Friday

Güngör Büfe: Sultan of Sandwich

The büfe is a prominent part of the Istanbul streetscape, playing a vital role in the daily life of the city. These are corner stores, where you can get a can of beer, a single cigarette, a lotto ticket and, often, a panini-like grilled cheese sandwich. At most büfe, food is an afterthought; but at Güngör, located in the waterfront Karakoy neighborhood, it’s their sandwiches that hold up traffic around lunchtime.

At a glance, Güngör looks like any other corner store, but stoop down to knee height and behold the sandwich fixing smorgasbord that awaits. Inside a glass-lined cooler facing the sidewalk little containers crowd for space – one holds a stack of thinly sliced tongue, while another a bright red, chunky eggplant sauce. In another part of the expansive cooler, small glass tubs filled with black olive paste, chopped green olives and an assortment of pickles lay beneath a block of white cows milk cheese. The number of combinations of all of the offerings could be accurately calculated, but, to the hungry customer, it seems infinite. Continue…