Whenever we’re sat in bars, restaurants or wherever and we get chatting to non-Turkish people, we’re always asked, ‘What do you miss about England? You must miss different foods.’ Well, we wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t miss anything. We miss the Lake District in the Northwest of England as we used to go trekking …
Ever heard, or even said, the phrases, ‘It’s full of tourists. I don’t go there. It’ll be too expensive.’ Well, if you skip these places, you could well be missing out, as we found out when we went to Istanbul in October. This is a photo of the famous Çiçek Pasajı (Flower Passageway) along Istiklal …
So what is this special snack I’m about to tell you about? Hmm, is it special? It’s certainly different! I’m referring to the Islak Hamburger. ‘Islak ‘ is the Turkish word for ‘wet.’ Or ‘damp’. Or ‘sloppy’. You get the idea, this is a Wet, Damp, Soggy Burger. You can see why it aroused our …
Today is a very special day in the calendar of Turkey. October 29th is the Republic Day of Turkey or 29 Ekim Cumhuriyet Bayramı. The day is a public holiday and marks the anniversary of the proclamation of the Turkish Republic when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was named as its first leader. Republic Day is also …
While the historic tram that trundles up and down Istiklal Caddesi all day long may be one of the little pieces of nostalgia that make up Beyoğlu (and a free ride for the kids who cling to the back of it), for us, the Tünel funicular is an absolute necessity. Walking down the hill towards …
The iconic bright red Taksim tram is a living legend of historic Istanbul. The city wouldn’t be the same without it. Apologies for the cliche, but the Beyoğlu area of Istanbul really is a feast for the senses. It’s a tourist’s must. Every time we’ve visited Istanbul, we’ve spent time in the area and we’re …
One of our readers contacted us as she wanted to know if we had a Turkish Musakka recipe so that she could make it herself at home. Well, we get lots of emails like that, actually. But this particular reader told us she had especially enjoyed the Turkish musakka. Turkish Musakka – Classic Lokanta Food …
You may remember, way back last winter, we did a few posts about Turkish pickles. And we even discovered that they’re good for you. Well, that’s always going to be a bonus for us, seeing as we struggle to get through a meal without having a side dish of pickles. Our visit to Istanbul last …
Turkish cuisine has lots of well known soups, many of which you will see when you eat in lokantas and other traditional Turkish restaurants. This courgette soup recipe isn’t one of those oft seen ones, but it’s delicious all the same. Warming and comforting in winter and, omit a couple of the more hefty ingredients, …
A good few years ago we went to Ören to a trout restaurant and we’ve heard there are more trout farms around now (you can see them on the satellite images in Google maps) so we thought we’d just drive around that area to see what’s changed. As my dad is here at the moment, …