whereist istanbul

www.timeoutistanbul.com/english/5077/provincial_foods_in_istanbul

Nicola Prentis goes on a tour of Turkey’s regional foods without leaving Istanbul.

In a country as vast as Turkey, with as long a history and, nowadays, seven borders, it is no wonder that the different regions have developed such distinct yet overlapping cuisines.  Cuisines are shaped by what each area produces, which is a result of the geographical influence on agriculture and what is easily available. For example, harsh mountainous conditions in the Black Sea make raising livestock difficult so local dishes feature predominantly fish.  Spices and dried fruits abound in South Eastern Anatolia cooking as it borders Arab countries and the Ottoman Sultans controlled the Spice Routes, while further North flavours are less complex.  Even apparent anomalies can be explained this way.  Adana, on the Mediterranean coast where fish might be expected, is famous for kebab.  The Adana kebab takes its influence from Urfa, in a less spicy incarnation, as it is further from the Syrian border and not on the Spice Road.

Finding all this out on a culinary tour of Turkey could take years, cover thousands of miles and still miss some hidden local food but luckily some of the mountains have come to Mohammed. If you think about the massive influxes of Turkish people from all the  corners of Anatolia, it’s not surprising that Istanbul has the best stocked larder with every cuisine represented and expert cooks to prepare it.  In restaurants in the dishes’ hometowns, the regional specialties are often noticeable by their absence as, typically, women cook at home and families don’t tend to dine out.  So, unless invited into people’s homes, the traveller can end up with major döner and pide fatigue wondering how Turkish cuisine earned its reputation as one of the world’s most renowned.  To try regional cuisines in Turkey, the visitor might be best served doing a gastronomic tour right here.  Here’s our guide to what to look for and where to get it.

Black Sea
Keywords: Fish, corn flour, cabbage

Cuisine from Düzce to Artvin centres on fish rather than meat, especially hamsi (anchovy).  In its simplest form it’s dipped in corn flour and fried but it can be made into a cornbread (hamsili ekmek) or baked with rice and currants (hamsili pilav).  Black cabbage (kara lahana) shows up in soups or stuffed as dolma and sarma.  Local cheeses and butter are melted into a kind of fondue called muhlama, pide (Turkish pizza) originated in this area and pickled vegetables (turşu) are a speciality.  There’s even dessert with a sweet börek called laz böreği which makes Karadeniz one of the richest of the regional cuisines.

Şimşek Karadeniz Pide Salonu
Taksim Cad. No:8, Beyoğlu

0212 249 4642

The round pides are from Rize, the long thin tubes filled with meat are from Bafra and they’re all brushed with Trabzon butter as they come out of the oven.

nd goes up to the Greek and Bulgarian borders.  It has a rich cuisine influenced by the Balkans and Greeks that migrated there after wars displaced them. Based on simple flavours and ingredients, the specialties are fried liver (ciğer), pelte (pudding of fruit juice thickened with starch), green beans and fried pastries.

Food, Whereist Beyoglu anatolia, anatolian, baklava, balik, Black Sea, breakfast, calamari, central anatolia, Culture, Eastern, eggplant, fish, Food, fruits, Gaziantep, Karadeniz, kebab, lahmacun, mezes, octopus, pastry, taksim, turkish cuisine

www.timeoutistanbul.com/english/5077/provincial_foods_in_istanbul

Pafuli
Kuruçeşme Caddesi 105, Kuruçeşme
0212 263 6638
Family restaurant serving mostly Black Sea Cuisine with a good seasonal fish selection.

s and köftes as well as pastries.

Food anatolia, anatolian, baklava, balik, Black Sea, breakfast, calamari, central anatolia, Culture, Eastern, eggplant, fish, Food, fruits, Gaziantep, Karadeniz, kebab, lahmacun, mezes, octopus, pastry, taksim, turkish cuisine

The new Tünel hangout for the hip and the bohemian from the crew behind Happily Ever After in Bebek and Radio Oxygen’s Engin Yelkenci. Menu, you ask? Street food and roast lamb and anything in between accompanying adult retro music tunes in the repertoire.

( www.pukkaliving.com/en/article/le-weekend-guide-732/) 

Şişhane Meşrutiyet Caddesi No:84 Tünel – 0212 251 51 31

Bars & Drinks bar, club, dance, Food, music

www.timeoutistanbul.com/english/5077/provincial_foods_in_istanbul

Nicola Prentis goes on a tour of Turkey’s regional foods without leaving Istanbul.

In a country as vast as Turkey, with as long a history and, nowadays, seven borders, it is no wonder that the different regions have developed such distinct yet overlapping cuisines.  Cuisines are shaped by what each area produces, which is a result of the geographical influence on agriculture and what is easily available. For example, harsh mountainous conditions in the Black Sea make raising livestock difficult so local dishes feature predominantly fish.  Spices and dried fruits abound in South Eastern Anatolia cooking as it borders Arab countries and the Ottoman Sultans controlled the Spice Routes, while further North flavours are less complex.  Even apparent anomalies can be explained this way.  Adana, on the Mediterranean coast where fish might be expected, is famous for kebab.  The Adana kebab takes its influence from Urfa, in a less spicy incarnation, as it is further from the Syrian border and not on the Spice Road.

Finding all this out on a culinary tour of Turkey could take years, cover thousands of miles and still miss some hidden local food but luckily some of the mountains have come to Mohammed. If you think about the massive influxes of Turkish people from all the  corners of Anatolia, it’s not surprising that Istanbul has the best stocked larder with every cuisine represented and expert cooks to prepare it.  In restaurants in the dishes’ hometowns, the regional specialties are often noticeable by their absence as, typically, women cook at home and families don’t tend to dine out.  So, unless invited into people’s homes, the traveller can end up with major döner and pide fatigue wondering how Turkish cuisine earned its reputation as one of the world’s most renowned.  To try regional cuisines in Turkey, the visitor might be best served doing a gastronomic tour right here.  Here’s our guide to what to look for and where to get it.

Black Sea
Keywords: Fish, corn flour, cabbage

Cuisine from Düzce to Artvin centres on fish rather than meat, especially hamsi (anchovy).  In its simplest form it’s dipped in corn flour and fried but it can be made into a cornbread (hamsili ekmek) or baked with rice and currants (hamsili pilav).  Black cabbage (kara lahana) shows up in soups or stuffed as dolma and sarma.  Local cheeses and butter are melted into a kind of fondue called muhlama, pide (Turkish pizza) originated in this area and pickled vegetables (turşu) are a speciality.  There’s even dessert with a sweet börek called laz böreği which makes Karadeniz one of the richest of the regional cuisines.

Vonalı Celal
Kennedy Caddesi Sahilyolu 40/1, Ahırkapı – Cankurturan
0212 516 1893
Everything you could hope to find from the region is made in house or imported. Open after 5.30pm after the tour groups have left.  There is a fixed menu including 8 different mezes for 55ytl. Reservation recommended.

Pafuli
Kuruçeşme Caddesi 105, Kuruçeşme
0212 263 6638
Family restaurant serving mostly Black Sea Cuisine with a good seasonal fish selection.

Şimşek Karadeniz Pide Salonu
Taksim Cad. No:8, Beyoğlu

0212 249 4642

The round pides are from Rize, the long thin tubes filled with meat are from Bafra and they’re all brushed with Trabzon butter as they come out of the oven.

Aegean
Keywords: Olive oil, fish, grasses

The Aegean kitchen has been influenced by the Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, seemingly anyone who invaded, ruled or passed through and the area has an abundance of riches especially from the sea.  Fish, mussels, calamari, octopus, prawns cooked in an endless variety of ways including, most notably, salt baked fish where the whole fish is placed under a cake of salt which hardens during cooking and is broken open to reveal tender, and not salty, fish. The healthy theme continues with the vast number of edible weeds that spring up in Autumn and are best eaten simply after boiling and drizzling with olive oil and lemon juice. Also common are black-eyed beans (börülce) and meat eaters are not left out as Çöp Şiş kebab (chunks of skewered lamb) is widely served.
Melengeç
1.    Cadde 73, Arnavutköy (opposite the ferry station)
0212 287 4961
Try stuffed zucchini flowers, eggplant with fish, special greens. Recommended: beetroot root, mulberry dessert in summer

Doğa Balık
Cihangir Doğa Balık Akarsu, Yokusu No: 46 Kat:7 Cihangir
0212 243 3656
Pricy but highly recommended restaurant concentrating on fish, olive oil dishes and 35 different herbs, greens and grasses.

Cibalikapı Balıkçısı
Kadir Has Caddesi (Kadir Has University)5, Cibali
0212 533 2846
A nostalgic restaurant with wooden floor, chairs and tables and old Turkish songs. Various grasses, seafood, mussel pilaki, special octopus sauce, mussels with parmesan and meatier greens from Çanakkale called kaya koruğu. Recommended: vine leaf wrapped sea bass.

South Eastern Anatolia
Keywords: Spices, fruits with meat, baklava.

This is the area that shares borders with Syria and Iran so the food is spicier and more robust than other areas.  The two areas of Gaziantep and Sanlı Urfa alone produce some of Turkish cuisine’s most well known dishes, pistachio baklava, kebab and lahmacun.
Çiya Sofrası

Caferağa Mah. Güneşlibahçe Sokak, Kadıköy

0216 330 3190

Deservedly featuring in every guide book, Çiya’s mix of Eastern and South Eastern Anatolian and Antakyan foods is like a treasure trove of mysterious dishes forgotten even in the villages they come from. Menu changes daily as, Musa, the head chef’s repertoire is so huge he can make 100 different kinds of rice.

Van Kahvaltı Evi

Kılıç Ali Paşa Mah. Defterdar Yokuşu No: 52.A, Cihangir

0212 293 6437

Breakfast is so important in Van in East Turkey that it has a street called ‘Breakfast Street’ and this Cihangir cafe specialises in Van treats like the very salty Otlu peynir (cheese with herbs) and eggs cooked wıth tahini. Located just past the green mosque on Sıraselviler.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu 1949
Yönetim ve Üretim Merkezi, Mumhane Cad. No: 171, Karaköy
0212 243 1376
The original and the best, 5 generations of Güllüs have been baking baklava since the 1880s. Urfa butter means it doesn’t have the cloying sogginess of other baklavas.

Central Anatolia
Keywords: Mantı, gözleme, keşkek

Perhaps the most familiar of the regional cuisines, Central Anatolia gave birth to The Republic and some of its best-known dishes.  Mantı is the Turkish version of tortellini but was probably influenced by the Mongolians and then passed back to the Chinese as dim sum.  Keşkek is a traditional wedding breakfast stew of meat and barley or wheat and most people know the Turkish equivalent of pancakes, gözleme, filled with spinach, cheese or meat.

Otantik Anadolu Yemekleri
İstiklal Cad. No: 170, Beyoğlu
0212 293 8451

Don’t let the slightly touristy décor and woman in the window put you off, this chain of restaurants serves great Anatolian fare.  Recommended: Hıngal (potato filled mantı) and hot, fresh gözleme.

Antakya
Keywords: Pomegranate syrup (nar ekşisi), hummus, künefe (cheese and pastry dessert)

Antakya is a small area with a huge contribution to make.  Situated on the Syrian border and also known as Hatay, its food is an incredible balance of spicy and sweet tastes not found elsewhere in Turkey.  In Istanbul this is probably the least well represented but with a directly inverse reward. It is served with a spicy kind of lavaş, a flat unleavened bread, that is also not common anywhere else.
Antiochia
Asmalımescit Mah, Mınare sok. No: 21/A, Beyoğlu
0212 292 1100
Excellent restaurant and showcase for Antakyan produce. A plate of very different mezes is only 15ytl (20% discount at lunchtime). Recommended: muammara, thyme salad (kekik salatası).
A La Rase
Yeşikler Sokak 6/2, Çiftehavuzlar
0216 368 0466
Light and healthy food from Iskenderun and Antakya.  Special dishes include bulgur and yoghurt soup, köfte with spinach bulgur, fish with tahini, künefe.

Trakya
Keywords: Pastries, liver

The Trakyan region is north of Istanbul and goes up to the Greek and Bulgarian borders.  It has a rich cuisine influenced by the Balkans and Greeks that migrated there after wars displaced them. Based on simple flavours and ingredients, the specialties are fried liver (ciğer), pelte (pudding of fruit juice thickened with starch), green beans and fried pastries.

Güveççi Abdullah
Aytar Cad 14/A, 1 Levent
0212 269 0809
In the family for three generations since 1944, is a congenial place to explore some elements of Trakyan cuisine with several types of stews (güveç), meats and köftes as well as pastries.

Food anatolia, anatolian, baklava, balik, Black Sea, breakfast, calamari, central anatolia, Culture, Eastern, eggplant, fish, Food, fruits, Gaziantep, Karadeniz, kebab, lahmacun, mezes, octopus, pastry, taksim, turkish cuisine

www.vonalicelal.net/index.htm

istanbuleats.com/2009/06/vonali-celal-some-hope-for-sultanahmet-diners/

Everything you could hope to find from the Karadeniz region is made in house or imported. Open after 5.30pm after the tour groups have left.  There is a fixed menu including 8 different mezes for 55ytl. Reservation recommended. A typical local restaurant serving the specialities of Black Sae region. Famous with a large variety of pickles buffet.

Food authentic, Food, Karadeniz, local restaurant, meze, mezes, Pickles, region, restaurant, Whereist Sultanahmet

Asri Turşucu / İSTANBUL
In many societies, there’s a point where food traditions migrate from the palace to the public sphere. I found a clear example of this on a recent visit to Istanbul with my friend Ihsan. One day, he decided we should visit his favorite pickle store. It was news to me that there were stores that sold only pickles, much less that there were enough for him to have a favorite, but I was game. The shop, called Asri Tursucucu (Asri Pickle Store), was tiny, but it had an amazing variety of pickles lined up in giant glass jars—everything from standards like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers to whole pickled pears, ears of corn, even pine cones. The owner, a taciturn middle-aged gentleman with thick glasses and a bristling mustache, explained that, like most other pickle stores in the city, this one was established in the late 1930s. At that time, the professional cooks who had been trained in the intricacies of imperial cuisine in the houses of powerful Ottoman officials began to lose their positions. Without homes of their own, some made their livings as itinerant picklers, going from house to house of the new rich, staying a week or so at each one and making enough pickles, preserves, and tomato pastes for the rest of the year. A few, including the founder of Asri, eventually started small storefronts to sell their wares—and today their customers still benefit from their handed-down craftsmanship.

Tel: (0212) 244 47 24
Adres: Ağa Hamam Caddesi 29/1, Cihangir

Food, Whereist Beyoglu Food, Pickles

Bars & Drinks, Food belly dancing, bellydance, bellydancing, dancing, Food, Kumkapı, meze, mezze

Abracadabra

Arnavutköy Cad. No: 50/1, Arnavutköy

0212 358 6087-88

Open 10 -12 Tues -Thurs, weekends 10-5am

4 stars

Abracadabra, housed in a gorgeous seafront, 4 storey wooden house is a creative food company that hosts food art events and acts as a meeting point for artists. Oh, and it’s a restaurant too.  The passion the creators, Ahmet and Dilara, the inspired chef, have for food has gained them a reputation in international gastronomic circles while the Turkish celebrity circuit catches up.  No tulum cheese and walnut salads or Turk/Mediterranean menu here, this is a selection for the more adventurous diner, with foods all sourced regionally by their ‘gourmet peasant’, from Trabzon butter to village chickens to a Malatya village woman’s cheese.  Emphasis is on health and natural food that’s good for the body as well as the taste buds.  Even the ashtrays have ‘for lung cancer’ written on them.

The ever evolving menu and daily specials feature shark and duck as well as more traditional things like zucchini fritters (mucver), served with suzme yoghurt so thick it was like kaymak, and fava bean puree with tahini plus twists like salmon çig köfte with lime, not as spicy as its meat counterpart.  The homemade bread that comes with your meal could be a course in its own right, fall apart corn muffin, cake-like moist seed bread and light pastries.  If anywhere is going to get me past my indifference to Turkish desserts, this is probably the place to try but not until I’ve got sick of the cheesecake soufflé, carob semi-freddo and the flour free chocolate tart, a rich, gloopy, fudgy topping with a crisp biscuity base.  I’m more skeptical about the curried banana mousse, which I’ve braved before, an ambitious venture but a bit heavy-handed on the curry.

There’s a separate breakfast menu which, if you go for on Sundays will bring you to their market, sharing the unique produce that gives them the edge over any other restaurant in Istanbul.  September will see guest chefs from New York putting on 3 or 4 days of food art and also the beginning of cooking classes.  At weekends the venue continues long into the night, really, you might as well just move in.

Wine 8-12ytl per glass

Cocktails 20ytl

Smoothies 9/10ytl

Mezes 6-20ytl

Salads and mains12-25ytl

Desserts 7-10ytl

Food breakfast, breakfast menu, cheese, creative food, desserts, Food, food art, gourmet, kaymak, mediterranean menu, mezes, region, restaurant, tradition, turkish, wine, zucchini

istanbuleats.com/2009/04/zubeyir-the-meat-is-on/

Finding a kebab restaurant in Istanbul is not hard. There must be thousands of them. But finding the right kind of place, especially if you want to make it a bit more of a meal, can be surprisingly difficult.

Most kebab joints tend to be no-frills, in-and-out places. Some are very good (and we will review a few in the future), but they don’t make for a night out. On the other hand, some of nicer places – where you can find a more extensive menu and, more importantly, drink booze with your dinner – take things too far. Tuxedoed waiters serving kebab? Griller, please! At the end of the day, we’re still talking about meat on a stick cooked over a fire.

Which is what makes Zubeyir – a fantastic grill house in Beyoglu that always seems to be packed with large groups having a very good time – such a refreshing find.They serve seriously good food, without taking themselves too seriously.

The restaurant, which occupies two cozy floors in a historic building near the pedestrian-only Istiklal Cadessi, is dominated by an ocakbası, a long hearth topped by a copper hood, where the meat is grilled over hardwood coals. It’s a bit like Turkey’s hot and smoky answer to the sushi bar, with a few seats available grillside, where you can watch the chef do his thing.

Meals at Zubeyir usually begin with a round of mezes, brought to your table on a large tray to choose from. Particular standouts are a subtle spread made out of mashed pumpkin and yogurt, as a well as a sublime warm salad made from freshly grilled eggplant, tomato and onion. The gavur dagı salad – a mix of greens, herbs and tomatoes in a piquant pomegranate molasses dressing – is also worth ordering.

From there, it’s on to the kebabs. The standard grill items are all outstanding. Their Adana kebab – spicy minced lamb – has just the right combination of meat, fat and red pepper. Chicken wings (kanat) and lamb chops (pirzola) are also superbly grilled. Zubeyir also serves up some cuts of meat not found at most kebab joints, such as the tasty tarak (lamb spare ribs), and for the more adventurous, the koç yumurtası, ram’s testicles (which, we must admit, we have yet to try).

It’s not easy to standout in a city filled with kebab restaurants. Zubeyir does it effortlessly.

Address: Bekar Sokak 28, Beyoglu
Telephone: 212-293-3951
www.zubeyirocakbasi.com

Food, Whereist Beyoglu bbq, beyoglu, drink, fire, Food, grill, grilled eggplant, istanbul, kebab, kebabs, lamb chops, large groups, meal, meze, ocakbasi, red pepper, restaurant, zubeyirocakbasi

Following its foundational “seasonal eating” philosophy, The Enstitu Restaurant features a daily changing menu of seasonal Turkish and Mediterranean dishes to its customers. Conceived with the objective of offering the familiar and popular items of traditional Turkish cuisine with a simple and elegant contemporary twist, following today’s cultural, aesthetic and hygenic standards, the Enstitü kitchen is also a training floor. It seeks to complement the intensive culinary training of IstCI students by hands-on experience in a fully equipped commercial kitchen designed to prepare them for professional careers in the industry at large.

With a seating capacity of 74 on two floors, the Enstitü Restaurant is open daily between 07.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on weekdays. It is closed on sundays and major holidays.

Mesrutiyet cad. No: 59 Tepebasi, 34437 Istanbul / TURKIYE (Google Map)
P : (212) 251 22 14 – 15 :: F : (212) 251 22 18 :: E: info@istanbulculinary.com

Culinary aficionados traveling to Turkey now have the opportunity to experience first-hand the origins of Turkish cuisine at the Istanbul Culinary Institute (IstCI) which now offers an array of culinary tours, cooking classes and other programs available to travelers. Turkey’s diverse culinary traditions can be traced back to the Ottoman Empire featuring a melting pot of flavors and accents from the Balkans, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

A professional training and culinary production center, the Istanbul Culinary Institute was established in 2008, with the aim of researching, teaching and promoting Turkish cuisine to travelers world-wide. They present Turkish cooking with a contemporary orientation by working with a curriculum of familiar, widely consumed dishes that can be prepared simply and tastefully with easily available seasonal ingredients while conforming to today’s cultural, hygienic and aesthetic standards. To facilitate educating audiences world-wide about Turkish cuisine, the Institute offers a variety of specialized culinary programs to fit every traveler’s itinerary needs, ranging from 1 hour guest lectures to 2- 4 day culinary excursions at other destinations. They also provide a training restaurant (Enstitü), coffee and wine bars and a gourmet food store specializing in the products of the institute; a must-see when in Istanbul.

Current programs available at Istanbul Culinary Institute Include:

- Istanbul Culinary Walking Tour & Demo: Experience authentic Turkish street food, the famous Turkish markets and Turkish shopping culture on a culinary walking tour with one of the institute’s culinary guides. The Kadıköy Open Market Tour will allow travelers to experience an authentic, colorful Turkish street market where local cheeses, pickles, coffee, meats and vegetables are sold at specialty shops, many of which have been passed down to family members for many generations. Or, take the Fish Market & Mısır Çarşısı (Spice Market) Tour to visit Istanbul’s historic Spice Market, dating back to the early 1900’s, situated besides the port which used to receive imported food products and spices from all over the world. Once you enjoy shopping at the markets, return to the Institute for a Turkish cooking demo with products purchased at the market. These tours are available, Monday – Saturday, with prices starting at $90.00 USD/per person.

- Cooking Classes at Istanbul Culinary Institute: 4-hour cooking workshops are taught by one of the Institute’s professional chef faculty members September-June, throughout the year. The calendar of classes include: Modern Approaches to Turkish Cuisine, Traditional Turkish Cuisine (this is not listed), Turkish Pastry Works, Basic Kitchen Skills with Wüsthof, Cooking without Recipes and Tastes from the Sea. Class prices start at $75.00 USD/per person, limited to at least 4 people per class, or $300.00 USD for a private lesson.

- Culinary Tours: The Istanbul Culinary Institute also offers exclusive 2-5 day culinary excursions to other destinations in Turkey. For example, a 2-day culinary tour, Annual Olive Harvest in Adatepe, Turkey takes place December 25-27, 2009. Adatepe is an idyllic village perched on the slopes of Kazdağı Mountains in Turkey. The economy of both Adatepe and the entire region is dependent on olive farming, the continuing legacy of a millennial Aegean culture. The tour to Adatepe will include learning about olive trees, olive harvesting and traditional cold press method of olive oil making. Guests will also experience regional flavors by dining at the classic Edremit Cumhuriyet Restaurant and visiting the Adatepe Olive Oil Museum as well as sampling regional dishes prepared by local women. The tour departs from Istanbul and the price starts at $330.00 USD including all accommodations, bus tickets and transfers, sea-bus tickets, 3 lunches and 2 dinners, baskets for harvest and fresh compressed olive oils.

To learn more about the Istanbul Culinary Institute or to book a culinary experience, visit: www.istanbulculinary.com/eng/ or email: info@istanbulculinary.com.

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Activities, Food, Whereist Beyoglu cuisine, culinary institute, culinary training, Food, gourmet, ottoman empire, restaurant, spices, turkish cuisine, vegetables