Incredible Istanbul - Ten of the Best (Part II)

...following on from here

Things in and on Bread

Before we hit Istanbul we'd read something that said don't just fall into the doner, pide, durum trap. We fell into the trap but when the trap tastes so damn good why wouldn't you want to fall into it? Our three in and on bread highlights were:

Pide

We had a pide at Şimşek Pide, it was OK.

We had a pide at Hocapaşa Pidecisi, we thought that it couldn't get any better.

We had a pide at Mavi Halic, it did get better and it was crazy good.

Fish Sandwiches

Down by the banks of the Golden Horn there are a few different places where you can acquire one of Istanbul's famed fish sandwiches. Under the Galata bridge, next to the bridge from floating vendors, stalls alongside the bridge. The best fish sandwich requires a little bit more effort.

After crossing the bridge to the Beyoglu side you head west, through the fish market, and arrive at a cluster of about six or seven street vendors pumping out some seriously delicious fare. A piece of oily mackerel in a soft bun with some grilled veggies, salad, a lick of pomegranate molasses and a decent helping of chili. Sometimes less really is more.

Kokoreç at Kral Kokoreç

This one's for you Mum. The intestines of a lamb get cleaned thoroughly, are soaked in milk for a while and then get cleaned again. The intestines are then wrapped around a mixture of more intestines, lungs and sweetbreads, speared onto a spit and then roast away ready for willing customers like us.

The resulting meat package is full of lamby goodness but it's the texture that gets you and has me salivating for a kokoreç right now. In bread, on bread, on a plate. Anyway will do! 

Crawling with Cats

Istanbul is crawling with cats. No really, if you walk ten metres and don't see another cat it's because you missed it not because it's not there. Needless to say, this means hours of us making smooching noises and going psswssswssw in feeble attempts to make new pals. We made a few.

A very special mention goes to the Aya Sofya cat. Yes, a cross-eyed cat that calls the Aya Sofia home.

A very unspecial (not a word but let's roll with it) mention goes to the American who walked past and went, "it's like they've never seen a cat before. Sometimes people are so dumb". No buddy, you're dumb. This is the famous Aya Sofya cat (see its blog here) and you're just another D-bag swanning around Istanbul in a singlet with your hat backwards.

Pickles, Pickles, Pickles

There are few things, me not included, that make Nicola as happy as pickles. Her one main regret on this trip was not buying a single giant pickle in a can in Germany. Yes, you can get that.

Salgam (fermented black carrot juice), pickles in a cup in pickle juice (yes, also a thing), pickled chillies by the container load at every eatery, piles of pickles with pide. Pickles are everywhere and Nix was, and still is, in heaven.

Parklife

A big part of our time in Istanbul was finding a park to take it easy in for an hour or so before setting off again for the arvo. Moda Park over in Kadikoy was so peaceful that I squeezed in a little power nap before waking up for my afternoon tea. Naww.

Çay

Tea so strong that it coats your teeth and is a legitimate substitute to coffee. I wasn't sold at first thinking that strong black tea is just strong black tea. We're now a week in to a tea addiction that will have spiralled out of control once we leave Turkey in a months time. Thankfully there are çay stalls or men with portable çay urns just about everywhere that you look to feed the addiction. Look, even a bank blocking your card is fun with çay!

The best and cheapest so far was at 4am from a guy on the side of the road as we boarded a bus to the airport.

A big shout out to Big B, Little C and Mike and Kate (check out their time in the 'Bul here) for giving us way too much to try and squeeze in to what felt like four very short days.

Incredible Istanbul - Ten of the Best (Part I)

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: I've got to make an apology. As much as laying on beaches and reading books and working on our tans and drinking cheap beers is a pretty good life for us, it doesn't make for very good blog reading for you, my faithful readership of five actual people and six internet bots.

I hereby pledge that from this point forward, until we set foot back in Australia, we will try to do some exciting, interesting shit and keep the posts about us lazing about on Turkish, Cambodian, Sri Lankan beaches to an absolute minimum. So, starting now, strap yourselves in for a wild ride Mum, Mum, Dad, Dad, Lizzy and bots 1 to 6.

Great cities are about layers. Nope, scrap that overused metaphor. Great cities have many different faces. Hmm, nope, try again. Istanbul: where East meets West, where new meets old. Lolz. Great cities have lots of shit going on that comes at you from all different angles and levels. Regardless of what shitty metaphor I come up with, Istanbul is without a doubt a great, great city.

Street food vendors dot every part of the massive, sprawling city, cats prowl, sleep and judge on every corner, ferries infest the waters that divide Europe from Asia and the new town from the old, the call to prayer fills the skies with music (and wakes you up way earlier than should be considered appropriate), Muslim women in burqas and headscarves walk side by side Western women doing their best impression of cheap street whores, and the list goes on. The point that I'm trying to make is that I don't think we've ever been in a more engaging city and we may never be again. So, here are the top ten things that we saw, ate, drank, did and enjoyed in Istanbul.

Basilica Cistern

The Blue Mosque is beautiful and anytime that you're in a still practising mosque it's a privilege and an honour.

And Aya Sofya is epic and amazing.

But we left both feeling that they hadn't lived up to the expectations that had been placed upon them. The Basilica Cistern on the other hand is a sight that did meet our expectations. Built in AD 532, this cistern held an f load of water for the Grand Palace and its surrounding buildings and aside from the fellow hoard of tourists, is one of the most tranquil and relaxing places in the city.

Turk Kahvesi

Turkish coffee. Pretty much my ultimate coffee. Thick, black and just a little bit sweet.

All throughout the city you'll be able to get yourself a decent Turk Kahvesi but if you're ever in Istanbul there are two names that you need to remember - Fasil Bey's and Mandabatmaz . Both produce Turkish coffee that is next level. Cemil at Mandabatmaz is a little unorthodox in his approach to making it and is an absolutely joy to watch from the back of his cafe as he goes about his craft.

Ferry Infestation

Ferries are an inexpensive, seamless way to go from just about anywhere in Istanbul to anyone of the other cities within the city. Every time you catch a ferry it's like a mini day trip and gives you unimpeded views of one of the world's most famous skylines. 

Open Ayran

Ayran is a salted drinking yogurt that's brilliantly refreshing and works as the perfect accompaniment to spicy food. However, that's just the stuff in prepackaged tubs. 

Our first couple of meals we ordered ayran and it came out in a tub, that's OK in itself but Turkish people around us were receiving it 'off-tap', if you will. So instead of me trying to indicate with my hands that we wanted open ayran, and looking like a nut job in the process, at our next opportunity we Googled Turkish for open (açik) and gave that a crack the next time we ordered. Open ayran comes from a machine like the one below and it helps to develop its frothy head and gives a product that tastes as though it's come directly from a cow who's been clamped and shook all about. It is salty, it is cowwy and it is delicious. You are forgotten to us now inferior, prepackaged ayran. Give me açik ayran or nothing at all.

Chicken Pudding

Yes, a pudding made with chicken. It's sticky and gelatinous and has a texture unlike any pudding that you've ever had before thanks to the intricately shredded chicken strewn throughout it. Dust it with some cinnamon and you've got yourself one very unique dessert. Or breakfast, as it were.

Part II over here!