Feb 08
Monday
48 Hours in Istanbul: An Eater’s Guide
(Editor’s Note: The New York Times’ travel section recently ran a “36 Hours in Istanbul” feature that was low on good eating suggestions. Prompted by the Times piece, today’s post is a food-centric “48 Hours in Istanbul” guide we prepared a few months ago for a local magazine.)
Day One: Turkey’s Regional Flavors in Beyoglu
Breakfast: Van Kahvalti Evi in Cihangir
In the city of Van, not far from Turkey’s border with Iran, breakfast has been turned into serious business: the town is filled with dozens of Kahvaltı Salonu’s – breakfast salons – that serve a dizzying assortment of farm fresh breakfast items day and night. Continue…
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Fauna: Let Them Eat Pasta
2 responses - Posted 01.14.10
Visitors to Turkey beware: in Turkish, the word “pasta” means cake or pastry. Go into a place advertising “pasta” in search of a plate of fettuccine alfredo and you are more likely to end up with a flouncy Black Forest cake. But the truth is, when it comes to pasta in ...continue
2 responses - Posted 01.14.10
Visitors to Turkey beware: in Turkish, the word “pasta” means cake or pastry. Go into a place advertising “pasta” in search of a plate of fettuccine alfredo and you are more likely to end up with a flouncy Black Forest cake. But the truth is, when it comes to pasta in ...continue
Beans: An Investigative Report
1 response - Posted 12.31.09
(Editor's Note: In honor of New Year's Day, we are rerunning this feature, which was originally posted in April of this year. Happy New Year to all our readers and keep coming back for more in 2010!) Until visiting some of Istanbul’s shrines to the baked bean, we generally regarded the ...continue
1 response - Posted 12.31.09
(Editor's Note: In honor of New Year's Day, we are rerunning this feature, which was originally posted in April of this year. Happy New Year to all our readers and keep coming back for more in 2010!) Until visiting some of Istanbul’s shrines to the baked bean, we generally regarded the ...continue
EatingAsia Interviews Ciya Chef Musa Dagdeviren
2 responses - Posted 11.22.09
EatingAsia, a marvelous blog that (mostly) covers Asian food and culinary traditions, recently caught up with chef Musa Dagdeviren, creator of Istanbul's Ciya restaurant. A kind of culinary anthropologist, Dagdeviren has helped introduce Istanbulites and visitors to the city to traditional recipes and ingredients from across Turkey that are even ...continue
2 responses - Posted 11.22.09
EatingAsia, a marvelous blog that (mostly) covers Asian food and culinary traditions, recently caught up with chef Musa Dagdeviren, creator of Istanbul's Ciya restaurant. A kind of culinary anthropologist, Dagdeviren has helped introduce Istanbulites and visitors to the city to traditional recipes and ingredients from across Turkey that are even ...continue
Adana Özasmaalti: Club Kebab
1 response - Posted 11.13.09
In London or New York, one could spend hours before lunch deciding between Eritrean, Guatemalan or that Jamaican jerked chicken joint on the corner. The choice in Istanbul, for the most part, is comfortingly simple: “fish or meat?” On one recent lunch run with Mehmet bey, an Asian-sider who acts as ...continue
1 response - Posted 11.13.09
In London or New York, one could spend hours before lunch deciding between Eritrean, Guatemalan or that Jamaican jerked chicken joint on the corner. The choice in Istanbul, for the most part, is comfortingly simple: “fish or meat?” On one recent lunch run with Mehmet bey, an Asian-sider who acts as ...continue
Koco: Quest for the Holy Grill
no responses - Posted 11.02.09
Reviewers are often tempted into using metaphors that portray the restaurant as a sacred place -- the sushi temple, a t-bone pilgrimage, chili-cheese fry heaven. But in Istanbul’s Moda district on the Asian shore, we’ve found a praiseworthy fish restaurant that could justifiably be described as a shrine – literally. ...continue
no responses - Posted 11.02.09
Reviewers are often tempted into using metaphors that portray the restaurant as a sacred place -- the sushi temple, a t-bone pilgrimage, chili-cheese fry heaven. But in Istanbul’s Moda district on the Asian shore, we’ve found a praiseworthy fish restaurant that could justifiably be described as a shrine – literally. ...continue
Kosinitza: Trattoria ala Turca
no responses - Posted 10.20.09
(Editor's Note: This guest post was written by Kathryn Tomasetti and Tristan Rutherford, freelance travel journalists for The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out, among others. Their website can be found here.) Kosinitza is located in the charming Bosphorus-side village of Kuzguncuk, a short bus ride north of Üsküdar. It’s a time-forgotten ...continue
no responses - Posted 10.20.09
(Editor's Note: This guest post was written by Kathryn Tomasetti and Tristan Rutherford, freelance travel journalists for The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out, among others. Their website can be found here.) Kosinitza is located in the charming Bosphorus-side village of Kuzguncuk, a short bus ride north of Üsküdar. It’s a time-forgotten ...continue
Gönül Abla: Mighty Manti
no responses - Posted 09.04.09
The mini dumpling manti, a dish that traces its roots to the mobile kitchens of nomadic Turkic tribes in Central Asia, is often referred to as “Turkish ravioli.” But could the Turks have beaten the Italians to the punch? Is it ravioli that should actually be called “Italian manti?” We’ll never ...continue
no responses - Posted 09.04.09
The mini dumpling manti, a dish that traces its roots to the mobile kitchens of nomadic Turkic tribes in Central Asia, is often referred to as “Turkish ravioli.” But could the Turks have beaten the Italians to the punch? Is it ravioli that should actually be called “Italian manti?” We’ll never ...continue
Ismet Baba: Great Fish for Goodfellas
no responses - Posted 06.26.09
As the ferry approaches the dock at Kuzguncuk, a charming Bosphorus neighborhood on the Asian side, and passengers start scrambling for position at the bow to be the first to hop off, a soft yellow light, raki-fueled laughter and a whiff of grilled fish seem to guide the boat in ...continue
no responses - Posted 06.26.09
As the ferry approaches the dock at Kuzguncuk, a charming Bosphorus neighborhood on the Asian side, and passengers start scrambling for position at the bow to be the first to hop off, a soft yellow light, raki-fueled laughter and a whiff of grilled fish seem to guide the boat in ...continue
Breaking News: Körfez to Close
no responses - Posted 05.13.09
Here at Istanbul Eats, we’ve been procrastinating on a review of the venerable Bosphorus fine dining and high living establishment Körfez. From the private boat shuttle that takes diners across the Bosphorus to the small, Asian-side cove that is the restaurant’s home, to the delicious sea bass baked in salt, Körfez is one ...continue
no responses - Posted 05.13.09
Here at Istanbul Eats, we’ve been procrastinating on a review of the venerable Bosphorus fine dining and high living establishment Körfez. From the private boat shuttle that takes diners across the Bosphorus to the small, Asian-side cove that is the restaurant’s home, to the delicious sea bass baked in salt, Körfez is one ...continue
Çiya: Loquat Kebabs and Mesopotamian Truffles at Istanbul’s Culinary Shrine
6 responses - Posted 05.06.09
For us, one of the highlights of spring in Istanbul is a visit to Çiya Sofrası, the Asian-side eatery that is very likely the best restaurant in Istanbul. It’s certainly not the fanciest or most cutting-edge place in town, but we rarely leave Çiya without having a profoundly new and ...continue
6 responses - Posted 05.06.09
For us, one of the highlights of spring in Istanbul is a visit to Çiya Sofrası, the Asian-side eatery that is very likely the best restaurant in Istanbul. It’s certainly not the fanciest or most cutting-edge place in town, but we rarely leave Çiya without having a profoundly new and ...continue

