all this is a restaurant
A human whirlwind floods everything, sometimes it is difficult to walk through this city of 17 million people. on the way, the small stands of natural juices become an irresistible temptation : delicious oranges, greedy grandas (it's still the season) ... street carts offer freshly cut watermelon, caramel lollipops (macun) that are tangled on sticks before the astonished eyes of children, breads, sandwiches, sweets, ice cream, yogurt , etc.
Donnër kebab stalls, Turkish fast food, follow one another. Don't you dare to confuse it with kebabs , grilled skewers, which are the favorite food of the Turks. ** Koçebasi **, inside the ** Reina ** complex, one of the trendiest places in Istanbul with wonderful views of the Bosphorus, is a good place to try them, better at sunset to see how the city lights up. And on the way, a stop in the Ortaköy neighborhood to savor the famous stuffed potatoes (kumpir) and fried mussels , two street food specialties.
A street fruit and juice stall in Istanbul
In the old city, near Hagia Sophia, the famous _ koftecisi _, elongated beef meatballs, which are prepared on the grill and sold as a sandwich to go eating on the street. Going down the streets of Sirkeci, next to the station where the Orient Express arrived, there are tourist restaurants. At the entrance, women prepare gözleme, the traditional (unleavened) pita breads that are filled and baked or cooked on a griddle, in the Cappadocian style.
The specialties with hamur (flour dough) are innumerable, from yufka (the translucent leaves with which the backlava are prepared, the best are those from ** Karakoy Gulluoglu ** to burek (patties of different styles and sizes). To understand the differences and learn the names, you almost need a dictionary, the that I have started to do with Nazim, my guide after touring the city together and eating non-stop.
At the Spice Bazaar, let yourself be seduced, give in to haggling and buy the famous rahat lokum or Turkish delight, a gummy-like confectionery to which pistachios are added (or other nuts) and aromas (rose, orange blossom, lemon, raspberry). My favourites, the pomegranate and pistachio ones from Çankiri Kutu (Stand 23 of the Spice Bazaar). In **Nar,** one of the best Ottoman cuisine restaurants, they have a workshop where they explain how these ancient sweets are prepared.
Next to the bridge, in the area of Eminönü, the barges offer tasty grilled mackerel sandwiches , which the locals accompany by drinking tursun, a mixture of brine and pickles. As you pass the terraces of the meyhanes (taverns) that festoon the banks we are assailed by the whiff of fried anchovies and squid , smells of Mediterranean soul that are familiar to us. The best place to eat them is the restaurant Griffin , in Karakoi. It is a kind of speakaesy on the shore of the Golden Horn with incomparable views. In addition, among its meze it has delicious fish croquettes and some very subtle and particular _burek_ (dumplings) that are steamed and then they are grilled, in the style of the _gyozas_japonesas. To try the best meze in the city you have to cross to the Asian side and get to ** Ciya .** But that will be in the next post...
street food stalls
This article was published in May 2013. Updated in 2017.