Makan makan in Istanbul

I had so many ideas on blogging my Istanbul trip. In the end I decided to do separate the food section from the tourist attractions. I am starting with the food because I have the most photos on food! You will have to bear with me because I do not know all the food items, I will name those which I know, and update those which I do not later ok?

Ok here it goes, meat is a staple diet in Istanbul meals, so if you are not a meat lover, you will have some problem with food. But fear not, the trusted McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks and Gloria Jeans are almost everywhere for an escape. But like what they say, when you are in Rome, do what the Romans do. So I tried the kebab, the lamb, the beef, the simit, kunefe etc.. Truth be told, the food in Istanbul are actually quite nice, but because I am not a meat lover, I may not appreciate the full extent of the flavour, texture and the sort. I was already looking for vege on my 3rd day here. We went to the groery and bought vege to cook that night. Ahh.. vege never tasted that good.. :-) Oh, just to prove that there are McDonald burgers and Gloria Jeans coffee available, I have attached photos. By the way, do you know what Filet-O-Fish is not on the McDonalds menu here in Istanbul?

Salad

Turkish "Pizza"

Liken this to garlic naan

Chicken breast with wheat price, tomatoes and green chilli (very hot chilli)

Turkish chai (tea)

Turkish coffee

Turkish home cooked food, like economy rice or "zhap fun"

Beyshol Iskender's Beyshol Special

McDonalds: I had McChicken since they don't serve Filet-O-Fish

Delicious Caramel Cappucino Nut Chiller and NY cheesecake at Gloria Jeans Coffee

For breakfast, instant cup noodles provided solace and familiarity. It was either the Simit, a doughnut like bread, (which was cold and hard) or the instand noodles, no price for guessing which one I chose.

Simit, doughnut like bread

Desserts, huge variety available but most of them are very sweet. If you do not have a sweet tooth, I would recommend that you try kunefe, made by drizzling a row of thin streams of flour-and-water batter onto a turning hot plate, so they dry into long threads resembling shredded wheat. The pastry is heated with some butter, margarine or palm oil for a while and then spread with soft cheese and more pastry. A thick syrup, is poured on the pastry during the final minutes of cooking. The taste? Heavenly, not too sweet, not too cheesy, perfect type of dessert for me!

Kunefe

Are you salivating yet? This is not everything, but I figured you would either be bored of food photos or hungry after looking through the many food related photos, either which you will not continue reading, so I will save the photos for another blog..

Till then, Bon Apetite!

p/s: Kunefe is very nice.. Turkish food is very fattening... sigh.. I've not done justice to my waistline eversince coming to Istanbul..