HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Istanbul – Culinary Backstreet Walking Tour
MB loves his food!
MB saw many cultural & historic sites on his recent trip to Istanbul. MB was happy as a pig in muck as he toured around the old city taking pics of all and sundry. MB2 was not so pleased. Daughter of MB informed young friend on return to Dubai that the cultural days in Istanbul ‘were horrible’. 13-year-old v 52-year-old – that’s the way God made it!
But when all is said and done, it is not Istanbul’s cultural sites that will linger longest in the brain of MB, but the food. All sorts of food. Tourist venue food. Cafe food. Nice cosy restaurant food. Snack food. Street food. Delicious pastry food. Backstreet food. Especially the backstreet food.
Following four or five days of Istanbul food indulgence, MB was fortunate, as his trip neared its end, to take a culinary backstreet walking tour en famille with a young Turkish guide who was a font of local food & other knowledge. He informed MB, on MB’s asking, that he was involved in the protests in Taksim Square last year and was interesting to hear his take on it all as he told MB about sleeping out in the square every night to protest about various issues and about Government laws. Creeping Islamisation in the laws of the country was his main beef, and the issue that galvanised all the protesters.
MB & family plus group of fellow tourists met with guide Adam early morning and started the day with some tea and street bread in an old decrepit backstreet courtyard where many small businesses still operate. The tea & bread was served up by some of the elderly local men who work in one of the little shops.
Then all moved on to a workman’s cafe for one of the best breakfasts that MB has had in his entire life. Rose petal jam on fresh bread and scrambled egg that had some spices added are still giving MBs taste buds a tingle many weeks later.
A ferry crossing followed across the Bosphorus Straits to the Asian side of the city, and thereafter a three-hour trip through the Asian section of Istanbul’s back streets that produced delight after delight. Fourteen eating stops in all followed during the course of the day and another fifteen or so stops of food interest such as butcher shops or others. MB did not need to eat dinner that evening!
If intending to visit Istanbul (& aware that some are) you can find the tour contact details on Trip Adviser.
Enough of MB’s ramblings. Some pics from the day:
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HX Report 
Turkey = Food and rich culinary culture.
As someone who has traveled to many parts of Turkey (42,000 km just for filming a nature documentary) What I know very well where to eat in Turkey. :)) MB’s tempting to read his post and watching his photos of Turkey, I would say you don’t regret those who want gluttonous tour.
Thanks MB for your photos and your really well manner of telling
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OMG – I want to do that tour!!!! The food looks amazing – your photos are beautiful. Definitely wearing stretchy pants if I do manage to get to take this tour. 🙂
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Shukran jazilan MEM. Was/is a great memory. The food was out of this world – as it is throughout Istanbul. The backstreet shops, cafes and little dining venues are owned by people from all corners of Turkey so the food they sell might reflect the area they come from, which could be completely different from other Turkish areas – such as the frothy cold tea in my last 2 shots which is typical of an area in Southern Turkey. If you get to Istanbul sometime, you must do it. Take a look at the reviews on Trip Adviser also. Thanks again.
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