I remember arriving in Istanbul on a cold cold afternoon. I was wearing every single bit of clothing in my wardrobe in a futile attempt to ward off the cold (that based on everyone else’s attire, only I was feeling). Atul met me at the stop where the airport bus dropped me, laughed at my snowman attire and then walked me to the artist’s house in Beyoglu that we were to stay in. We were in Istanbul!!



Asmali Cangrim Cigerim on Istikal cadessi (street), serves up some of the best kebabs I’ve ever had. With every accompaniment as perfect as possible, thsi meal was an orchestra by a master conductor.
What you mustn’t miss if you are in Istanbul in winter.
1. Sahlep, in a lane outside the Egyptian spice market, as we walked towards the Blue Mosque.

2. Midye dolma 
3. Kuru Fusulye

4. Simit
5. Lahmacun

6. Turkish coffee over coals

7. Boza, the sweet fermented drink
A beautiful, creamy, tangy sweet drink, laced with cinnamon, perfect for the winter. You would never imagine that the drink was made by fermenting bulgur, millet, barley or chick peas or that a sweet sour cinnamon warm drink could be anywhere so yummy. even better when you bite into one of those roasted pieces of chickpeas. I can completely imagine why this ancient drink was such a favorite with the Ottoman. It’s been found to have several health benefits including balancing blood pressure, increasing milk production in lactating women, facilitating digestion and ahem..enlarging breast sizes!
8. Tursu Suyu or Pickle juice

9. Balik Ekmek or Fish sandwich
10. Cig Kofte or Veg kebab.
These delicious kofte translate into English as seasoned raw meatballs but the variations I had and loved were purely vegetarian. The traditional meat version, made out of uncooked beef or lamb that is kneaded together with bulgur, tomato and pepper pastes, herbs and spices, is still offered at several grill restaurants in the neighborhood of Fatih but the vegetarian version has finely ground bulgur marinated with scallions, parsley, tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, and mint leaves and kneaded into kebabs. Isot pepper, locally produced by farmers of Şanlıurfa, in the southeast of Turkey lends the Kebab its smoky flavor and rolled into a lettuce leaf with a squeeze of lemon and pomegranate molasses, this one will send you to a healthier heaven.
11. Sweets at a local sweet shop:

12. Seriously good Baklava. 
Having never been a major fan of Baklava before, Istanbul did manage to make a convert of me. So much so that I actually found myself getting back to Mumbai and baking Baklava on the very next night itself, jetlag notwithstanding. But then I realised that the composition of a real good Baklava is rather a specific thing. Butter from Gaziantep and Pistachios from the Antip region. Crisp, golden outside, moist syrupy inside, flavourful nuts and the perfect proportion of butter to syrup. My favourite ones were those I picked up at Guluouglu (I actually found the shop in the Spice Market to be better than the Kadokoy one) and the ones from Sakarya Tatlicisi in Beyouglu.
13. Adana Kebab 
14. The ridiculously good Turkish Breakfast 
15. Loukma
16. Doner Kebab

17. Durum roll – Tantuni
18. Tres leches cakes

19. Turkish delight

20. Borek

21. Kunefe 
22. Manti or tiny filled dumplings in a yoghurt sauce

23. Mezze

24. Menemen (scrambeled eggs) or Sucuklu yumurta

25.Midyetava or batter fried mussels.

My Chicken Breast Recipes says
This looks so good! Thanks for the post.
Julian says
I love this post……My husband of 24 years is Turkish and I make this dish meemenn for dinner or breakfast at least a few times a month……Almost every day we have the Turkish breakfast….and then we are not hungry til’ dinner time.Istanbul really is a great place for food, basically all of Turkey is….the bazzars with the fresh veggies and fruit are amazing and they actually tatse different then what we get here in North America….so fresh and tasty like they supposed to be.Thanks for sharing this post…..