Istanbul tag on to a tag-along trip (Part 2): Food and street cons edition

You can find a ton of information on the top tourist spots in Istanbul so I’m not going to go into deep detail about the ones we hit, which were the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. Also, the experiences on the street tend to be more interesting to us. Having said that, the tourist spots we visited were all very worthwhile.

This post is the second part of highlights from our tag-on- to-a-tag-along trip we took to Istanbul in December. Go here to read part one. Go to the Tag Along Travel YouTube channel to see a video covering the highlights of this trip.

Grand Bazaar

You have to go to the Grand Bazaar if you’re in Istanbul even if you don’t buy anything. It’s like a small city of shops selling everything from quality cashmere scarves to cheap Prada bag knock-offs. Go early. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. and the crowd was manageable, by the time we left around 2:00, it was getting hairy. Know your prices before you go by looking in other area shops for what you think you might buy and then haggle. I’ve become used to haggling over the years and in fact, have to stop myself from doing the old walk-away when the vendor stops bargaining if I really want something. A few times I’ve gone too low and I’ve lost out because I’m too proud to go back on my last offer. Sometimes it’s only a matter of a Canadian dollar or two difference. Just buy it!

Best shave ever!

On our way back from the Grand Bazaar, we found ourselves on a quiet little side street. We walked by a barbershop and could see a gentleman getting a shave inside. Steve was looking a little scruffy and decided to go in. He says it was the best shave of his life and cost him $5 CAD plus a $2 tip. Hot towel, lots of lather, straight razor – the whole nine yards.

Sadly, I missed the best photo-op of the day. I had packed away my stuff when I saw the barber tending to the fellow sitting next to Steve take out a Bic lighter. He proceeded to “trim” this guy’s ear hair by burning it off with the lighter via quick bursts of flame! I scrambled to take a photo (with the guy’s permission—he was laughing at my wide eyed expression) but I wasn’t able to capture it. Wild!

Nicest restaurant experience

Aside from the beautiful dinner we ate at Marina Balik, which I covered in the previous post, the hands down best meal and dining experience we had was at Café Privato. This little spot in the Galata neighbourhood has a lovely ambiance with smoky jazz playing, candlelit tables, and a killer view of Galata Tower.

The food was excellent. We’d recommend the mixed grilled meats and the Georgian special, which is perogies in yogurt and dill. The lentil soup was also delicious – the best we had of this Turkish meal staple. Wine served by the glass is a great value and was decent. A very generous pour was about $7 CAD.

The service was extremely prompt – which we found to be the case in all of our restaurant experiences. We found there is a different pace to dining in Istanbul compared with North America and other parts of Europe. Wait staff don’t give diners much time to decide on what dishes they want to order and then once the order is made, food comes out quite quickly without much pause between courses. Dishes are cleared promptly even if one of the diners has not yet cleared his or her plate. Then, when the meal is done, servers do not come around again until you make eye contact and request the check. I believe that Turkish culture dictates that waiters don’t ask if you’re ready for the check, which would be considered rude.

Turkish deeeelight

Oh my gosh! We could not get enough of this Turkish confection. I am embarrassed to admit that there were a few days we purchased and consumed TD (as we came to call it) more than one time in a day.

Our favourite shop was the granddaddy of them all, Hafiz Mustafa. You cannot believe the multi-page menu featuring glossy photos of delectable baklava, Turkish custards, pastries, and an endless parade of Turkish delight. Our favourite flavours were rose and anything that included pistachios.

This turned out to be our go-to souvenir for friends and family back home. We bought about 15 boxes of the stuff, which they vacuum pack to seal in freshness. Yum!

Street food

We didn’t try a lot of street food, but did have simit, which is a sesame encrusted, round bread that is sort of like a pretzel, but less salty and not as chewy. When I first tasted it, I wasn’t really impressed, but by the time I was almost finished it, I was quite enjoying it.

We had döner kebab on a few occasions and you just cannot beat it as a quick meal. The tender lamb or beef meat almost melts in your mouth.

The other street food we ate was the Islak Burger (or wet burger). Now, this was … interesting. It’s comparable to a McDonalds regular burger that’s been dunked in a red tomato sauce. After passing by a number of shops around Taksim Square featuring these cheap eats, we bought one to share. We concluded that they would be best consumed after a late night of drinking.

Venturing beyond the old city

We spent two days of our week outside of the old city.

One day we took the metro to Bebek, a cute seaside area filled with restaurants and shops.

The other day we took the ferry to Kadıköy, a bustling neighbourhood on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara. It was about a 20-minute, very pleasant ferry ride and well worth it. It’s a great place to shop and there are tons of restaurants. The shoreline park is a peaceful retreat, which seems to be a popular spot for the feral cats that populate Istanbul. Steve (a huge cat lover) had lots of fun playing with several cats hanging out on the rocks.

The local con

Most major tourist destinations have some cons to look out for. We fell into one a few days into our trip. It’s pretty harmless as cons go, but once your wise to it, you see it happening again and again on the streets.

As we were walking along one day, a young man ahead of us furnished with shoeshine supplies in a carrying case dropped one of his brushes, which landed on my boot leaving a bit of a mark. Steve instinctively picked it up and returned it to the fellow.

He expressed his deep appreciation for this act of kindness and offered to shine my boots, which were scuffed from his brush. I thought he was offering to do this for free – his manner certainly made it seem that way. But as he set to work, he began to tell us of his children, his forced migration to Istanbul from a small town in an effort to make a meagre living etc. etc. He then insisted on shining Steve’s shoes as well. By this time, we realized that indeed, there was an expectation of payment. After all was said and done, we offered him about $7 CAD. He suggested we should pay more. We did not. It was a great shoeshine, just not a very honest approach.

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