How Zach & Meri ate their way through Istanbul

Istanbul was a magical city with some of the most incredible food I have ever eaten. I normally do not obsess over taking photos of my food to share what I ate for breakfast with the world unless it is a particularly tasty bagel & lox, but be warned I am compelled to break that rule for this post. Normally, I only allow myself to eat one nice traditional meal in each country in order to adhere to my strict budget, but Turkey was so cheap that I was able to do all this eating and still stay under budget.

Zach, my wonderful friend whom I hadn’t seen since graduation (minus random 30 min meet-ups in NYC in transit to Russia) met me at the airport, where we basically tackled each other with bear hugs outside of passport control. Our first day we got lost wandering through Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar sampling baklava and Turkish delight and gazing mesmerized at all the bright colors of the lamps and spices.

Our first night, we treated ourselves to delicious apple tea and baklava to celebrate our first full day together in two years. The next day we tried the sesame pretzels called Simit. Zach got the regular and of course I had to go for the nutella. Note: this was on our way to breakfast. I’m not kidding when I say all we did was eat!

 Turkish breakfast is incredible. I want to recreate this at some point. Normally paired with Turkish tea, the breakfast includes white cheese, old cheese (kaşar peyniri), olives, honey, jam, eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, and the most scrumptious warm bread. Yum!

 Ok, let’s take a break from our food tour and explore this building!

 The Hagia Sophia needs no introduction, so here are some photos instead.

Ok, now back to food.

After adventuring in the European side, Zach and I took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul. It was a little chilly on the ferry, so we ordered this delicious warm tea called Salep that tasted like rice pudding.

We wandered through a fish market, trying not to get lost again amidst the occasional moped driving through with no warning, the distinct smell of fresh fish, and the cries of the Turkish fishermen and merchants advertising their goods – fish, grape leaves, mussels stuffed with rice, olives, etc.

As an appetizer at lunch time, Zach and I ordered Pide, which was basically cheese and bread (our two favorites!) before ordering a kebab and crème brule type desert which in total for both of us cost less than one order of sirniki in Moscow.

Another commercial break for some cat photos! There were cats everywhere in Istanbul. I mean everywhere. Most of them were actually quite large since people leave food for them quite frequently. Whenever we would eat outside to enjoy the sunshine or to listen to call to prayer, which was beautiful, we would be surrounded by kitties, kitties, and more kitties.

For breakfast the next day we got Kumpir, a stuffed baked potato. The man we ordered them from cut a baked potato open, added some butter, poured a massive amount of salt (seriously- imagine a lot of salt, now triple that quantity), and added whatever toppings we wanted- olives, beets, cheese, pickled veggies, sausages, a few unidentifiable Turkish salads, etc. So simple! Maybe when the day comes that I finally learn how to cook, I will attempt this feat. With less salt, of course.

We took a break from indulging in the Turkish cuisine to explore the Blue Mosque which was fantastic and so beautiful. Here is a view of the ceiling.

Next, we met Ryan, an American I met in my Bulgarian hostel, who took us to get the most amazing fish sandwich I have ever eaten. We walked across a pedestrian bridge, past elderly fisherman chit chatting to a tiny grill on the edge of the bridge. I was skeptical at first, watching the street vendor apathetically pile some fish on roll for us, but I learned, once again, that looks are deceiving!

I am writing this post a few weeks after this adventure, and I have to say that every person to whom I have mentioned I have visited Turkey has immediately exclaimed “Did you try the fish sandwich? On the bridge? From the grumpy man?”. This Turkish grumpy man is apparently now an international legend. And rightly so.

On the street, we got Turkish ice cream from a street vendor. Turkish ice cream, or Dundurma, is thick and sticky that often Turks will eat it with a knife and fork! The man scooped it with a long stick and poked us in the noses with it for a few minutes before putting it in ice cream cones. It was quite a show.

For dinner we got Borek, another cheese pastry type dish and for dessert I ordered a waffle. The man asked, “Would you like everything?” I nodded assertively, but I was not prepared for the number of toppings that finally appeared on my waffle. They mean business when it comes to waffle toppings!

What a delicious way to end our quick adventure. Thank you for participating in this tour of Turkish cuisine! A search for Dracula is up next…