Istanbul, Turkey
Latte
Dos Airport Breakfast Specials, please.
Coffee Republic, Barcelona-El Prat Airport
Today was our longest day of travel, yet. We left for the Menorca airport at 5:30 AM, woken up by alarm and rooster (there were chickens at our Airbnb). We arrived in Barcelona at 7AM and had a long layover before getting onto our flight to Istanbul. Our plane stayed on the tarmac for another 1.5 hours, due to some “check-in failure” (what the heck does that mean) and arrived late to Istanbul. We then took a taxi through Istanbul traffic and arrived at our Airbnb at 7PM. 😣
Our host, Bee, gave us a quick tour of the place and then Bryan and I took a quick rest. We rallied for dinner, deciding upon kebap restaurant in Taksim. With some second-order Googling, we figured how to get there. We wanted to take the train and discovered that we only had enough lira to get one ride token (yes, ride tokens). The station attendant was so nice and literally gave Bryan a free ride. It was one of those moments when you just looked up to the sky and mouthed “Thank You” to the Eternal Being.
Taksim is a bustling area of shops and restaurants and also the location of the recent bombing this past March. There were plenty of people out and about - families with children, tourists, vendors - but it was disarming to visit this place we had only heard of in the news a few months ago. We’ve said this before: the current global climate has us a bit on edge, so we’re trying to keep it safe as best we can.
Google took us to where it believed Hayri Usta Ocakbaşi was located, but Google was wrong. We looked up and around the street address and couldn’t find the restaurant. We were so determined to get kebap there! 😤 We decided to poke our heads into another neighboring cafe to regroup. This cafe, Avam Kahvesi Beyoglu was a soda shoppe. It serves flavored sodas made in Istanbul. Okay, so you can’t find the place you wanted, but something equally as cool appears? Again, “Thank You” to the Eternal Being. We reluctantly decided we would eat somewhere else, and nearly gave up on Hayri Usta Ocakbasi when we found it up the street! “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
This restaurant came highly recommended from a friend of a friend, so we were excited to have found it. The food was insane: kebap, “gift salad” (or complimentary salad with meal), seasoned farro, charred tomatoes, and a whole jar of spicy peppers, tableside - OMG, OMG. We finished the meal with a bit of ayran, a drink of yogurt, water, and salt. 👌 Istanbul, you have won our hearts and stomachs forever.
On our way back to the train station, we stopped into Hafiz Mustafa 1864, a confectionery that made Turkish Delight, pastries, and BAKLAVA. We walked to the top terrace and ordered fistikli ev baklavasi or pistachio baklava with hakiki manda kaymaǧi or “real cow cream” and two Turkish teas. What did we do to deserve this. The cream was an ace move; we had never had our baklava with garnish before. It was next level. Oh, and with some sips of bitter tea, accompanied by a soulful call to prayer? #perfection.
Istanbul, we could leave tomorrow - thoroughly happy. Buuuut, we’re not gonna!
G&T
Xoriguer Gin, Tonic, Lemon Garnish
Chez Bee, Istanbul
