Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish Coffee
👌
Kronotrop, Kuloğlu Mh., Firuzağa Cami Sk. Şelale Apt. D:2/B, Cihangir
Finally, a city that appreciates coffee! Our morning mission was to get a nice espresso and kahvalti, or Turkish Breakfast. With some Internet sleuthing, we found Kronotrop in the Cihangir neighborhood, close to Taksim Square. Kronotrop takes coffee seriously, but without the attitude. Our female baristas pulled our espressos, like it wasn’t a thing. And they were tasty. Halfway through our drinks, we saw that they also made Turkish Coffee (off menu) and we couldn’t leave without one. It was Yennie’s first Turkish Coffee, so she studied it being made, taking pictures like a #foodieloser and probably asking too many questions. The coffee was amazeballs - neither bitter nor acidic.
Then, we turned the corner to eat at Van Kahvalti Evi, a restaurant famous and exclusive to Turkish Breakfast. Turkish Breakfast is a smattering or breads, cheeses, jams and honey, and fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes - all garnished with flat leaf parsley. 🙌 We also ordered menemen, an egg scramble with stewed tomatoes and peppers. The spread was substantial and comprehensive. There were about half a dozen different kinds of cheese, including literal string cheese (not like the stuff you get back home), soft cheese served with honey, and a cheese spread with fresh cucumber, dill, and parsley mixed into it. By midday, our coffee and meal quota was set.
In the afternoon, we met up with Ricardo, our friend from Berkeley that’s studying for the summer, here in Istanbul. We walked around the neighborhood we’re staying in and got another spot of food for “lunch” and then hung out at Ricardo’s apartment, which is across the street from our Airbnb. We also met his roommate Nick, who has been living and studying in Istanbul, who gave us a crash course in the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - the “George Washington of Turkey”, and the multiple Fascist parties currently in government. There was a flash thunderstorm, which quickly cooled the humid weather and gave us a good excuse to stay indoors for the rest of the day.
For dinner, we went right across the street to Adana Ocakbasi, a pit grill restaurant, where we feasted on chicken kebap, lamb chops, sweetmeats and rakı - the favored local hooch, similar to Ouzo. We learned that you must pour the rakı and mix it with water, which turns the liquor from clear to milky white in color. And you can order a chaser of şalgam, a fermented turnip juice (think: picklebacks and whiskey). We are hooked.
Of course, being in a city that loves its sweets, we had to go find dessert. Ricardo took us to an ice cream store nearby, Damla Dondurma. Turkish ice cream - or dondurma is different, in that its texture is “resistant to melting” because of mastic, a tree sap used as a main ingredient in recipes. We have had mastic gelato, once before at Fainting Goat in Seattle, so it was a treat to get another chance to try it.
Tomorrow, we’ll hit up some of the main sites. But for today, we feel like we’ve seen Istanbul as an Istanbullu does.
Rakı *, Tekirdaǧ
Rakı, Bottled Water - Chased with *Şalgam
Adana Ocakbasi, Bozkurt, 34375 Şişli
