate for the overall package. They offered a complimentary after dinner ' in house aperitif or liqueur' to us and for our son a nice colorful version, which won him over. The tables were full especially in the evening and people would be waiting patiently for their turns. If you want to try this place out, be the early bird or else be patient.
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| The kid's after dinner potion at Amedros.. |
While walking on the streets of Istanbul, we came across this unique dish called " Kumpir" served at the roadside cafes. This is a huge local potato which is baked and stuffed with all the goodies. Looked adventurous and exciting enough for us to give it a shot.
Kumpir is a popular fast food in Turkey.The potatoes are wrapped with foil and baked in special ovens. The potatoes are cut straight down the middle and the insides are mixed with unsalted butter. Thereafter depending on your choice it can be stuffed with mushrooms, sausages, Russian salad, olives, pickles, sweetcorn, carrots and topped with mayonnaise, ketchup etc. Yummy but a real challenge for 2 people to finish it.!!
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| Fillings for the Kumpir |
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| Kumpir in its final form |
Since I am partial to sea-food and I had heard a lot about the famed fish sandwich in Istanbul, I wanted to give it a shot after dis-embarking from the Bosphorus Cruise on the Tur Yol Boat. The fish sandwich is called " Balık ekmek " or simply put 'fish in bread'. I would like to share some background to this dish which I overheard from one of the locals.
Apparently fisherfolk brought their catch from the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul's Galata Bridge over the Golden Horn for sale. A few of them had an idea of cooking the fish right on the boat and offer it - absolutely fresh and piping hot.
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| Boats selling Balik Ekmek |
The tourist books sing paeans of praise for its flavor, nutrition, tradition and it comes cheap. The balik ekmek is served with salata or salad. My experience - over-rated, maybe due to the hype created around it.
We were fortunate enough to notice this cafe called "Hafiz Mustafa" which was established in 1864 . The owner with whom I chatted with proudly claimed that its history was older than Canada itself. The exemplary dessert spread, the old Gothic atmosphere and its superb coffee choice pulled us to that place twice. Not to miss this one. Two minutes walk from the Amedros and near the Hagia Sophia.
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Desserts at Hafiz Mustafa
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Shops in Turkey display their desserts really well and their merchandising efforts are something to admire. Lokum (Turkish Delight) and Baklava are the first names that come to mind when one thinks of Turkish sweets. Some of the other sweets are Künefe (made of very fine vermicelli-like pastry), Pestil (a Turkish dessert made by dried layers of fruit pulps) etc.
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| Desserts displayed at the shops |
The Turkish version of ice-cream is called Dondurma.Two qualities distinguish the Turkish ice cream i.e.texture and resistance to melting due to some local thickening ingredients. You can see handcarts or stores decorated colorfully and the vendors in traditional dresses beckoning you with this.Vendors often tease the customer by serving the ice cream cone on a stick, and then taking away the Dondurma with the stick and rotating it around, before finally giving it to the customer.
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| Cotton Candy cart in Istanbul. Notice the lamps! |
I am unfortunately not able to upload the photo of the dondurma cart that we had clicked as I kept getting an error message. However none of us enjoyed the dondurma and we did not try it again elsewhere.
With this, I conclude this update on Tastes of Europe and will soon come with a detailed travelogue of the holiday. Until then, bon appetit!
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