Planning Istanbul Trip
I will be spending two weeks in Istanbul in September-October, with possible side trips to Ankara and Izmir. I will be fortunate to spend time with a Turkish- speaking friend who knows the city, but am looking for tips on cooking classes and anything related to food, ingredients to bring home, quirky or classic shops (culinary and otherwise), eateries, books, private guides, etc. I know the Istanbul Eats blog and have their book and will surely partake in some of their offerings. Also hoping to get to Babushka Table on the Aegean coast, named after the blog written by Olga Irez (formerly Delicious Istanbul). But the bulk of my time will be in Istanbul. Any thoughts much appreciated!
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Istanbul Eats is a good source for restaurant recommendations. I took one of their walks through the Spice Bazaar, and again, would love to do more with them. The guide took us into many places I would not have seen had I been alone. He also found out that I was particularly interested in sahlep and took me to a shop above the Spice Bazaar that sold sahlep in its raw state.
Be sure to go to the open air market in Kadikoy and walk around Moda--where you’ll find some good restaurants. Within the market area is one of my favorite places to eat--Ciya. The owner is from Gazientep and has collected recipes from home cooks around Turkey. You choose what you’d like to eat from a huge variety of foods that changes daily.
When I went to Istanbul I stayed for 10 days. I was worried I had scheduled too much time there, but by the time I left, I wished I could stay longer. Enjoy!