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.