May 23
Thursday
Perşembe Pazarı Eats (at Esnaf Lokantaları)
Istanbul Eats, together with Caravansarai Art Space, is hosting a monthlong celebration of Perşembe Pazarı’s esnaf lokantaları (tradesmen’s restaurants) by launching a competition. And you are invited!
The month of June is dedicated to revealing and enjoying the hidden (or sometimes very visible) treasures of Perşembe Pazarı, a hardware-selling neighborhood in the middle of Karaköy. Sure, you may have eaten in the area’s guidebook-recommended standards (also well worth the visit), but until you have found yourself seated on a streetside stool, scarfing down pide while surrounded by tubes, chains, buoys and metal sheeting, you have not really “experienced” Karaköy!
Come join us in an homage to the lunchtime eateries that keep Beyoğlu’s lively hardware-trading neighborhood fueled and working. Continue…
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Quick Look
Recent Posts
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Perşembe Pazarı Eats (at Esnaf Lokantaları)
no responses - Posted 05.23.13
Istanbul Eats, together with Caravansarai Art Space, is hosting a monthlong celebration of Perşembe Pazarı’s esnaf lokantaları (tradesmen’s restaurants) by launching a competition. And you are invited! The month of June is dedicated to revealing and enjoying the hidden (or sometimes very visible) treasures of Perşembe Pazarı, a hardware-selling neighborhood in the middle of Karaköy. Sure, you may have eaten in ... continue -
Göreme Muhallebicisi: The Milkman Stayeth
no responses - Posted 05.13.13
In the world of chicken breast pudding (a traditional Turkish dessert made with thickened milk and thin strands of poached poultry), elasticity is the quality that the confection is judged upon above all else. Tucking into a real tavuk göğsü requires full concentration, a good bit of dexterity and the proper tool. A special spoon with a flat chopping nose ... continue -
Advice: Dining with Kids in Istanbul?
no responses - Posted 05.08.13
Dear Istanbul Eats, My husband and I are planning a visit to Istanbul with two little ones in tow. We love to be adventurous with food and want to explore the city’s culinary scene, but are also a bit concerned about finding “child-friendly” places to eat. Do you have any recommendations? We happen to be of the opinion that Istanbul is the ... continue -
Liman Uykuluk: Sweetbreads for the People
no responses - Posted 04.30.13
Though it may seem bewildering or even exotic to outsiders, Istanbul’s commercial life is actually organized according to a very old, guildlike system that assigns different neighborhoods to the sale and sometimes manufacture of different types of products. If you bottom out in a pothole and need a rot balans, you head up to the Oto Sanayi area. For kitchen ... continue -
A Workers’ Lunchtime Paradise Lost
1 response - Posted 04.26.13
In the realm of Turkey’s small businesses, the esnaf lokantası (tradesmen’s restaurant) hovers above everything like a uniting holy spirit. A good one certainly is divine in nature. Take just about any old esnaf lokantası, and you’re sure to encounter a community that only exists at that particular spot on earth. At Tunçlar Lokantası, not far from Istanbul’s downtown area of ... continue -
Perazin: That Old Meyhane Magic
1 response - Posted 04.15.13
In an opinion piece published recently in the Latitude blog of The New York Times, veteran Turkey correspondent Andrew Finkel’s brutally honest appraisal of the state of “New Turkish Cuisine” called much of Istanbul’s restaurant establishment – down to the customers – into question. We’ve had similar misgivings after meals in some upscale nouveau meyhanes where fussy food and too ... continue -
Heyamola Ada Lokantası: Island Time
no responses - Posted 04.09.13
Editor’s note: This post was written by “Meliz,” an intrepid explorer of Istanbul’s culinary backstreets and frequent Istanbul Eats guest contributor who would like to keep her anonymity. While the Princes’ Islands make for a great escape from the city, it used to be hard to think of them as a culinary destination. That is, until Heyamola Ada Lokantası opened. The ... continue
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- Advice Aksaray alcohol served Arnavutköy Asian side baklava beans Beyoğlu Beşiktaş Black Sea cuisine Bosphorus breakfast burgers dessert dumplings esnaf lokantası Fatih fish Galata grill hamsi Istanbul Eats Istanbul restaurants Kadıköy Karaköy kaymak kebab köfte künefe liver mantı meyhane meze milk puddings News out of town pide places with a view seafood Southeastern cuisine specialty foods street food Taksim Turkish wine vegetarian
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Perşembe Pazarı Eats (at Esnaf Lokantaları)
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All entries filed under this archive
Spring (Food) Break 2013
1 response - Posted 03.28.13
Editor’s note: We eagerly await the coming of spring each year, not just for the nicer weather but also because some of our favorite foods and dishes are at their best – or indeed, are only available – for a short period during this season. Here we take a look ...continue
1 response - Posted 03.28.13
Editor’s note: We eagerly await the coming of spring each year, not just for the nicer weather but also because some of our favorite foods and dishes are at their best – or indeed, are only available – for a short period during this season. Here we take a look ...continue
Beşaltı Kirvem Tantuni: Turkish for “Taquería”?
1 response - Posted 02.04.13
One of the big downsides to Istanbul’s otherwise great food scene is the lack of a credible Mexican option. We’re not asking for anything special, just a place that serves simple, tasty tacos or burritos. But when the craving for Mexican gets strong, we don’t despair; we just head down ...continue
1 response - Posted 02.04.13
One of the big downsides to Istanbul’s otherwise great food scene is the lack of a credible Mexican option. We’re not asking for anything special, just a place that serves simple, tasty tacos or burritos. But when the craving for Mexican gets strong, we don’t despair; we just head down ...continue
Best Bites of 2012: Our Take
no responses - Posted 12.28.12
After four years of publishing weekly dispatches from Istanbul’s culinary backstreets, we are still regularly surprised by new discoveries, impressed by the staying power of old standards and shocked by how quickly so much can change. For better or for worse, it is that dynamism that Istanbulites line up for, ...continue
no responses - Posted 12.28.12
After four years of publishing weekly dispatches from Istanbul’s culinary backstreets, we are still regularly surprised by new discoveries, impressed by the staying power of old standards and shocked by how quickly so much can change. For better or for worse, it is that dynamism that Istanbulites line up for, ...continue
Six Favorite Spots to Eat Hamsi
no responses - Posted 11.12.12
The arrival of fall in Istanbul usually means one thing for us: hamsi season is about to begin. Hamsi, of course, are the minuscule fish (Black Sea anchovies) that Istanbulites are mad about, and the coming of fall and the cooling of the waters of the Black Sea mark the beginning ...continue
no responses - Posted 11.12.12
The arrival of fall in Istanbul usually means one thing for us: hamsi season is about to begin. Hamsi, of course, are the minuscule fish (Black Sea anchovies) that Istanbulites are mad about, and the coming of fall and the cooling of the waters of the Black Sea mark the beginning ...continue
Osman’s Truck: Occupy Karaköy
6 responses - Posted 02.06.12
We generally wouldn’t recommend pulling yourself up into the back of a broken-down truck with no license plates that’s sitting in an empty lot down by the river, but Osman’s truck offers a rare glimpse of Istanbul if there really were no rules, and, not to mention, great views of ...continue
6 responses - Posted 02.06.12
We generally wouldn’t recommend pulling yourself up into the back of a broken-down truck with no license plates that’s sitting in an empty lot down by the river, but Osman’s truck offers a rare glimpse of Istanbul if there really were no rules, and, not to mention, great views of ...continue
Urfa Şark Sofrasi: Bleating Good
1 response - Posted 11.14.11
On a narrow alley just beyond the back gate of the Hirdavatcilar Carsisi in Karakoy, we distinctly heard the bleat of a sheep. Turning the corner we saw men wearing coveralls and vests with “Makita” stitched over the breast seated at low tables laughing through mouthfuls of flatbread. “Me-e-e-e-eh,” one ...continue
1 response - Posted 11.14.11
On a narrow alley just beyond the back gate of the Hirdavatcilar Carsisi in Karakoy, we distinctly heard the bleat of a sheep. Turning the corner we saw men wearing coveralls and vests with “Makita” stitched over the breast seated at low tables laughing through mouthfuls of flatbread. “Me-e-e-e-eh,” one ...continue
Kofteci Cemal: Meatball Depot
no responses - Posted 10.17.11
In the category of ambience, Kofteci Cemal scores high marks quite effortlessly. On a street of mostly-demolished row shops down in Karakoy’s Persembe Pazari hardware market, Cemal makes his presence known with a bright yellow paint job and the word “kofteci” spray-painted on the front, back and sides of his ...continue
no responses - Posted 10.17.11
In the category of ambience, Kofteci Cemal scores high marks quite effortlessly. On a street of mostly-demolished row shops down in Karakoy’s Persembe Pazari hardware market, Cemal makes his presence known with a bright yellow paint job and the word “kofteci” spray-painted on the front, back and sides of his ...continue
Lokanta Maya: Subtle Surprises
1 response - Posted 05.30.11
(Editor’s Note: This guest post is by Jennifer Hattam, an American journalist living in Beyoğlu whose personal blog can be found here.) My first encounters with Turkish fish menus were nothing short of perplexing, and not because levrek (sea bass), çupra (sea bream), kalkan (turbot), and the like were such unfamiliar ...continue
1 response - Posted 05.30.11
(Editor’s Note: This guest post is by Jennifer Hattam, an American journalist living in Beyoğlu whose personal blog can be found here.) My first encounters with Turkish fish menus were nothing short of perplexing, and not because levrek (sea bass), çupra (sea bream), kalkan (turbot), and the like were such unfamiliar ...continue
NATO Lokantasi: The Lunchtime Alliance
3 responses - Posted 01.24.11
Turkish politics make for a great lunch counter conversation. These days, one of the hot topics is a perceived axis shift, as if Ankara, feeling burned by the West, has turned the gaze of the Republic eastward, as easily as a donerci reverses the rotation of his spit. But down ...continue
3 responses - Posted 01.24.11
Turkish politics make for a great lunch counter conversation. These days, one of the hot topics is a perceived axis shift, as if Ankara, feeling burned by the West, has turned the gaze of the Republic eastward, as easily as a donerci reverses the rotation of his spit. But down ...continue
Best Bites of 2010: Hamsi by the Haliç
no responses - Posted 12.31.10
(Editor’s Note: As 2010 heads to an end, we are looking back at our “Best Bites” of the year and are asking our readers to do the same and share their best Istanbul eating moments with us. This submission comes from Istanbul denizen Jennifer Hattam.) In my mind, it's always chilly ...continue
no responses - Posted 12.31.10
(Editor’s Note: As 2010 heads to an end, we are looking back at our “Best Bites” of the year and are asking our readers to do the same and share their best Istanbul eating moments with us. This submission comes from Istanbul denizen Jennifer Hattam.) In my mind, it's always chilly ...continue
