The Guardian has picked Istanbul Eats as its “Travel Blog of the Month.” We are honored. Click here to check out the newspaper’s highly informative and fun travel section.
Hey EU, Hands off my doner!
1 response
- Posted
03.10.10
Turkey’s EU accession talks have raised a lot of important questions on reform, accompanied by predictable growing pains. But the latest news from Ankara, which can be read in Turkish in this article in the daily Radikal newspaper, makes us more than a bit uncomfortable.
According to the article, Turkey’s food sector has much catching up to do with European "hygiene ...
continue
Istiridye Balik Lokantasi: The Business of Lunch
no responses
- Posted
03.08.10
Karakoy, once a busy port area, remains a mostly commercial zone, with elegant buildings housing shipping and holding companies. The people who come to Istiridye expect the restaurant to serve food whose quality doesn’t vary from day to day, because, it would appear, many of them seem to come here every day.
Istiridye had intrigued us over the years, always walking ...
continue
Kelle Söğüş vs. Kelle Tandir: Face/Off
no responses
- Posted
03.01.10
Round one. Ding.
Based on looks alone, Muamar usta’s söğüş kelle – head boiled and served cold – was decidedly the underdog. A bit gaunt and ashen, this skull looked a bit past its prime, a dud with a glass jaw. But lay down a fiver and watch this Cinderella story unfold. Muamar usta went to work with a sharp knife, ...
continue
Kale Cafe: Escape from Beyoglu
2 responses
- Posted
02.26.10
The images of kaymak – the Turkish clotted cream that is the crack cocaine of dairy products – being scooped up with pieces of steaming fresh lavash left us drooling in front of our TV set. A trip up the Bosphorus was certainly in order.
So, on a recent morning, we got over our fear of traffic jams along the ...
continue
Since You Asked: Istanbul’s Fish Scene?
8 responses
- Posted
02.24.10
So we put together a light crash course in what swims through here. Follow the links to reviews of some of our favorite places to eat these fish.
Levrek – Sea bass is one of the most popular fish in Turkey, prized for its delicate, almost sweet taste and firm white meat. Levrek is usually charcoal grilled whole and served ...
continue
The Best Little Fish House in Galata Gets a Bit Bigger
1 response
- Posted
02.22.10
Besides expanding the place, the owners have put in a new kitchen and have given the restaurant a spiffing up, with a new wooden façade and a completely remodeled interior. The menu remains the same, for now, although one of the cooks told us some new items might be in the works (Ismael, one of the owners, even promised ...
continue
Lades: Old Faithful
1 response
- Posted
02.19.10
The monogrammed flatware, faded from decades of use by diners sopping up that last bit of stew with a fresh piece of white bread, indicates the sort of customer approval that we seek in a lunch spot. On one recent visit, we tried the hotpocket-like talas kebab – a stew of beef, carrots, currants, onions and pine nuts wrapped in ...
continue