Istanbul 2

The taxi ride into town from Attaturk Airport is only about 12 miles but the ride took over an hour. Our introduction to the horrendous traffic of Istanbul. We stayed in the new district at the Pera Palace Hotel. Most of the tourist areas are in the old town on the south side of the Golden Horn. In the late 19^th century, Greeks, Jews, and others settled to the north in an area called Pera, ‘the other side.’ The Pera Palas was built in 1892 to serve the westerner’s coming to the exotic east via the Orient Express. Agatha Christie wrote her famous novel, Murder on the Orient Express, there. 

The train landed in the old town at the still operative Sirkeci Station, but the trip to the Pera Palas used the many boats to cross the Golden Horn, maybe a ride then in the Tunnel to the top of the hill---the third oldest subway in the world (after London and New York). We used it and the Metro and the trams to get all about in the city.

Night one after the long trip found us in the Orient Bar of the Pera Palace to have a great martini. We then had mezzes at the bar for our dinner. They were the best part of every meal.

Our second night we had dinner at Istanbul 1924, formerly Rejans. After the Russian revolution, many Russians settled in Istanbul and this Russian restaurant was begun then. It is in the new town and a short walk from our hotel but we liked to have never found it. It is located up a flight of stairs off a small alley, off a short street, off the main drag, Istiklal Cadesssi. One small sign next to the door.

We were not disappointed. With period music playing we had cocktails and decided on the tasting menu: Russian styled mezze, beef Stroganoff, and the dessert! It was styled as Chocolate Faberge, a chocolate egg filled with a chocolate sponge and raspberry ice cream and topped off at the table with the waiter pouring hot vanilla custard melting the egg! It was truly an over the top dessert!

We ate most all our meals in the New District and were able to walk to all. Views are important in Istanbul and we had drinks and a meal at a bar overlooking the Bosphorus as the sun set and the lights come on.

One restaurant we liked enough to go twice was across the street from the hotel. It was called The Lemon Tree but their specialty was mezze. One could pick from a counter the number of cold mezzes and also order hot mezze. This is where I had my first Shephard’s Salad and fell in love with it and ordered it at every meal afterward. The recipe is so simple and is given below. You should add this to you salad recipes.

Another was a café that celebrated the food of Anatolia, the eastern part of Turkey. We had noticed it on several occasions and on our last night we gave it a try. Our mezze consisted of Cretan style mashed cheese with Zahter, basically a cheese mashed with thyme and rolled in sesame oil and seeds, fava bean hummus, falafel with yogurt and garlic sauce: so you can see some good stuff! 

A real treat was a cruise for 6 hours on the Bosphorus. The cruise lasted two hours going almost to the Black Sea and two hours for lunch and two hours back to Istanbul. A wonderful, beautiful sunny day and a lovely lunch by the water of fish just caught and grilled (bonita) Shepherd’s Salad, and fried mussels in a yogurt sauce, a local specialty,  for an appetizer. 

One meal we had in the Grand Bazaar began in a carpet shop and the usual chatter about where are you from? Etc. Turns out the owner knew a physician that we knew in Wilmington, NC. The carpet dealer had spent 2 weeks in the physician’s home. He then stopped the carpet sale and invited us next door to lunch as his guest. We had donner kababs (like gyros), my favorite Shepherd Salad, and we had Ayran for a refreshing drink—yogurt with water and a little salt. A favorite everywhere in Istanbul. A small world as we discussed all the people we both knew. He’ll be back in the states this winter. Maybe we will see him.

The trip was fantastic and if any of you care to venture abroad this is a terrific, easy, and dare I say safe, destination!

Shepherd’s Salad

Serves 2-4

Can use any amount of ingredients and that is the beauty of this salad. Good ripe tomatoes would be best.

Chop two cucumbers in small bites. Chop three tomatoes into small bites. Can peel and seed if you wish. Add a small pepper (hot or not) and cut into small rings. Add a handful of parsley chopped. Pour some oil, vinegar, and lemon juice over the salad (The waiters in Istanbul would come to the table with 3 cruets: oil, lemon juice, and vinegar). Toss and grind some salt over all. You can add some feta cheese over the salad if you wish. This is your salad and it is so good and simple.