Runway show at Istanbul Fashion Week

My friend Olivia was visiting from Boston this past week and we were lucky enough to get tickets to Istanbul Fashion Week thanks to the help of my roommate. It was my first fashion show so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was surprised to see that not everyone attending was dressed in high fashion. I know it’s not New York Fashion Week, but I expected to see more extreme outfits. Everything appeared to be on the wearable spectrum. This was lucky for me since I had come right from work in the pouring rain and didn’t feel horribly out of place.

Before the runway show, we had a chance to walk around and check out the various promotional booths  and shoot a few Ellen-style selfies in front of the Istanbul Fashion Week backdrop. When we finally entered the runaway area, I was surprised to see that it was exactly how I  pictured it based on what I’d seen in the media. We took a second row seat right next to where the models walked out – a perfect location to see the the models and garments up close.

The show we attended was Tuba Ergin‘s ‘Giga-Bites’ 2014 Fall/Winter collection. You can watch it in its entirety here. I thought the music and backdrop complemented the collection nicely, and I was happy to see relatively healthy-looking models. My favorite garment was the short black dress on the blonde model towards the end of the video clip. Although the video clip doesn’t do the dress justice, it had a really nice shape and looked great in person.

The opening of Giga-Bites

Models walk the runway

The finale

We also ran into fashion photographer friends M & F Barranco who were photographing Istanbul Fashion Week. Check out their awesome work here.

Exploring Çengelköy on a Sunday afternoon

This Sunday we decided to explore Cengelkoy, a neighborhood on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. Neither Gurkan nor I had been there before, so it was a first for both of us. All I knew was that Cengelkoy was famous for cucumbers and borek.

The trip there was frustrating. After landing in Uskudar via the Besiktas ferry, we got on a bus and found ourselves in bumper to bumper traffic all the way to Cengelkoy. After getting off the bus in the wrong place and walking in the rain, we managed to find Cengelkoy Borekcisi. And that was when the day took a turn for the better.

At Cengelkoy Borekcisi, we ordered cheese and minced meat borek. Although we couldn’t find a place at the Tarihi Cengelkoy Cinaralti Cay Bachesi, we snagged a bench by the seaside instead. The borek was hands down the best I’ve ever had in Istanbul. Not only that, it was much cheaper than anything we could ever find in our neighborhood.

Cengelkoy Borekcisi at the entrance to the Cinaralti Cay Bahcesi

Meat and cheese-filled borek

The view from the Tarihi Cinaralti Cay Bachesi

Afterwards, we walked along the coast up to the military high school and back. The sun was out by then and so were the fishermen. We watched a few reel in some fish and admired the wooden fishing boats.

Wooden boats

Back in the main part of Cengelkoy, we had dinner at Cigerci Cengelkoy. Gurkan had the Arnavut Cigeri and I chose the Edirne Cigeri (fried sliced liver). It was only my second time eating Edirne style liver and the first time eating it outside of Edirne, but it was quite good. As for the Arnavut Cigeri, I am not sure what makes it special because it just looked like cubed, fried liver to me. Anyways, we were pleased. The service was great.

Serving up liver at Cigerci Cengelkoy

Edirne Cigeri (front) & Arnavut Cigeri (back) with piyaz (bean salad)

The dogs of Cengelkoy are also much cleaner and nicer than most of Istanbul’s stray dogs. According to the waiter, this one (Cakir) really likes liver, too.

Cakir begs for liver

He got a head scratch instead

Sunset over the Bosphorus

Tasting adventures at the Istanbul Culinary Institute

The place: Istanbul Culinary Institute
The offerings: mezes, main dishes, desserts, drinks
Price range: 22-28 TL for a main dish (we ordered off the February evening menu)
The pros: good service, nice atmosphere, great variety
The cons: A bit of a tourist destination

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Although Friday was Valentine’s Day for most couples, we were celebrating Gurkan’s birthday since he had been on a business trip over his special day. I was really worried that all the restaurants would be booked and when I left work, I still hadn’t made a reservation. We were going back and forth about where to go (Gurkan mentioned Canim Cigerim, and I told him we should go somewhere a bit more special for the occasion), so I suggested that we check out the Istanbul Culinary Institute. Gurkan had called earlier and no one had picked up so I feared the worst – that they would be swamped with starstruck couples.

Luckily, they weren’t. We walked in and the host was able to find us a seat tucked away by the bar. Perhaps, not a prime spot by other people’s standards it actually turned out to be quite nice because we were able to ask for wine recommendations from the bartenders. We also had the back corner all to ourselves which saved us the misery of sitting next to the overzealous, extremely loud tables of American tourists (not resident foreigners – we learn to keep our voices down) sitting in the front of the restaurant.

Everything on the menu looked absolutely delicious. Right when we sat down, the waiter brought a selection of bread with olive oil. Gurkan couldn’t get enough of the corn bread and kept saying how great it was – coming from someone from the Black Sea that is quite a compliment! For our appetizer, we chose a meze plate with ezme (spicy side salad), hummus, beet salad, potato with dill, sarma (stuffed grape leaves), and salmon. Everything  was unbelievably tasty especially the hummus and ezme. Although old favorites, there were prepared so well and different enough that it was as if we were trying them for the first time. Honestly, I think the hummus was one of the best I’ve ever had – it was very thick and not oily at all. The sarma were of the sweet variety  and perfectly seasoned. The salmon was spot on. Each spoonful was a completely new tasting experience.

For the main meal, Gurkan chose the lamb karsky – a lamb dish topped with a lamb kidney served with bulgar pilav and roasted eggplant puree. I opted for the duck in pomegranate sauce with roasted potatoes and caramelized apples. I had a hard time deciding between that and the lamb stew with quince which also sounded delectable. We both ended up being extremely pleased with our selections. I did think the duck was a bit salty but  tasty nonetheless. It made me nostalgic for all the great duck places in Portland (duck fat fries at Duck Fat & duck nachos at Grace)! Gurkan absolutely loved the lamb kidney and said it was the best part of the whole dish. Although I refrained from trying the kidney, I thought the lamb steak was cooked nicely (was that a little bit of pink I saw?) and the roasted eggplant puree was out of this world.

The service was quite good – the waiters weren’t overly attentive, but most importantly, we never felt pressured to hurry up which is often the case in Istanbul. We continued sipping our wine long after we finished our main dishes and probably could have stayed there all night had we not decided to move on.

The place is perfect for a special occasion and I’d definitely recommend ordering an appetizer ahead of time if you’re tummy is hungry! They have dessert too – I’m already looking forward to trying the homemade rose and fig ice cream next time I visit.

Meze platter – a taster’s paradise

Duck with pomegranate sauce, potatoes, apples

Lamb steak with kidney, eggplant puree, bulgar pilav

The Istanbul Culinary Institute also offers recreational cooking classes. How fun would that be!?

 

Çimdik Mantı, or the hidden gem of Levent

The place: Çimdik Mantı
The source: It’s right by my office
The offerings: soup, salad, mantı, dessert
Price range: 15 TL for soup and mantı
The pros: The best ayva tatlısı in all of Istanbul
The cons: None – I love this place!

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Dreading another lunch at Kanyon or Metrocity? Can’t find a spot at Küçük Ev in Levent Carşı? Need a quick, quality meal? Look no further than Çimdik Mantı. It’s tucked away on the corner of Levent Caddesi and Gonca Sokak, a two minute walk from the Levent metro exit.

The decor is simple, the service quick and the menu brief – all great things in my opinion. Although the place makes good mantı (it’s a mantı restaurant after all), the real star is the restaurant’s ayva tatlısı (quince dessert). I’ve been a lover of ayva tatlısı ever since I tasted it at one of my friend’s houses, but this ayva tatlısı takes the cake. It’s not too sweet, the quince is smooth, and it’s topped with a generous helping of kaymak (clotted cream). I had been raving about the dessert to Gürkan for a couple of weeks until he went with a  group of colleagues many of whom ordered up a second helping of ayva tatlısı because it was just that good.

Even without dessert, the mantı is reason enough to visit the restaurant. Sabırtaşı used to be my favorite mantı restaurant, but the portion sizes have been so drastically downsized that Çimdik Mantı is my new go-to mantı place. Each table is stocked up with the obligatory spices of red pepper and oregano – sumac also makes an appearance. The owner told me you can’t have mantı without sumac so I poured it on and I was pleasantly surprised with the result (& happy to discover a new use for sumac!) The broccoli soup is also highly recommended – it comes piping hot and actually has real chunks of broccoli in it.

Piping hot broccoli soup

Kayseri style mantı

Best ayva tatlısı in all of Istanbul

The offerings

A day excursion to Boğaziçi University and Rumelihisarı

A few weekends ago, Gurkan and I decided to take a trip to see Bogazici University. Everyone had always talked about how beautiful the campus was, and I had never had a chance to visit. The closest I had came to visiting was meeting with a Bogazici professor in a nearby cafe to discuss my Fulbright application which I, sadly, never submitted. Most know Bogazici University as the most sought after public university in Turkey. Outside of Turkey others may know it as the first American institution of higher education founded outside the US. The year was 1863, and the founders were Christopher Robert, a philanthropist, and Cyrus Hamlin, a missionary and author of ‘Among the Turks’ (1878), a book I’ve never had a chance to read, but hope to get my hands on a copy soon.

I was surprised to find that the campus was not all that far from our apartment – we hopped on a bus on Barbaros Boulevard and since the traffic wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t long until we arrived at the gates of Bogazici University. We walked inside and the first thing I noticed was the view overlooking the Bosphorus. I told Gurkan I’d do a PhD there just for the view alone. Once we got to the main campus, I was surprised to see a campus that looked like it could be anywhere in the U.S. Ivy growing on buildings, a proper quad, and students hanging out on campus on the weekend? Certainly, not like the other Turkish universities I had visited.

The next treat of the day was when we exited campus and found ourselves at the foot of Rumelihisari, an Ottoman fortress, that I had passed many times while on Bosphorus boat tours, but never had seen close up. After asking the Bogazici University security guard for directions, we found ourselves wandering around the surrounding neighborhood, and finally, we arrived at the entrance of the fortress, now an open air museum with a nominal entrance fee of 5 TL (10 TL since April 2014).

Once we got our tickets and entered, we were completely on our own to explore the fortress, and I was amazed at the lack of concern for safety. The stones were old and slippery, the stairways steep and narrow with no railings to hold onto, and the two security guards were oblivious to what was going on. Being the adventurous person he is, Gurkan climbed until he was at the top, and yelled me for me join, but I firmly stood my ground on the main level. At one point, I was persuaded to climb one flight of stairs, but quickly came down once I got to the top and saw the drop below.

We certainly had a great time exploring, and the views from the fortress are without a doubt breathtaking – it’s definitely a place worth visiting but I am not sure I’d hurry back (fear of heights!). Bogazici University, on the other hand, is a place I’d like to return to one day 🙂

The view from Bogazici University

Stray dogs at home on campus

The quad

Campus buildings

A cat spies on us as we explore the surrounding neighborhood

Rumelihisari

Notice Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge in the background

The treacherous stairs

Turkish flags flying opposite each other on the Bosphorus

Gurkan peering out over the Bosphorus

Walking back along the Bosphorus

For more on the history of Rumelihisari, click here.

Keeping it hipster cool at Karabatak Cafe

The place: Karabatak Cafe in Karakoy
The offerings: coffee, tea, dessert (full menu here)
Price range: 5-10 TL for coffee drinks; 12-15 TL for dessert
The pros: Great customer service and atmosphere, English-speaking waitstaff
The cons: Can’t purchase coffee by the lb/kg late in the evenings
Fun fact: Kabatak is the Turkish word for the cormorant bird, often seen on the Bosphorus

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On Friday night, we decided to venture over to Karakoy, a neighborhood caught in what seems to be an eternal transitional period.  Once known for its seedy brothels, it’s now the site of hipster cool cafés and chic restaurants. We were recently at Bej – also in Karakoy – for my company’s holiday party and during grad school, I would sometimes attend weekend classes at Sabanci University’s Karakoy building. This time our destination was Karabatak cafe, recommended to me by one of my colleagues. The goal – to get some new coffee for my French press.

After grabbing a bite to eat at Namli Gurme in Karakoy, we set off to find Karabatak. All I knew was that it was by Bej, and sure enough, after only a couple wrong turns, we found it tucked away in a side street. Right when we walked in, we were greeted by several employees all who wanted to help us find a place to sit, and who surprisingly, all seemed to speak fluent English. We settled for a spot by the door right under the bike (see pic below), and took a look at the menu. We both ordered lattes  – the cafe serves Julius Meinl coffee, an Austrian brand – which had come highly recommended. Since it was already 8 p.m. by the time we arrived, the cafe had already run out of most of their desserts (including the cheesecake and brownie) so we settled on a latte cake to share. Again, the waitstaff was super helpful and explained the different options and apologized for having so few selections.

The service was quick and we were soon enjoying our lattes which were delicious and the cake which was not as delicious. I didn’t have high expectations for the dessert because I generally don’t like Turkish cake, so honestly, it wasn’t a surprise – I just wish there had been some cheesecake left!

While sipping my coffee, I had a chance to take a better look at my surroundings, and I had the slightest feeling that I might be somewhere else, maybe Portland or Wicker Park. There was definitely a hipster vibe going on.  The main room had a tractor which doubled as a low coffee table and supported the espresso machine. The walls were all brick with various decorations including vintage coffee paraphernalia. The atmosphere was low-key and backstreet Istanbul cool. From what I’ve heard since visiting, the place has become a bit of a tourist destination, but to me, it didn’t have an overly commercial feel to it.

The only drawback was that it was too late to purchase coffee by the pound which was one of the main reasons for visiting. Not a major problem though since I am already looking forward to stopping by again, probably on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon after exploring Cukurcuma, another one of my new favorite pastimes.

How to get there: Take the tram to the Karakoy stop and then take Mumhane Caddesi. Karabatak is on a side street right off of Mumhane Caddesi and its sign can be seen from the main road.

Dinner Party at Dikilitas Palace

When our legs are too tired to walk down and back up the hill to our neighborhood, we stay in and have dinner parties at our apartment, aka Dikilitas Palace. Our friend, Sonia, had promised to make us shrimp and Gurkan, lover of  all fish, big and little,  cooked up some levrek for us. Thankfully, it wasn’t Karadeniz night at Dikilitas Palace so I didn’t have to eat the little hamsi, bones and all. However, what I couldn’t persuade Gurkan to do was cut the face off my fish, so its eyeballs bulged in the oven, and it landed on my plate with a smile. The shrimp were all smiles too! Since Nazli and Berk had just returned from vacation in Greece, we also had ouzo to pass around and good food and fun was had by all.

 

Shrimp in olive oil, garlic and lemon

A smiling levrek

The table is set

Craft Beer at The Bosphorus Brewing Company

When I first arrived in Turkey (Bursa), the only beer to be found was Efes, and occasionally, the oh-so-cool western import, Miller. Although I was happy to see a familiar product appear in our little student village of Gorukle, we stuck to Efes. For starters, Miller was severely overpriced, and it wasn’t even one of my favorites back home (For my generation, Wisconsin is the home of New Glarus, not Miller). So, let’s just say I was pretty stoked when Bomonti appeared, or rather re-appeared, on the Turkish scene since it has a history thats dates back to the days of the Ottoman Empire. Check out photos of the original Bomonti brewery here. Nowadays, it’s also brewed by Efes, but it’s still a refreshing alternative to its blander cousin especially after the release of Bomonti’s unfiltered version. With Macro Center and most corner convenience stores stocking the likes of Hoegaarden and Leffe these days, the beer selection in Istanbul is without a doubt much more varied than it was just a few years ago. Nevertheless, I was still left with a burning question – did Istanbul have a craft beer culture? It turned out I didn’t have to wait for an answer for long since I kept hearing about a hidden gem over on Yildiz Posta Caddesi.

Yesterday marked my second visit to the Bosphorus Brewing Company, known in most circles as the BBC, this time with some colleagues for after-work drinks (& food). Every once in a while I like to have a decent non-Turkish meal out, and British pub food tops the list of the decidedly few options so I was overeager to try an entrée this time.

Since my roommate ordered fish and chips last time, I gave it a whirl and ordered the same. This time around, however, the portion was noticeably smaller, but the fish and chips were still quite tasty, and exactly what you’d expect of an entrée sporting the name fish and chips. As an added perk, this dish was accompanied with a smushed pea and mint side salad which was surprisingly good. (For the record, the best fish and chips I’ve ever had was at Big and Little’s in Chicago. It’s legendary.) Around the table, people were quite pleased with their entrees (rave reviews for the bacon sandwich and sausage dish), and so was I, but I am not sure I’d order it again at a price tag of 30 TL. You can check out the full menu on the BBC’s website.

The beer, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I ordered up a Halic Gold, my personal favorite, and just like the first time, I was impressed not only with the quality and taste of the beer but also with the clever names (a Cold Turkey anyone?). At approximately 14 TL a pop, I think it’s actually quite reasonable for a craft beer, plus I dig the atmosphere of the place and the waiters’ suspenders are particularly amusing. My days are certainly brighter knowing a craft beer selection is within my reach.

The verdict? Go for a beer or two. It’s well worth the trip to Gayrettepe. If you’re lucky like me, you might even live within walking distance of the BBC, and dropping in for a beer on Sunday night is a great way to dispel what my roommate aptly calls the Monday syndrome. It’s also pretty easy to get to – take the metro to Gayrettepe and it’s a short walk (less than 10 mins) from the station.

FYI: BBC has special set menus for holidays (again, on the website), and proves to be a hit among the expats since it serves pork products. The pub also gets quite busy so I’d definitely recommend making a reservation if you are a larger group.

First trip to BBC with the roomies

The scene of the magic

Liver it up at Canım Ciğerim

I thought I’d start the blog off right with one of our favorite standbys, Canım Ciğerim, in Asmalımescit right off of İstiklal Caddesi. Take the metro to Şişhane and you’re only a five minute walk away. Check out the map below:

Featured in the book İstanbul Arka Sokak Lezzetleri (I think there is also an English edition available), this restaurant has been reviewed time and again, so there’s really not much more I can say about it, other than go there! Famous for its ciğer (liver), Canım Ciğerim also offers a chicken or meat option for those not keen on liver, myself included. The portions are quite large, so you can also opt for the half portion. All meals are served with a spread of mezzes including parsley, mint, raw onions with sumac, lemons, pickled peppers, ezme, and friend onions and peppers. Lavaş (flat bread) is perfect for grabbing the meat off the skewers and wrapping it up with all the fixins.’

The only drawback? We went on New Year’s Day, and as usual, the place was busy. The waiters seemed a bit stretched and we didn’t get our second plate of fried onions we ordered until we were almost finished with the meal.

2 meals & 2 ayrans were a little over 40 TL. Not terrible considering the location. Our bellies were full and Gurkan’s craving for liver quenched. Mission complete!

Street view of Canim Cigerim on Minare Sokagi

Gurkan eyeing his liver

The spread at Canim Cigerim