Turkish delight on a moonlit night. What I ate in Turkey.
In Europe I always felt like I had trouble finding a place a to eat, that no one took a single diner like me seriously. In Turkey, I had the opposite problem. I couldn’t walk by a restaurant without someone handing me a menu and trying to get me to come inside. I ate in Turkey. I ate a lot. I ate an amazing meal at at Haci Abdullah restaurant, doner kebap on the street (surrounded by cats), stuffed eggplants, traditional Turkish breakfasts, and even some Turkish delight on a moonlit night… or, at least, at the market.
What I ate in Turkey:
I had some amazing dinners and amazing lunches in Istanbul…
Turkish soup at Haci Abdullah restaurant in Istanbul.
Dolma at Haci Abdullah restaurant in Istanbul.
Artichoke at Haci Abdullah restaurant in Istanbul.
Lamb at Haci Abdullah restaurant in Istanbul.
Turkish fruit drink at Haci Abdullah restaurant in Istanbul.
Tea at Haci Abdullah restaurant in Istanbul.
Eggplant.
Lamb.
Dinner in Istanbul.
Mixed grill in Istanbul.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Seafood dinner at Princes’ Island, Istanbul, Turkey.
Dolma.
Salad.
Kababs.
Kababs.
Turkish dinner.
Turkish dinner.
Turkish dinner.
Turkish dinner.
Salad with beans.
Meatballs.
Traditional Turkish dessert.
Traditional Turkish dessert.
But, sometimes it’s all about quick and cheap. So, of course, the easiest thing to eat was the doner kebab (just be sure not to eat your doner on a park bench)…
Doner kebap in Istanbul.
Doner kebap in Istanbul.
Meat sandwich in Selcuk.
Doner Kebap in Istanbul, Turkey.
atata & Yufka in Istanbul.
Doner kebap in Istanbul.
Some of the easiest places to eat in Istanbul were self service type places where you could just point to what you wanted.
Stuffed eggplant.
Rice pudding.
Roast chicken.
Stuffed eggplant.
Chicken dish.
Chicken dish.
And, of course, there was a pretty traditional Turkish breakfast here and there.
Breakfast in Pamukkale.
Breakfast in Izmir.
Breakfast in Istanbul.
Breakfast in Istanbul.
Breakfast in Istanbul.
Breakfast in Istanbul.
Turkish breakfast.
In Cappadocia (where I took a hot air balloon ride), I had a Gozleme and some lentil soup. And one day I was getting sick of Turkish food and so I went for nachos that were pretty much what you’d expect nachos in Turkey to taste like (the chips were kind of like Doritos and were topped with garlic yogurt). Remind me to not attempt Mexican food again until I’m back home. And one of these dishes gave me food poisoning.
Gozleme in Cappadocia.
Lentil soup in Cappadocia.
Nachos in Cappadocia.
After days and days of eating nothing but crackers, because I couldn’t stand to eat anything because of the food poisoning), I was getting pretty hungry. In Pamukkale I ate for two nights in my hotel restaurant. The first night was lamb chops (and can you believe I didn’t have my camera??) and the second night I had chicken soup and fish.
Soup in Pamukkale.
Fish in Pamukkale.
When I arrived in Selcuk it was a little late in the day and so I had dinner at the hotel.
And then, admittedly, by the time I got to Izmir, after almost 3 weeks of not eating anything but Turkish food, after almost 2 weeks of not even seeing anything but Turkish food, this was all I wanted…
KFC in Izmir.
Burger King in Izmir.
What Starbucks lacked in Pumpkin Spice Lattes they sure made up for in dessert selection…
Carrot cake at Starbucks.
Profiterole cake at Starbucks.
And, if you know me, you know I can’t resist some ice cream every so often…
Chocolate ice cream in Istanbul.
Ice cream in Selcuk.
Or fresh (pomegranate) juice…
Pomegranate juice in Istanbul.
Or a candy bar.
Tadelle candy bar in Istanbul.
So what did I eat in Turkey? Let’s just say everything.
p.s. Wondering where the title of this blog post comes from? “Turkish delight on a moonlit night” is a line from the They Might Be Giants song “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).” The more you know.
