Before heading to Istanbul, I will confess that I didnt know what to expect for their food. I mean I know its Mediterranean food but since I tend to avoid them in Asia, quite frankly, I didnt quite know what constitute a Mediterranean diet apart from cheese and olives. So it came as a pleasant surprise when it was meat, seafood and fish galore in Istanbul! Yipppeee!
Apart from all things cheese and olive that I avoid since they are not my favorites, I must say Istanbul does their fried calamari flawlessly, grilled fish superbly, and baked or grilled lambs to die for! Steak not so great esp if you prefer yours not to be well done, and desserts are a tad too sweet for me. It's all cream and huge doses of sugar enough to crash your kidney from all the intense sugar rush! I love the Turkish Apple tea, that is until I realise they put in loads of sugar in them to balance the sourish flavor. When in Istanbul, one seemed never to go wrong with fried calamari and anything that says "Lamb". Their Icecream are great too. Nope, not refering to the touristy hawks of "turkish" icecream. I am refering to the other ice cream specialty stores. I had the most yummy ice creams here in Istanbul. Sorry Greece, you lose out on this though you have the most fantastic cakes I had ever tasted in Oia@Santorini!
One more thing that I loved in Turkey, are their bread and fruits! Their honeydews and watermelons are so freaking sweet that one would think they watered these fruits with sugared water instead of just normal water. Their breads are surprisingly soft on the inside too. My partner isnt too keen on their savory breads but I like them. Kinda remind me of curry puffs except in a bread dough.
One thing NOT to miss, their freshly squeezed orange juice! OMG! It's sooooo freaking deliciously sweet! No added sugar, just plain pure goodness. For a normal cup, it's about 2Tl in non touristy place and 5Tl otherwise.
One of the best place in town for cheap and great food is "Fish House" near the Sultanmeh area.
Turkish Strawberry cream cake@Mado...not great. Think I will stick to the japanese's ones in future.
However Mado's icecream are great!
1.75Tl perscoop cone compared to freaking 5Tl for the Turkish icecream
This funny cake caught my eye! Looks like...Ostrich? Adam Family's Cousin I.T's cousin?
My first introduction to Apple tea
Excellent Milk Pudding with Pistachios drenched in choc sauce @Pasazades.
Seriously yummy braised duck over rice @Pasazades. This place deserves all the good comments!
Lamb pieces with potato crisps@Pasazades. Oh so delicious.
Not to be missed dining spot for Ottoman Cuisine
The Turkish eat rather healthy raw vege salads too!
Since I hate pure solid cheese and yoghurt and avoid them as much as possible, this is my week's breakkie diet combined with ham and bread.
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