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Author Archive for agavin – Page 11

Eating Bodrum – Blue

Apr28

Restaurant: Blue

Location: Gölköy Mahallesi, 314 Sokak No.10, 48483 Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 23, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant — expensive — but tasty

Beachside “cafe” at The Mandarin Oriental Bodrum.

The menu.

The beach.

Lahmacun. Minced Beef with Fresh Tomatoes & Green Pepper. Crispy thin crust (probably lavash) with a great flavor. Really nice.

Grilled Seabass Sandwich. Tomato, rocket, red onion, fresh herbs, ttartare sauce, ciabatta bread.

Zoom.

Doner plate. French fries, griilled tomatoes & pepper, Sumac Onion. Good, and certainly the best doner I’ve had yet, but I sorta like Gyro better — it’s meatier and has the yogurt. This needs yogurt.

Condiments for the fries.

Gorgeous beachside cafe with a big menu and excellent execution. The prices however are otherworldly, particularly for Turkey. Mezze are 4x what they were at Gio Rooftop and that’s also a “snazy” hotel restaurant.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Blue, Bodrum, Eating Bodrum, Eating Türkiye, Turkish cusine

Eating Teos Sığacık – Liman

Apr25

Restaurant: Liman

Location: Sığacık, Atatürk Meydanı No:5, 35460 Seferihisar/İzmir, Türkiye. +90 232 745 70 11

Date: June 22, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish fish restaurant

Rating: Very solid

A friend of ours who lives in Teos Sığacık (up the coast from where we were staying) setup sinner in this local fish restaurant.

It has a great seaside patio.

And a marina view.

The gang at table.

Lots of mezze again.

And lots of fresh fish.

Yogurt with spinach and almonds.

Seabass in yellow sauce. This tasted very pickled — and there even were pickles in the sauce.

Squash blossoms stuffed with rice.

Marinated seaweed with garlic. Very interesting (and tasty) flavor.

Marinated anchovies. Great, if a touch salty.

French fries.

Pastry with cheese and spinach.

Pastry with cheese and something else.

Mushrooms stuffed with cheese.

Fried calamari.

Artichoke with veggies.

Stuffed grape-leaves (warm and thin).

Grilled seabass.

fried red mullet. Very tasty.

Watermelon.

Crabapples.

Apricots.

Cherries.

Apples.

Thickened sweet milk paste with cinnamon. Fabulous and with an interesting chewy texture that is very Turkish.

Overall, a fun and atmospheric fish resteraunt. Extremely similar format and menu (not sure they even have a menu) to other fish resteraunts.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Teos Sığacık, Eating Türkiye, Turkish cusine

Eating Ephesus – Local Lunch

Apr23

Restaurant: Local Lunch

Location: somewhere need Ephesus

Date: June 22, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish

Rating: A bit rustic for my taste

We stopped at this super local place for lunch after visiting the amazing ruins at Ephesus…

Casual outside space. There was a big hall inside but of course no one was in there.

Lots and lots of mezze.

My plate. There wasn’t a lot of meat, just 3-4 stews. I suspect this is quite typical Turkish value eating — and it was actualy fairly good.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Ephesus, Eating Türkiye, lunch, Turkish cusine

Eating Kuşadası – Oksa

Apr21

Restaurant: Oksa

Location: Hacıfeyzullah, Güvercinada Cd. No:15, 09400 Kuşadası/Aydın, Türkiye.

Date: June 21, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish Fish

Rating: Great Fish Restaurant

Oksa is a classic “fish restaurant.”

Turkish and Greek restaurants have this distinction between “fish” and “meat” places.

Nice seaside seating.

Most traditional Turkish places, and in particular ALL the fish places, have a giant cabinet(s) of mezze to choose from.

Big buffet of mezze to choose from.

And you pick your particular fish form the cabinet.

Olives.

Bread.

Yogurt with tomato and peppers.

Marinated mushrooms.

Yogurt with walnuts and “spicy” oil.

Shrimp with avocado in a slightly lemony sauce.

Green salad.

The usual white choices.

Mushrooms stuffed with cheese.

Grapeleaves stuffed with seafood. Salty and delicious.

Our big fish (can’t remember the type) packed in salt and baked.

The delicious fish after filleting.

Head as a bonus.

Dill mayo as a condiment.

This was a very classic fish place with quite high quality.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Kuşadası, Eating Türkiye, Turkish cusine

Eating Kuşadası – Old Town Tanneries

Apr19

Restaurant: Old Town Tanneries

Location: Türkmen, DoubleTree by Hilton Kuşadası Arkası, 09350 Kuşadası/Aydın, Türkiye. +90 543 638 60 60

Date: June 20, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

Old Town Tanneries is a restaurant cluster installed in a group of restored tannery buildings. These were in use from the 1930-60s and have been lovingly restored. They are also part of the Hilton and were restored, owned, and operated by the same lovely people who manage Gio.

The net result is a very attractive “neighborhood” of charming stone structures.

Our big 12 person table. We ate here with a big group of family and friends.

Mezze, of course.

Bread.

These “Turkish Spring Rolls” were delicious with the dips.

Beans.

Yogurt with purslane.

Spinach.

Humus with Beef Speck. The crispy beef resembles bacon.

Feta and Walnuts in olive oil with basil. Quite delicious with a bit of a pesto-like tone.

Yoghurt with Spicy Oil. This was actually REALLY spicy, much to my (pleased) surprise. Seriously hot actually.

Asparagus with cheese.

Salad. A touch under-dressed for my taste.

Shrimp with Chili Peppers and Garlic Butter. Very tender shrimp and more or less like “gambas pil pil.”

Fried Calamari. Quite excellent seafood fry. The sauce was more or less like a yogurt version of tartar sauce.

Grilled Sea Bass. Fresh potatoes and baby vegetables.

This time we remembered to have it filleted.

Beef slices with garlic and cheese. I’m not sure exactly what was going on here but it was delicious.

Lamb. Very tender and flavorful.

Pistachio Creme with Ice Cream. This was pretty insanely good. The crepe was stuffed with chopped pistachios (and probably some form of sugar or syrup. The ice cream was made from goat cheese and is very dense.

Fruit.

Turkish Tea.

Overall, a great meal — in no small part because of good company. There were some various Turkish wines as well, fairly generic but quaffable Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc mostly.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Kuşadası, Eating Türkiye, Old Town Tanneries, Turkish

Eating Izmir – The Bazaar

Apr17

Restaurant: The Bazaar

Location: Izmir Turkiye

Date: June 20, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish street food

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

This meal consists of food from 3 different places in the Izmir Bazaar.

Pictured here is a Pide restaurant that provided the Cheese Pide below. Most of the savory food came from a homestyle place. The desserts from a third.

The homestyle place showed most of its dishes in casserole dishes for selection. They are then plated and heated. Or perhaps they are warm in the casaroles. This is very similar to what I saw in Greece in the late 1980s.

On the table were some peppers.

Artichoke, dill, potatoes etc. This must be the more old fasioned version of the dish we had the previous night.

Vegetables with yogurt.

Stuffed peppers and grape leaves with yogurt. Both were warm and stuffed with seasoned rice and vegetables.

Sour Meat Balls. Beef meat balls in a sour yogurt sauce with a light dill flavor. Quite delicious actually.

Mackerel Soup. This very yummy soup had a strong, but delicious, mackerel taste and a good hit of dill.

Lamb Shank. Doesn’t look like much but the tender and fatty meat was delicious. #Izmir #Turkey #lamb #shank

Chicken au Grfatin. While ugly as well, this “chicken casserole” was quite delicious. Mildly cheesy with a bit of a bechemel thing going on.

Cheese Pide.

This vendor sold what I think are various kinds of Revani (syrupy cake).

Walnut Cake. I believe this is a semolina flour cake with walnut and soaked in a honey-like syrup.

The Walnut Revani was served with a blob of “whipped cream” — more like clotted cream. It was pretty insanely delicious too. It has some taste and texture resemblance to Tres Leches Cake.

A different variant, maybe the one shown in the round pan.

A pistachio variety.

They have the dense Turkish ice cream as well.

A huge scoop of Chocolate Ice Cream.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bazaar, Dessert, Eating Izmir, Eating Türkiye, Turkish

Eating Kuşadası – Gio

Apr15

Restaurant: Gio

Location: Türkmen, Double TREE Hilton, Atatürk Blv. No:5, 09400 Kuşadası/Aydın, Türkiye. +90 530 957 77 57

Date: June 19, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

On our first night in Kuşadası, within “striking range” of Ephesus, Aphrodisias and more we ate at the gorgeous rooftop restaurant atop the Hilton. P.s. it should be noted that the Aegean was named after Theseus’ father Aegeus.

Gio Rooftop Restaurant offers not only a splendid view of the Aegean but a hybrid of the fish and meat restaurant types with a bit of internationalism. Yes, they have the mezzes, but they aren’t displayed in hotel pans by the entrance and they have a more international style of appetizers and entrees.

The menu.

Bread — this is Turkey after all.

Muhammara. Pretty, with a bit of fresh cheese and olives. A touch dry and medium spicy.

Basically the local white wine choices are Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. There are some local grapes but they are hard to find.

Haloumi Cheese wrapped in Grape Leaves with Yogurt.

Yoghurt with Spicy Oil. This was actually REALLY spicy, much to my (pleased) surprise. Seriously hot actually.

Feta and Walnuts in olive oil with basil. Quite delicious with a bit of a pesto-like tone.

Spicy Feta with Tomatoes. Not particularly spicy but nice.

Green beans and Tomatoes. This is a classic.

Marinated Artichoke with peas, carrots, and potatoes. Very yummy.

Fried Calamari. Quite excellent seafood fry. The sauce was more or less like a yogurt version of tartar sauce.

Shrimp with Chili Peppers and Garlic Butter. Very tender shrimp and more or less like “gambas pil pil.”

Marinated Red Beet Carpaccio. Mediterranean Greens, Cottage Cheese (they mean literally, not UK/US style), walnuts and balsamic vinegar.

Penne with Red Sauce.

Porcini Mushroom Risotto with cream and Parmesan cheese. A bit heavy as I don’t think the rice was propper Italian short grain rice.

Grilles Sea Bass. Fresh potatoes and baby vegetables. We wish we had them filet it.

Some mixed seafood including octopus and more calimari.

Slow-Cooked Duck. Phyllo, hoisin sauce and plum sauce. Sort of a Turkish take on Peking Duck, The meat itself was a little closer to braised, but was marinated in a hoisinlike sauce and very sweet and tender. Real hoisin strips adorned the plates. Overall very enjoyable with and without pancakes.

The pancakes were Turkish-style lavash — but they worked.

The D menu.

Chocolate Dome Cake. Inside was a dense mouse with a biscuit layer underneath and a very strong raspberry-jelly-like sauce.

I’m normally a little wary of hotel restaurants in the United States as they tend to be corporate and generally awful, but abroad they can be a bit more modern and vibrant. This one was a lot of fun and quite delicious.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Kuşadası, Eating Türkiye, Gio, rooftop, Turkish

Eating Bergama – Babadan

Apr13

Restaurant: Babadan

Location: Zafer Mah. Ataturk Bulvari No: 24/A, Bergama 35725 Türkiye. +90 232 632 98 98

Date: June 19, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish

Rating: Casual lunch

After Cappadocia we headed west to the Coast for more ruins — in this case the ancient city of Pergamon.

Touristy but decent spot our guide brought us to in the city of Pergamon (aka modern Bergama). Many Turkish restaurants fall into the broad meat or fish format. This is a typical meat restauant.

They do have a wood fired oven and bake their own bread. A place at this level in the US would be highly unlikely to have an oven like this.

Fresh baked bread.

Mezzes. Chickpeas.

Yoghurt with spicy chili oil.

Spicy eggplant and tomato.

Cheese Pide.

Baked vegetables with cheese. This is a typical “vegetarian” entree option.

Cous cous. The orange tint is from a bit of paprika.

Spicy Kofte Plate. Beef/lamb kebob with lavash and a bit of cous cous. The meat itself was a blend of beef and lamb and fairly mild spices.

Baklava and Turkish Ice Cream. This is a traditional (and delicious) combo — if ridiculously sweet. Classic Baklava (of two types) with that dense style of goat cheese ice cream the Turks prefer. It has almost zero overun, a very gummy texture, and a high sugar level.

Overall, an enjoyable quick lunch.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Babadan, Bergama, Eating Bergama, Eating Türkiye

Eating Cappadocia – Nahita Dinner

Apr09

Restaurant: Nahita

Location: Tekelli, Kayabaş Sk. No: 23, 50240 Uçhisar/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye. +90 384 219 31 30

Date: June 18, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish

Rating: Upscale traditional

We returned to Nahita for dinner.

Nahita is the more “traditional” of the two restaurants at the Argos Cappodocia.
Inspired and nourished by its Anatolian roots, respectful of its geography, history, and cultural continuity, Nahita, the new star of Anatolian cuisine, harbors the mindfulness that lacks in the new world. Nahita’s “good” sense and approach is reflected throughout its philosophy, narrative, service, and dishes.

Overall, I liked Nahita’s food slightly better than Seki as it’s more Anatolian and less international. We ate dinner outside at both and they both have nice views/terraces, but the immediacy of the Seki view is definitely superior. Service is great at both.

Emir is a nice local white grape, acidic and armomatic at the same time.

Lavash, farmer’s cheese, and flavored butter.

Bread.

Zucchini Fritters. Zucchini, halloumi, sesame, red basil, labneh,and strained toghurt. Great minty flavor.

Stuffed vine leaves with Sour Cherry. Leaves from Argos vineyqrds, caramelized onion, rice, currant cinnamon, dill and oilive oil

Shepherd’s Salad with Comlek Cheese, tomato, cucumber, red onion and homemade Nevshehir phyllo pastry.

Meat balls and fries.

Yogurt and tomato sauce for the meatballs.

Pan-fried liver. Charbroiled eggplant with yogurt and garlic, pickled red onion, dill, spring onion, thyme and chili flake. The onion and yogurt helped offset the “liver factor.”

Orzo with eggplant and olives.

Grilled lamb loin. Eggplant with garlic, Nahita pita bread and homemade tomato sauce with butter, Meat was again a touch over-cooked. Potatos were great.

Veal shank. Carrot, celerey and potato. Like a family beef stew,

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Cappadocia, Eating Türkiye

Eating Cappadocia – Seki

Apr06

Restaurant: Seki Restaurant & Lounge

Location: Tekelli, Kayabaş Sk. No:23, 50240 Uçhisar/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye. +90 384 219 31 30

Date: June 17, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good – great view

Our first dinner in Cappadocia — since we came in during the middle of the night on the night prior.

Seki Restaurant, which takes its name (meaning “terraces on the slopes”) from the lush green terraces of our hotel, has been etched in the minds and taste buds of its guests with different layers of flavor that live up to its name. Located in one of the oldest and largest monasteries in the world, above the cellar, one of the prime locations of this area, Seki is the most awarded and most popular restaurant in the Cappadocia region.

My sludge.

Excellent bread.

A dip of breadcrumbs and fish roe and olives in oilive oil. Very addictive.

Peasant Salad. Cucumbers, tomatoes, walnuts etc.

Tomato Salad with Walnut. Red Onion, Green Onion, Pomegranate Syrup and
Sumac Sauce.

Penne with tomato sauce.

Homemade ‘İçli Köfte’. Strained Yoghurt and Butter Sauce. I do love these meat and yogurt balls.

The inside.

Our red wine. We had a white, but I forgot to get a photo.

Salmon. Mustard Potato, Sautéed Radish, Asparagus and
Beurre Blanc Sauce with Horseradish.

Beef Filet Marinated in Fenugreek for 28 Hours. Deglaze Sweetbread, Caramelized Brussels Sprout and Lake Sauce. Cabbage too.

Rack of Lamb. Artichoke Purée, Caramelized Pickled Shallot, Apricot Jam and Lamb Gravy Flavored with Licorice. The lamb was supposed to be medium rare, but was closer to medium well. Gravy was just gravy and the puree a bit bland. Not bad but not very exciting.

Tiramisu. Almond Biscuit and Strawberry. Not a bad tiramisu.

Crispy Pumpkin Dessert. Walnut, Clotted Cream and Tahini Sauce. Interesting. Very nice texture with the sugar-coated pumpkin and the cream. Pretty addictive.

Date Dessert with Figs. Coconut Milk Foam and Orange Sauce. Datey!

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Cappadocia, Eating Türkiye

Eating Cappadocia – Kosebasi

Apr04

Restaurant: Köşebaşı Kapadokya

Location: KARŞIBUCAK CADDESİ 50 GÖREME, 50180 Nevşehir, Türkiye. +90 549 132 50 00

Date: June 17, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish

Rating: Regular Turkish lunch

Out touring on now sleep, our guide brought us here.

This random (to us) restauarnt was selected by our tour guide.

The interior.

It does have a nice view of one of the beehive cave hills.

Bread.

A mezze of cream cheese, celery roots, garlic and yogurt. A little weird but pretty good.

Muhmmara. A touch dry.

Spinach.

Salad of carrots, beets, lettuce, and tomato.

Spicy eggplant.

Lentil soup.

Mini cheese pide (pita pizzas).

Full-sized cheese pide.

French fries.

Vegetarian kepob.

Spicy lamb lofte (ground meat kebob).

Plain yogurt to go with the meat.

Fruit for dessert.

Turkish coffee.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Cappadocia, Eating Türkiye

Eating Cappadocia – Nahita Breakfast

Apr01

Restaurant: Nahita

Location: Tekelli, Kayabaş Sk. No: 23, 50240 Uçhisar/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye. +90 384 219 31 30

Date: June 17, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish Breakfast

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

By the time we made it to breakfast, we had been up all night and ballooned at dawn.

Nahita is the more “traditional” of the two restaurants at the Argos Cappodocia.

They have a delightful terrace.

And the inside.

Juices.

baked items.

Cereals.

T

Salads.

Eggs, etc.

Meats.

Cheeses.

Fruit.

Desserts.

Rolls.

You can also order off the menu, like these pancakes.

Or this “porridge.”

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Cappadocia, Eating Türkiye

Eating Istanbul – Pandeli

Mar31

Restaurant: Pandeli

Location: Rüstempaşa Mah. Balık Pazarı kapısı Sokağı Mısırçarşı İçi 1, D:2, 34110 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye. +90 212 527 39 09

Date: June 16, 2023

Cuisine: Traditional Turkish

Rating: Old fashioned and good

This is right inside one of the smaller, but nicer, spice bazaars.

The building is definitely ancient.

The menu.

Bread.

Cucumber tomato salad.

Charcoal grilled eggplant salad.

Artichoke in olive oil.

Okra with lemon and olive oil.

Overn-baked sea bass baked in crul paper.

Sultan’s delight. Stewed lamb with mashed eggplant.

Doner kebap and pilaf.

Rice pilaf.

Tea.

This wasn’t modern or novel, but I like to mix it up and they do a nice job with “classic” (early 20th century?) Turkish dishes. The setting is great too.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Türkiye, Istanbul, Pandeli, Turkish cusine

Eating Istanbul – Turk Fatih Tutak

Mar27

Restaurant: Turk Fatih Tutak

Location: Cumhuriyet Hacıahmet Silahşör Cad, Yeniyol Sk. No:2, 34440 Şişli/İstanbul, Türkiye. +90 212 709 56 79

Date: June 15, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Awesome

This is Istanbul’s and Turkey’s long Michelin 2 star.

The space.

pickle juice with plum. This welcome drink tasted like… well a shot of pickle juice. It was pretty sour. Excellent, as I like vinegar, but intense. The plum was lacto fermented so as to have no remaining sugar. Very interesting.

Wine pairings.

A bit of crispy bread with cheese and meat on it. Excellent.

Fresh baked sourdough Pide. Lovely little “pita” bun.

trabzon butter, bitlis hizan honey, 2000 meter. The butter and honeycomb combo (served in the bone) was pretty amazing.

Special Turkish olive oil.

TT mussels dolma. The oyster shell was not actually made of oyster shell and was completely edible. Basically this rice stuffed oyster tasted like Turkish paella. Delicious.

A “salad tart.”

Egg inside an egg.

egg, morel mushroom, thracian cheese. Mixed up this was a scrumptious yolky asparagus cheesy mess. The “sauce” tasted like a cacio e pepe emulsion.

mackerel, new potatoes, horseradish, tomato. Had an almost Jewish deli taste to it with the mackerel and horseradish. A good bit of kick too. Intense and delicious.

caviar, artichoke borek, pea, spring tarhana. Lovely little vegetable/fish tart.

Raki!

red mullet, cheese that wasn’t cheese, and crispy rice.

It was served with this whipped fish-bisque type sauce. Really quite delicious together. Paired very well with the raki too.

Bonus manti. Amazing meat dumpling bite with the yogurt and spicy oil/butter.

“Perfect” penne butter. For our son: perfectly al dente with a lovely butter flavor and a hint of cheese.

We got to choose our special knives.

charcoal thracian lamb. Beautiful roast lamb with pepper and sauce.

Beets and peppers.

potato, buffalo milk. A great starchy “side.”

Pistachio bomb.

with lime cream.

Cherry cordials.

Tour of the kitchen

fermenting.

Dry aging.

Neat containers.

The oven.

White chocolate bonbons.

A gooey Turkish candy.

Charcoal ice cream — they love charcoal.

Wild strawberries.

Take home gift of their EVOO.

Overall, a very precisely executed and delicious meal with great service and wine pairings. TT desserves the 2 stars even by European standards. We did have some issues with our gluten free guest — as we had not planned ahead or checked and there was relatively little on their single set menu that didn’t subtly have gluten. They dealt with it very gracefully and it was totally our fault. They even sent someone out to buy penne and then the main chef made the benne butter himsefl! Like “a great burger” from the menu, only less fatal.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Türkiye, Istanbul, Michelin 2 Star, Turkish cusine

Eating Istanbul – Aheste

Mar25

Restaurant: Aheste

Location: Asmalı Mescit, Meşrutiyet Cd. No:107 D:F, 34430 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye. +90 212 243 26 33

Date: June 14, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Great mezzes

This was our third dinner in Istanbul.

Turkish tapas in an ancient space.

The menu.

Bread.

Charcoal butter. Quite nice, actually.

A bit more sour than the similar wine the night before.

Tomato salad with grilled fennel. A bit of goat cheese. Nice tomatoes, even for a tomato hater.

Dudi Persian rice. Crunchy pilaf. I liked the crispy onions.

Topik crackers. Crispy crackers with white bean.

Calamarski. Warm calamari.

Vine leaves with cashew sauce.

Tuna kadayif with pomegranate sour mayo. On a thin dough noodle.

Shrimp with black cabbage.

Asparagus with nectarines. Whipped yougurt.

Red mullet with tomato bisque and corn bread. Very strong tomato sauce but mild mullet (which is good).

Lamb’s heart with baked potato. Chewy and medium warm.

Lamb neck meat with figs on aubergine puree. Nice. A bit like Sultan’s delight.

Carrots with za’atar and goat cheese. Good carrots.

Revani with melisa and boza. This semolina cake is a bit like tres leches.

Mint and ricotta cream profiterole. Tangy.

Solid and tasty meal. The flavor blends weren’t perfect, but it was quite good.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Aheste, Eating Türkiye, Istanbul, Turkish cusine

Eating Iznik – Nihat’ın Yeri

Mar23

Restaurant: Nihat’ın Yeri Balık Restaurant

Location: Selcuk Mah, Gol Sahil Yolu, Iznik 16860 Turkiye. +90 542 475 38 99

Date: June 14, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish Fish Restaurant

Rating: fried fish

Daytripping to Iznik / Nicaea we stopped at a lake restaurant.

This was an interesting local experience not far from where Constantine and crew haggled out the status of the father, the son, and the holy ghost…

Outside seating on the lake.

Local olives for sale.

Nap time.

Here are the local olives, which were good.

Olive oil and tomato sauce.

Bread.

Fries – found at nearly every Turkish lunch resteraunt.

Grilled lake fish.

Fried lake fish is what they are famous for. It was… well… fried fish.

Popular with the locals.

Really popular.

Turkish Tea.

Not exactly expensive.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

When I went hunting with my pet wolf.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Türkiye, fish, Iznik, Nihat'ın Yeri, Turkish

Eating Istanbul – Neolokal

Mar20

Restaurant: Neolokal

Location: Azapkapı, Mahı, Bankalar Cd. No:11, 34420, 34421 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye. +90 551 447 45 45

Date: June 13, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Very modern, but also very tasty

Our first dinner outside the hotel, braving the crazy Istanbul evening traffic.

Gorgeous views of the city.

The menu.

The boy.

Very nice bright, high acid, food white.

Neolokal’s sourdough. Very crunchy crust.

Gluten free version.

Parsley marbled butter, cep mushroom powder. Delicious.

Amuse Bouches. Sweet beans and baklava roll (right). Little bean tart. Fried bread dough with muhamara (left). Nice crispy little pocket. Sea bream and vine leaves (back). Nice contrast of tastes.

Penne Pomodoro.

Olive oil braised Artichoke. Fried crispy baby artichoke. Caramelized artichoke puree, artichoke emulsion, pea and carrot cream. A little bit more on the starchy side than I might have liked, but I did enjoy the cream.

Spring vegetables. Asparagus, green almonds, fava beans, peas and tahini tarator.

Raki marinated sea bream. Gambilya fava beans with safflower, lemon caviar and onion gelee. Nice textures.

Cabbage Rolls with Mardin Bulgut, caramelized cabbage cream, pomegranate molasses.

Icli Kofte Dumplings. Meat and pine nuts, salted yogurt foam, garlic parsley oil. I really enjoyed this meat and yougurt pastry. The yogurt was nitro whipped which made it pillowy soft.

Couscous with beetroot, Izmir talum cheese, fresh herbs and roasted pine nuts.

Shrimp and Collard Dolmade. Rice with light grilled red shrimp sauce. Good, but I would have liked a more intense bisque flavor.

Sorrel Sorbetto. I loved this savory (and probably pacojet) sorbetto.

Pear Sorbet.

Morel Dumplings, mushroom sauce and emulsion, sauteed morel and isot oil.

Lamb Neck. Belly, meatballs with sweet beans piyaz and freekeh pilaf. Lots of soft yummy meat.

A little boat of tasty spiced meat.

Gluten free cabbage roll.

Revani with Rose. Rose milk ice cream, rose delight, coconut meringue. Good thing I love rose.

Halva with Hazelnut Tahini. Sesame ice cream, bitter almond macaron.

Pear with Quince Compote, quince cream, pickled apples, rose gelee.

Diren Mahlep & Cherry Truffles. Mamul Cookies. Cookies were dry shortbread but the truffle was good.

Date Truffles and Crispy Pumpkin.

Overall, a lovely meal with Turkish tastes prepared in a modernist manner. Flavors were bright, aromatic, and deftly conveyed.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Eating Istanbul – Foodie-ist

Mar18

Restaurant: Foodie-ist Cafe and Brasserie

Location: Alemdar, Muhterem Efendi Sk. No:13 Zemin kat, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye. +90 212 522 44 21

Date: June 13, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish Cafe

Rating: solid

Just a quick — touring — lunch.

The menu.

Tea.

Imam bayildi. Eggplant with olive oil.

Zeytinyagli Yaprak Sarma. Grape leaves with olive oil.

Humus.

Diced tomato and cucumbe, pepper, parsley, olives, diced feta cheese, oil-lemon and pomegranate sauce.

Deniz Mahsulleri Salatasi. Seafood Salad. Mixed greens, shrimp, squid, mussels, olives, basil, cherry tomatoes, oil, lemon sauce.

Penne Pomodoro.

“Pepporoni” Pizza. (it’s not pork).

Fine but not particularly exciting lunch spot in central Istanbul.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Eating Istanbul – Manzara Breakfast

Mar15

Restaurant: Manzara

Location: Barbaros Blvd Besiktas, Istanbul 34353 Turkiye. +90 212 310 25 25

Date: June 13-17, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

The Conrad Hilton Istanbul has an extensive breakfast buffet…

Pretty much something for everyone… except the pork lover (it’s halal).

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Breakfast, Eating Türkiye, Türkiye

Eating Istanbul – Manzara

Mar12

Restaurant: Manzara

Location: Barbaros Blvd Besiktas, Istanbul 34353 Turkiye. +90 212 310 25 25

Date: June 12, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

This is the first meal in my new Eating Türkiye 2023 series.

Manzara is the main restaurant in the Conrad Hilton.

The menu.

Bread.

Garlic butter.

Olive oil.

Arugula Salad with Artichoke. Olive oil cooked artichoke, baby arugula, citrus, pomegranate, candied walnut, Biga goat cheese, raspberry sauce.

Lakerda. Salt water cured bonito, pickled red onion, seasonal greens, olive oil. Very nice. Salty with strong flavors.

“Kitel.” Siirt style kibbeh with beef and walnut, buffalo yogurt, parsley, sweet basil, spicy burnt butter. Like thick ravioli with a kind of beef “chili” inside and yogurt sauce. Quite delicious.

See the meat inside.

Simple pasta.

Grilled Sea Bass. Buckwheat tabbouleh, oyster mushroom, lettuce, fresh herbed lemon sauce.

Konya Oven Kebap. Braised lamb shoulder, pita breead, grilled spring onion, tomato, pepper, thyme. The meat was a little but dry but was very nice with the yogurt.

The dessert menu.

Manzara was quite pleasant. It’s a hotel restaurant, but the food quality was high and it wasn’t particularly expensive. Atmosphere was a touch stiff but there was great service and a lovely view.