Restaurants and bars in Istanbul

The Turkish kitchen has been called the third best in the world, after the French and the Chinese. One thing is sure; the centuries long cultural mixture which Turkey is a product of has created a fantastic food culture where the taste of the Orient and the West is mixed with Asian nomadic tradition and the Mediterranean delicacies. If you do not have any other reason to go to Turkey, the food can be a reason in itself.

Both food and drink is found all kinds of types and price levels, so are you a poor backpacker or going on a five stars luxurious trip, you will find your favourite.

Restaurantes with typical Turkish food, meze and seafood (middle price to cheap):



- Lunch: Sultanahmet Tarihi Köftecisi, Selim Usta: The original köfte restaurant from 1920 on Divan Street, close to the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern. Have a lunch here and order”köfte” (small Turkish meatballs), ”piyaz” (salad of white beans and onions) and rice.

- Lunch: Try a döner kebap (meat grilled while it is turning around), iskender kebap (döner with yoghurt), döner dürüm (döner in a wrap), or readymade casserole kebaps which are found behind a glass counter, you can point out and order what looks most tempting - sulu yemek.

- You find restaurants in the Flower Passage in Istiklal Street (Cicek Pasaji), and lots of fish restaurants behind of Cicek Pasaji in Nevizade Street (Beyoglu)

- Pano and Viktor Levi vine house and restaurant just behind Beyoglu Balik Pazari (fish market), near the British Consulate. (Beyoglu)

- A short walk up the Istiklal Street from Tünel, in the side streets opposite of the Swedish General Consulate, you can find many small restaurants with lovely food. For example Refik , Sofyali, Asmali Mescit Balik Evi, Yakup 2 (Beyoglu)

- Neyzen Restaurant and other restaurants in the Kumkapi area.

- Mehmet Usta, in Kirecburnu which is further up along the Bosphoros, simple standard but great food and very cheap. You can see the mouth of the Black Sea from the window tables.

Trendy restaurants with hip, continental kitchen (European price level):

- Mikla, at the top of The Marmara Pera Hotel is named after the Vikings name of Istanbul; Miklagard. The owner and gourmet chef Mehmet Gürs has Turkish father and Finnish-Swedish mother and his menu mixes tastes from all his worlds. This is maybe the most popular restaurant in Istanbul these days. The bar has a fantastic view over Istanbul and cocktails of great quality. Reservation required. Tel: +90 212 293 5656. (Beyoglu)

- Near by you also find Lokanta which also is owned by Mehmet Gürs. This is a restaurant early in the evening, but changes into a bar/club at night when the tables are stacked away and the music volume is turned louder. In the summer the roof terrace opens, which is called Nuteras. Reservation required. Tel: +90 212 245 6070. (Beyoglu)

- 360 restaurant / bar with 360 degrees view at the top floor of Misir Apartmani, an appartement building with entrance from Istiklal Street, and easy to miss if you do not know about it. Take the elevator to the top floor. Tel: +90 212 251 1042 (Beyoglu)

- Leb-i Derya, restaurant / bar with wonderful view. Indoors and a small ourdoors terrace, plus a tiny terrace at the very top of the roof with only space for around 10 persons. Here you feel like a bird at Istanbuls rof – you must reserve early to get seated at the very top terrace. Walk down the Istiklal Street past The Richmond Hotel on you left hand side. Turn left in the first small street. Go down the hill until you see the sign on the right hand side. Take the elevator to the top floor. (Richmond Hotel has also just opened a second Leb-i Derya at the hotels top floor, but the original is much better). Tel: +90 212 293 4989 (Beyoglu)

- Besiktas/Macka area: Vogue – at the top of Besiktas Plaza. Was voted “Restaurant of the year" a few years ago. Tel: +90 212 227 4404.

- Misc. restaurants and bars in Macka/Nistantasi/Tesvikiye area. This is the most luxurious part of Istanbul, all the restaurants and bars around here are nice (but not the cheapest).

- Leyla and Reina in Ortaköy. These are clubs with several bars and restaurants inside, situated at the shore of the Bosphorus. Here the jet set of Istanbul meet, “see and be seen”, and it is impossible to enter without a reservation – maybe except if you are very hip, beautiful and famous. High price level. Reservation can be made through internet.


(Utsikten fra Su-ada ved fullmåne)

- Su-ada: If you stand by the Bosphorus at Kurucesme (near Ortaköy) and look out over the water, you will see an artificially made island. This is called the Galatasaray Island, because it is owned by the football team Galatasaray. Here you find a swimming pool for paying guests and several restaurants. They have their own boat shuttle at Kurucesme harbour. Try for example Arsipel Restaurant which serves exquisite and unusual Turkish sea food dishes.

Trendy and modern bars (European price level):

- All the previously mentioned trendy restaurants have great cocktails, like Mojito and Strawberry Daiquiri. At the more traditional Turkish bars and restaurants cocktails are not recommended, they often taste more like something the cat dragged in, even though the name of the cocktail looks good in the drinks menu. At such places, drink pure drinks like beer (the Turkish Efes beer is well liked), wine or raki.

Bars with bohemian atmosphere and simpler standard (cheap):

- Most of the bars in Imam Adnan Street, a side street from the Istiklal Street.
- Bars in and around the Büyük Parmak Street, a side street from the Istiklal Street
- The small streets in Ortaköy

Sometimes these bars are almost impossible to find. First you have to find the right door at street level at one of the old scruffy looking houses in Beyoglu, and then climb all the way to the top. Then you suddenly find the most cosy roof terrace bars, with prices for an almost empty wallet…

Istanbul – Palaces, Ortaköy and the Prince’s Islands

Palaces

Just below Taksim Square and the Besiktas football clubs stadium, Inönü Stadium, the new Sultan palace Dolmabahce is found. Dolmabahce was built in the middle of the 19th Century at a time when the Topkapi palace had become too old fashioned for the Sultan. The Palace is abundantly and richly decorated with marble, velvet, silk, brocade, crystal and no less than 14 tons of pure gold. Here you also find the worlds largest crystal chandelier with 36 000 prisms made of Bohemian crystal. The second largest hand-vowen Turkish carpet in the world you can see in the ballroom (the largest one is found in the Sultans hunting cottage!) and the Ming china vases are large enough to contain a person inside.


(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Built and decorated in the same style is the Beylerbeyi Palace on the Asian side of Istanbul, just below the Fatih Bridge. This was the Sultans summer castle (hunting cottage). In those days there were vast forests around the castle; today the city has grown to surround it completely.

Istanbul has also many smaller palaces or “kösk”’s (the word kiosk comes from Turkish), meaning mansions and the summer houses (“yali”’s) owned by the sultans extended family and other members of the Ottoman noblesse. Some of these are today in private ownership, others are owned by corporations and many are changed into museums or cafés. They are often found along the Bosphorus or in park areas. The most beautiful and characteristic of them is Hidiv Kasri at the Asian side, which used to be the residence of the vice regent of Egypt in the Ottoman Empires era. Here a lunch can be recommended, or just enjoy a cup of tea – they sell no alcohol here.

Ortaköy



The small streets of Ortaköy are in the week-ends transformed into an outdoors market. Loads of silver jewellery and other accessories, many of them handmade, are sold here. Or what about some hand knitted woollen hats or scarves, handicrafts, old postcards, souvenirs and much more. The market is also here in the week-days, but it is larger during the week-ends.



Ortaköy is the place where the Istanbullers loves to come and spend a lazy Saturday in the tea houses with a glass of tea and a game of ”okey” – a Turkish game (resembling ”Rummy”). Or they play Backgammon, a game which is widely played all over Turkey; it has existed here since Antiquity, if not longer. In some of the tea houses you can order a “nargile” (water pipe) with your tea. If you do, try the apple tobacco, it is the sweetest and smells wonderful. Try also a large baked potato “kumpir” with all kinds of fillings, or a salt crepe or pancake with feta cheese and parsley, “gözleme”.


The beautiful Ortaköy mosque lies there by the edge of the water and the Bosporus bride in the background, it is a popular motive for photographers (photo).

In the night, life continues in Ortaköy, people sit on small stools in narrow streets and drink tea or beer. The live music starts to stream out of some of the small bars. If you want to listen to real acoustic Turkish style live music, there are good chances to find it here. However, if you are in the mood of a more”continental” style, you also find the hip and cool upper class bars and jazz cafes in the area.

Bosphorus and the Princes Islands

Does a little sea air tempt you? In the Bosporus straits which run through Istanbul and separates Europe from Asia, you can enjoy the beauty of the city in a very different way. Ashore the city seems chaotic and over-trafficated, on the sea it gives you a whole new impression.

The most authentic and absolutely cheapest, is to jump onto one of the ordinary ferries (”vapur”) which the Turks are using. For almost nothing you can cruise zig-zag up along the Bosphorus to the mouth of the Black Sea, all the way to Rumeli Kavagi and Anadolu Kavagi, which are the last points at the European and Asian side. Here the ferries turn. Try a lunch of fish, filled blue mussels or deep fried blue mussels, before you follow one of the ferries back to the city.



As a full day trip in good weather a trip to the Prince’s Islands (Prens Adalari) which are situated near the Asian side in the Marmara Sea, can be highly recommended. The ferry leaves from Eminönü (photo) or Kabatas.

At the Prince’s Islands all car traffic are forbidden and it is a lovely place to go for walks, bicycle or rent a horse and carriage (fayton). The architecture on the islands is consisting of beautiful old, wooden houses, and it is very popular amongst the Turks to have summer houses here. Some are also so fed up with the stress in the metropol, that they have taken up residence here permanently, and commute into the city to work every day. The peace you find out here is a strong contrast to the noise in Istanbul and feels really soothing for the soul.

To swim in Istanbul is almost impossible, due to trafficated Bosphorus straits and not very clean waters. But in the Prince’s Islands many people like to swim. You can find a small beach or a bay for swim in the sea, or enter one of the organised pools for an entry fee.

(Photo from Büyükada, taken from Wikipedia Commons)

Try for example a trip to Büyükada, the largest of the islands and go to the top of the island. All along the way you will se pieces of cloth tied up on trees and bushes, each of them representing a wish or a prayer. Orthodox Christians as well as Muslims acknowledges the monastery’s grounds as holy.

At the very top lies the Ayos Yorgos Church (St. George’s Church), a Greek Orthodox Church watching the ocean. Find a table and a shaky wooden chair at the churches café, and order a bottle of their homemade wine. Now all you have to do is to lean yourself back to a comfortable position, enjoy the sunset and wait that the wish you tied on the tree on your way up will come true…

Istanbul – a stroll in Beyoglu

Beyoglu could be called ”the heart of Istanbul. The crowded street life, the atmosphere, the mixture of old and new, music of all sorts streaming out of the shops, street vendors, street musicians, shopping, bars and restaurants.

From the Taksim square, take a stroll down the Istiklal Street. From the top it might seem like a black, wavy ocean of people. But do not worry, just jump in! You will find a mixture of new and modern shops, both well known brands and reasonably priced local brands. Here are also narrow streets and alleys with hats and scarves, CD’s, accessories and handbags. Several cinemas are also found in this street, if it says”orijinal” on the film poster, it means that the film is shown in the original language with Turkish subtitles.

The area of Beyoglu used to be called”Pera” in the old days, and it was an exotic, French inspired area where the foreigners of Istanbul lived. It could be French, Italians, Greeks, Jews and Armenians just to mention a few. Still it is possible to spot French names on some of the buildings – and notice their beauty! Due to the fact that the people that used to live in this area were non-Muslim, there are plenty of churches and cathedrals around. Lift your eyes up from the streets, peek into alleys and discover these hidden churches.


For example, on the right hand side half way down the Istiklal Street, you will find the Cicek Pasaji (The Flower Passage). Inside the beautiful building there are restaurants, but instead enter the fish- and vegetable marked at the side of the building. After a few metres on the right hand side you will se a black door. This door leads to a small hidden Armenian church. It is allowed to enter…

Try a ride with the old tram down the street until it ends at Tünel. This is the name of the place at the bottom of the Istiklal Street. The second oldest subway train (built in 1875) which is still running is found at this spot. It is probably also the shortest, it has only two stations! (The word “tunnel” is derived from the Turkish word "tünel".) Tickets for the tram can be bought in the small newsagent kiosk at the top of the Istiklal Street, where the tram starts. Tickets for the subway are sold in the ticket boot inside the Tünel building at the bottom of the same street.

To the left of the subway or Tünel building the Mevlana Dervish monastery is situated. The dervishes are religious men who practise Islamic mysticism and meditate by swirling around for hours.

Are you interested in musical instruments? You find loads of cheap instruments, both western and oriental in the street starting between the Tünel building and the Mevlana Devish monastery.

Further down the hill in this street, you find the Galata Tower in all its beauty. It is one of the oldest towers in the world, built in 1348 as a fire watch tower. And believe it or not: The first man in the world who actually succeeded to fly was Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi who in 1632 strapped on a pair of wings and flew from the Galata Tower over the Bosphorus to Üskudar on the Asian side of the city. The view from the Galata Tower is recommended, especially at sun set!

There are so much more that can be told about Beyoglu, in particular I should mention restaurants and bars. I will write more about Beyoglu in a later post.

Going to Istanbul for the first time?

Istanbul is a time machine where the hyper modern meets with the timeless. You can go several hundred years back in time just by turning a corner in the street. Here are palaces, history and unbelievable shopping opportunities!

The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii)
is Turkeys only mosque with as much a six minarets, high pointy towers where the muezzin used to stand and call for prayer. The name “Blue Mosque” comes from the famous blue Iznik tiles which can be seen on the outside near the top of the minarets and inside the mosque.



The Hagia Sofia church (Aya Sofya) (photo)
Across from the Blue Mosque the Hagia Sofia church is situated, a large red church with and enormous dome and four minarets, built by emperor Justitian in the year 543. It was the main cathedral of Constantinople for more than 900 years, until it was converted into a mosque and later a museum. Around year 1000, the Vikings visited Constantinople. Some became mercenaries in the emperor’s army. In the balustrade on the upper South gallery of Hagia Sofia you can find rune inscriptions, it says “ Halfdan carved these runes”.

Topkapi Palace (Topkapi sarayi)
Just around the corner from Hagia Sofia you find the Topkapi Palace, the Sultans palace from the 15th century. The Topkapi Palace has three gardens; the outer garden for guests, the mid-garden for trusted employees and government members, and the inner garden only for the Sultan and his Harem.

In Topkapi you can see the treasury of the Sultan, large amounts of diamonds, emeralds, gold and silver, an impressing collection of Ming and other valuable china, the clothing of the Sultan, gold thrones covered with emeralds, and the Palace kitchens enormous casseroles which they used to feed 4000 people in the Palace every day.

The most exciting place in the Topkapi palace (except from the Harems section) must be the room of relics. Here you can see hairs from the Prophet Muhammeds beard and a piece of the Black stone of Mecca.Many Muslims come to this place as a Pilgrimage.

The Harem where the Sultans wives, concubines and children were served by eunuchs is the only part of Topkapi where you are obliged to follow a guided tour – in the other areas you can walk freely around.

The Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan sarayi)
Byzantium’s emperors palace and gardens got their waters from a large, underground water cistern called the Basilica Cistern, dated 532 A.D. You find it across the road from Hagia Sofia. The cistern is also called “The Sunken Palace” because that is just what it looks like with all its beautiful marble columns. From time to time, due to the marvellous acoustic the cistern is used for classical music performances.

The Grand Bazaar (Kapali Carsi)
The Grand Bazar or Kapali Carsi, "the closed bazaar") with its 4000 small shops underneath ancient rose painted arcades is a must to visit when you are in Istanbul. It was built in 1461 and is both the oldest and the largest closed bazaar in the world. Today the Grand Bazaar is mostly serving the tourists and souvenirs, carpets, gold and copied products are sold.

Remember: Turkish sellers are a bit pushy. Even in the most modern fashion shops in new shopping malls in Turkey the shop salesperson might follow you around like a shadow. This is because the Turkish customers are used to a demand “full service”. For some foreigners this “service” can be a bit too much. I recommend that you just try to laugh about it, enjoy a cup of tea in the carpet shop, and remember: you do not have to buy anything. Bargaining is a must in the bazaars, and if you find a good tone with the seller, the chance of achieving a good price is increasing.

All the sighs mentioned in this post is situated in the area of “Sultanahmet” in Istanbul, also often called “The Old Town”.

Turkey – The country where the East meets the West

”Right in between Europe and Asia lays Turkey, a country rich with nature and exciting sights. Which can offer the longest coast and maybe the cleanest waters. A country filled with lovely fragrances and mysterious scents. Which is generous with the sun, 300 days in the year. Welcome to the open embrace, welcome to Turkey.”

After more than 12 years as a tour guide, resident and travelling around Turkey, I have many experiences and a lot of information about this fascinating country.
What a shame to just sit here and keep this knowledge inside my own head, I thought, so why not make a Blog and share it with others who are looking for travel information about Turkey.
In this Blog I will share my experiences, favourite places, destinations, restaurants, bars, sights and the fantastic history of this country with you. And if you readers have tips or recommendations regarding travel in Turkey, you are welcome to post them as comments in my Blog.
I will start this Blog with information regarding Istanbul, since it is the best time of year for a trip to Istanbul right now! The temperature in Istanbul in the spring and in the autumn is very pleasant.