Asians on the Asian side

Popped over to Kadikoy the other day

Took the ferry from the Besiktas-Kadikoy pier: 2 turkish lira for a 20 minute ride

Brunch at my favourite restaurant, Ciya (collage#1)

Had Turkish coffee and tea at the bestest cafe around the area, Fazil Bey Kahvesi

Ate the awesomest Lahmacun for snacks at Borsam Tasfirin (collage#2)

Walked a lot and tried the nostalgic tram

And did what we Asians do best in Asia or anywhere else in the world: camwhore.

Sunday: Jalan, Jalan cari makan

Today's weather: Perfect. Breezy, and approximately 23°c

Today's mood: Buoyant and very very very happy

We had a lovely Sunday enjoying a beautiful walk along the Bosphorus in Bebek - Must do

Ate a very hearty Turkish Breakfast for brunch at Gunaydin Rumeli Hisari - Highly recommended

Bought ice creams from Bebek mini dondurma for dessert - Highly recommended

Stopped for coffee at Bodrum Manti Cafe - Didn't try the food, so can't recommend, but it was nice

Talked, laughed and relaxed with my awesome family - Best thing ever

 

For daddy

Seafood dinner at Nevizade Sokak. Good times.

365 #26 Eating in Istanbul - fresh fish

I wish I knew of this place before my gang came. But, then again, it is because of my gang that I found this place. Mi and Daddy, you'd love it!

So, yesterday was the first day of extremely amazing weather after what seemed like a lifetime of dreariness. 11 degrees, blue skies, bright sunshine. Don't get excited, folks - it's just a tiny respite. Seems that the snow is returning on Friday. But it's okay. I realized that without the grey, I'd never appreciate the sun like I do now.

Anyway, back to Sunday. The hubs and I got so excited as we looked out our window when we woke up that we literally ran out of the house after getting ready, pulled on our sneakers, and stayed out walking all over the city for 10 hours.What a great day!

I finally could bring Hubby to the fish market near the pier (Eminonu) that my gang and I had found by chance and we'd bought fish so fresh, it tasted like it was just fished from the ocean. So, we walked and walked, and Hubby was very excited by all the fresh fish on display, and we took pictures and planned to buy fish and prawns and cook up a storm. Anyway, that's not the point. Somehow, as we walked, we found ourselves at the very end of the market, going through a tiny alley, and in a pretty garden right by the sea. The garden had tables and chairs and some guys cooking, and lots of people eating fish.

And so, being the adventurers that we are, we sat down, pointed at what we wanted, and had the bestest, freshest horse mackarel e-v-e-r. Really. I even ate the fish heads. Here, feast on the pictures.

Two plates of the pictured fish, plus a coke, a diet coke, yoghurt +garlic dip and mussels cost 40 turkish liras (approx 17 euros).

When we told our Turkish friends later in the evening where we had eaten at, they looked at us with awe for having found the place. Seriously. Seems it's one of the best kept secrets in Istanbul. Hihi. Not such a well-kept secret anymore!

Note 1: How to get there: Go to the fish market right next to the Kadikoy pier at Eminonu. Walk to the end of the fish market, go through a (very) short and small alley, et voila. I have no idea what the restaurant (or stall) is named.

Note 2: There are a trillion fish restaurants located right at the bridge near the market, but I've never been tempted because there is always a dude or two trying (too) hard to get you to try the restaurant (too) desperately. And the restaurants always seem empty. Here, they didn't even look at us because they were so busy. So don't expect (fawning) tourist treatment. 

365 #25 Eating in Istanbul - Eggplant loving

One of my favorite dishes from one of my favorite cafes in town - The House Cafe.

Turkish Meatballs on Aubergine Purée. 
That dollop of white in the middle? Strained yoghurt.
And the bright yellow drops? Cayenne pepper infused melted butter.
The surprise element? Melted cheese blended in with the aubergine.

365 #23 Eating in Istanbul: Ciya Sofrasi at Kadikoy

Today, we'll take a little foodie trip to the Asian side of Istanbul. For those of you not in the know, Istanbul is the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents, with the Asian continent and the European continent divided by the Bosphorus.

image taken from here

I live on the European side, but the Asian side (Kadikoy) is easily accessible via ferries which run every half an hour, and it only takes 15 minutes to get from one continent to the other. I really love this ferry ride, because it's such a scenic and beautiful journey, and once you get to the Asian side, you feel you're really, really in Turkey.

Not many tourists venture to this part of Istanbul because this is quite a residential area and it doesn't have the 'sights' and popular tourist attractions that the European side boasts, but it does have a very rustic sort of charm that is so quintessentially Turkish. In fact, many Turkish people who work on the European side live on the Asian side and commute via ferry daily. Kadıköy's entertainment is generally not of the affluent type. It has a more working class ambience; therefore, it is easier to find food of the like of kebab, kokoreç and fried mussels than haute cuisine (Italicized because I feel the same but copied the sentence word for word from Wikipedia because it said what I felt, only much better).

I still haven't explored the Asian side enough yet to give you a proper tour around the area, but thought I'd share some dishes from one of my favourite restaurants that is situated there. Erm. Actually, it's the only restaurant that I've eaten at on Kadikoy. Twice. But it's also the only restaurant that my Turkish friends rave about over and over again.

Here's a look at what we ate and loved at Ciya Sofrasi

1. Complimentary bread and spicy (feta-like) Turkish cheese

 Warm, fluffy airy, soft, chewy naan-like bread. SO GOOD!

The olive oil that drenched the cheese was one of the most flavorful olive oils I have ever had here in Istanbul. And the cheese! I never did think that cheese and spiciness would work so well, but it does! It does!

2. An assortment of mixed cold dishes

They have an area where you can go and choose the different kinds of 'meze' you want which they pile up on a plate till you say 'stop'. I wasn't very impressed with my choices. You may want to give it a skip, or take very very very small portions of each.

3. Lentil soup with minted yoghurt and lamb meatballs.

Let's see. I love lentils, yoghurt, mint and lamb. Check. Check. Check and Check.

LOVED IT!

4. Hubby's obligatory meat dish. Adana kebap.

Gorgeously spicy meat. Beautiful bread. Flavorful pilav (rice). Spiced onions. SCORE!!!

5. And my favourite of all. LAHMACUN. Remember this name! LAHMACUN! 

Note: Lahmacun is found almost everywhere in Istanbul, and Ciya probably doesn't serve the best in town, but this was where I had my very first bite of it, and now's as good a time as any to introduce you to this wonderful invention.

 Step 1: Receive lahmacun (aka Turkish pizza).

Step 2: Pile up parsley on one side

Step 3: Squeeze some lemon juice on lahmacun

Step 4: Roll it all up

TAKE A BITE AND QUICKLY ORDER ANOTHER ONE!!!

365 #22 Of snow, jobs and fine dining in Istanbul

I have a confession to make. I am a snow-bringer.

When we were in Luxembourg for our first winter the year before, the country (and Europe as a whole) experienced the craziest and heaviest snowfall that has never been seen for more than 30 years.

This year, in Istanbul, our turkish friends are shocked at how bad the snow has been. I mean, I have literally been cooped up in the house for almost four days now. Six, if you don't count 'going out' as just running out to get some water and milk and bread. The 'being cooped up' doesn't reflect the state of the city being at a standstill, of course. Though I wouldn't know for sure. Just my general laziness and unwillingness to get all dressed up and made up only to have blasts of snow blowing in my face. This state of being stuck has seen a lot of activity in my (e)mailbox, and I have officially exhausted my list of contacts (and random email addresses found off the internet) to send my resume to. The good news? To stop myself from clicking the 'refresh' button on my mailbox every 2 seconds 5 minutes, I may force myself to brave the snow and make some snowballs to throw at random passersby in hopes to ease my frustration tomorrow. Which may lead to an exciting blog entry about being thrown in a Turkish jail. Who knows?

A note of caution to every person who has ideas of giving up their career for a year or two and going back again after: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

Anyway. I'm gonna make good on my promise to dear M of Chocolate, Cookies and Candies, to write a bit more about life in Istanbul. She is, by the way, an extremely kind and wonderful soul, who, from all the way in the UK (and despite never having met her before), sent me a care package when I had just moved to Istanbul. She knew how much I missed Malaysian food, and how there are no Asian supermarkets in Istanbul and got me a bunch of curries and tomyam goodies so I could satisfy my very very very intense cravings. Thanks to her, my first few meals at our new house were all things Malaysian, and I ate with such a happy smile on my face. Thank you again, M. You have no idea how happy you made me. :))

In that vein (erm, food, that is), let's talk about food in Istanbul. Today, we'll talk about fine dining.

In general, Istanbul (expensive) dining (notice I don't say 'fine') is more of a social thing. You go to see and be seen, you go for the view, and you go just to say, in everyday conversations with so and so, that you've been. I go every now and then, because I have a social life to keep up with here, and because I like the atmosphere. I call it 'fun dining'. For the tourist with very refined tastes, you will probably need to redial your gastronomical expectations when dining in a few spots that I will not mention here. But! It's not all that bad. I have my favorite, which serves the amazingly beautiful and awesomely tasty food on the pictures I have shown here, but you can email me if you want to know which restaurant it is. I do not want to be accused of being biased. :p.

That aside, and taking a point of 'the views' that I just mentioned in the previous paragraph, I must say that what many high-end restaurants here lack in delicate and fine taste, they more than make up for in lush, plush, creative, delightful restaurant design and in their views. These restaurants have the absolute best views in the entire city that no hole in the wall place can lay claim to. I've been to at least 6, and they're all situated at the rooftops of buildings or at the edges of cliffs, where you can see different and breathtaking perspectives of the city. And those views are money-views. With the sun setting slowly, watching houses being lit up one by one, a gorgeous city with no end, old and new, against the azure blue of the Marmara sea. Sitting at one of those restaurants can literally make you feel like the luckiest person in the world at that point in time. So, if you do happen to be here in summer and get a chance to get a place on the terraces of Istanbul's 'best restaurants', do it. And for one night, dress up, and dine in Istanbul in style.

Hope you enjoyed this, and tomorrow, we will continue with local eats.

365 #13 Reunion

While the world is busy preparing for Chinese New Year reunion dinners, I am going to try and ease my jealousy and envy hunger by taking a little walk down memory lane and reunite with a very recent reunion.

Park Hyatt Istanbul. Christmas Lunch, 2011. Magical.

Pictures of only the girls and food, because the men didn't look pretty enough. :))

Gong Xi Fa Chai everyone! :))