Istanbul - A Foodie's Delight
Like all bustling cities, Istanbul offers a variety of interesting food. Doner Kebabs (or Kebaps), fresh fish by the Galata bridge and much more. But what do you do if you are a vegetarian? Well, there is no dearth of options for veggie lovers! Look below for what we loved and found interesting!
Fresh fruit abound - pomegranate and orange juice were widely available everywhere we traveled in Istanbul and that too freshly squeezed and cheap.
Kumpir - which is basically a massive boiled potato with its innards mashed up and filled with butter (lot of it!) and toppings of your choice. In a rush for dinner and want something that's quick and easy to walk and eat? A sole Kumpir will easily fill two people!
The final product - a veggie Kumpir with butter, sour cream, boiled corn, local veggies and red hot chutney.
Went to Istanbul and never had Falafel? how can that be? We stopped by "Falafel House" near Taksim Square and enjoyed some yummy goodness. The good news is that if you live in a major US city, Maoz and a number of other Falafel joint are pretty close to taste and consistency of this authentic stuff found in Turkey and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Tea and more tea - The drink of Turkey (other than the refreshing buttermilk AYRAN) is tea. Served everywhere you go, whether you buy from the shops or not, be ready to gulp down a small glass like this one. Flavored black tea is consumed in seemingly endless manner by the locals however there are abundant flavors from rose, jasmine, pomegranate and more. This picture was taken in the Grand Bazaar where a token system (the blue and red) is used by the shopkeepers to keep an account with the vendor who passes by every so often with tea on a tray.
Mezze platter, again all vegetarian, with Khous-Khous salad, Babaganoosh, Dolma or Grape Leaves, Cacik - mix of cucumber and yogurt is an appetizing start to any meal.
Lip smacking Lahmacun a.k.a Turkey's thin crust pizza. It is a spicy dough base topped with toppings of your choice. 'Uludag Gazoz' a Turkish soda goes perfectly with it.
Menu outside one of the restaurants in Sirince Village near Ephesus. A refreshing Ayran is a perfect drink to cool down after walking through the ruins in Ephesus.