mmm-yoso!!!

Yes, It's Jury Duty - Coava Coffee, Abandoned Horton Plaza, and a Return to Sultan Baklava

Yes, it was that time again, and I caught the bus, then trolley downtown to perform my civic obligation.

I decided to stop for my caffeine fix at Coava Coffee Roasters, a branch of the very popular Portland based roastery/café which opened up in the Westin on Broadway.

Had a very inexpensive Kenyan pour-over; which while as distinctive in flavor as what we get at Birdrock had a nice mild fruitiness and acidity.

And gave me just enough of a boost for the morning.

You can read CC's post on Coava here.

Coava Coffee Roasters
400 W Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Mon - Fri 6am - 6pm
Sat - Sun 7am - 6pm

This was my first JD since they moved things over to the Central Courthouse where the "lounge" is located on the third floor. Of course, we were excused for like a two hour lunch break. I had a place in mind and took my time getting there. Last time, I walked over and checked out Horton Plaza Park. I'd read that Horton Plaza had been sold and have also read of it's impending demise, so I thought I'd take a look.

It was quite eerie; all the closed shops, not a single customer. It reminded me of some movie set.

The only two main shops still open are Macy's on the North side and Jimbo's on the Southwest corner.

I took a look at the directory to see what tenants were still in place. It was very sparse and quite deceiving.....take a quick look and you'll see Macy's listed 10 times!

Both Cathy and CC mentioned remembering when Horton Plaza opened back in 1985.

It was quite sad.

Even Horton Plaza Park was quite empty....this on a very sunny (it was before the last storm system hit) day. Seems that the businesses there were closed down as well.

I'm hoping the proposed redevelopment is successful.

As I made my way to the South end of the mall; I noticed that 24 Hour Fitness and Jimbo's was doing well. I also noticed that the mall was quite clean and in good shape.

It was, as a whole depressing....I needed some lunch.

Call me a creature of habit; but just like last time I headed back to Sultan Baklava. When Sultan was opened in El Cajon it was a regular stop for us. These days....well, we're older and sometimes just getting around downtown is a hassle. But Jury Duty is the perfect time for another visit.

The owner was setting up the baklava when I entered and greeted me heartily, I had a seat, and quickly got some warming Tea.

The fragrance of bergamot wafting up to my nose.

Being the fairly boring person I am...plus not wanting to over eat because I still had an afternoon (and what turned out to be another full day) in front of me. I ordered the same two items I did last time.

Starting with my favorite meze; the Antipezme (acili ezme). This was much better than what I'd had on my previous visit; nice smokey tones of paprika, good acidity, and a surprising dose of spice. The lavas however was too hard and crumbly; lacking any stretch.

I was worried about my Lahmacun, but it was very well done and quite satisfying.

From the nice crisp edges to the tender center. Nicely balanced and well seasoned meat, this turned over some nice memories for me. Sweet-savory-acidity, it does the trick. I know I always say this....but I gotta return more often.

Sultan Baklava
770 4th Ave
San Diego, CA
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 1030pm
Fri - Sum   11am - 1130pm

Sultan was one of those places for the Missus and I....it inspired us to travel to Turkey, not once, but twice all those years ago. Sitting, finishing up my tea all those memories returned.

From the bustling and historic Istanbul.

To the exotic land of "fairy chimneys", "underground cities", and cathedrals build into mountainsides; Cappadocia.

To the historic ruins of Ephesus and even the wonderful Mediterranean city of Antalya.

We saw, learned, and ate so much. Those images are imprinted in my mind...….

Circling Back to Sultan Baklava

Last week I performed my civic obligation; yes it was time for jury duty yet again. And while there are a few places on my list to try downtown. I decided to revisit an old favorite, Sultan Baklava. It was indeed a sad day when Sultan decided to go back to just baklava in 2013. Though we were happy to see them reopen in the Gaslamp, it's not really an area I get to very often, thus it had been over two years since I last visited.

One good thing about jury duty....you often get two hour breaks for lunch. Which meant I could take my time getting to Sultan and take a look at Horton Plaza Park, which hadn't opened yet the last time I was on jury duty.

And some other stuffs.....

As you can tell; it was a beautiful day. This was before the recent hot spell....though it was definitely warm and sunny out.

It was pretty quiet at Sultan when I arrived; just one party outside and one in.

I was seated and ordered some Turkish Tea and water.....

That's when the owner saw me and came over to shake my hand and have a nice little chat. amazing....he still remembers me and made sure to ask about the Missus.

Since I had to go back to the Hall of Justice and was using public transportation, I decided to stick with just two items.

The Antipezme (acili ezme), and old favorite of mine; served with lavas.

I'm used to a slightly pungent-spicy-tangy -mildly sweet acili ezme and this was really mild. Nice and refreshing, but not quite the version we enjoyed so much years ago at Sultan. It was not bad; but the flavors just seemed muted.

Of course I had to get the lahmacun, which was every bit as good as before.

In fact, this might be even better than before. There's more meat, nice seasoning, the lavas nice, thin, and crisp. It was quite good. It came with a simple salad; a nice dusting of sumac on it.

This ended up being more food than I thought it would be....though the really nice Server told me the record for a single individual eating lahmacun was six! Yikes!

It was nice to see that Sultan was still in business and the place was filling up as I left. After all; it was Sultan that inspired us to visit Turkey (twice). I need to get back here more often.

Sultan Baklava Mediterranean Cuisine
770 4th Ave
San Diego, CA

What's My Craving? Sultan Baklava

Hard to believe that it's been 6 months since Sultan (sort of) reopened in the Gaslamp and I'd only been there once!

I was really craving a Lahmacun and Sultan had always made a pretty good one. It is in fact, better than many that we've had in Turkey. It's a tribute to the food Sultan makes that inspired us to travel to Turkey. Still, the location always seems to be a hassle. And for some strange reason, I'm worried that someday the place may jump the shark. I hope not....... Yet, I shouldn't worry, especially when I get antepezme (acili ezme) as super spicy as this.

Whoa, this was much more spicy than I recalled. I'm wondering if it's me, or if they've really turned up the heat on this. Still, it was wonderful with the lavas.

Of course I had come here for the lahmacun.

The Missus was working so I sent Her a photo and a caption; "as good as ever". Yeasty, savory, and so satisfying. The spices were right on; adding a nice complex component to this $4 bread topped with spiced meat.

As I was finishing up, I felt a hand on my shoulder and another hand placed a plate with a baklava in front of me. It was the owner; one of the nicest folks....... He had a seat and we chatted for a while....first things first you know; the inquiry about how our families are doing. Then about how business was....I was a bit worried since it was 530 on a Friday and the place was empty. He smiled and said, "it is great....right now because it is Ramadan there is a line outside the restaurant at 8 every night".  The baklava was fresh, still warm, crisp, light, and satisfying. Much like my visit.

I gotta drop by more often.

Sultan Baklava Mediterranean Cuisine
770 4th Ave
San Diego, CA

Welcoming back an old friend: Sultan opens in the Gaslamp

I got some interesting news right before Christmas, my good FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice and also Som Tommy emailed me asking if I'd heard anything about Sultan opening in the Gaslamp. I hadn't heard a thing, but went to their website where I found an announcement they were opening on Christmas Eve! In the Gaslamp.... Needless to say, I was excited. Sultan has been on of our favorites. In fact, it was the food at Sultan which inspired us to travel, not once, but twice to Turkey. It was a sad day when the owner of Sultan decided to go back to doing only confections.

But now it seemed that Sultan was opening in the Gaslamp? The Gaslamp? I made it a point to drop by right after Christmas.

This restaurant was located on the street level of Horton Plaza and business was doing quite well. There were a ton of worker's, none of which I recognized. The menu though, looked exactly the same. I was shown a small table and actually ordered without looking at the menu; I knew what I wanted; the Adana Kebab. I looked over at the kitchen area and finally recognized one of the cooks from the "old Sultan". Things seemed a bit chaotic, they had only been open for two days after all...... Lot's of employees needing lots of training. What didn't need to be fixed was my Adana Kebab........

While not as spicy as I recalled; this was every bit as moist, flavorful, beefy, with spices dancing in my mouth as I could remember. My memory told me that the rice was fluffier, with more flavor......I texted this to the Missus who told me that I "was just missing it so much". Whatever, that cacik cut the flavors of the kebab like a yogurt flavored knife....

As I finished my meal, I felt a hand on my shoulder.....it was the owner, smiling, thanking me for dropping by. We had a short, but nice conversation. He's dropped out of the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and his daughter had returned from school in Turkey. He wanted opportunities for some of his family and thought this would allow "each one of them to have a home of their own." The American dream. He also insisted that I try his latest baklava, the pistachio-date.......less sweet, it was more to my taste...delicious.

Whether this incarnation of Sultan will deliver the dishes that inspired us to travel to Turkey, and me to write stuff like this, well, that remains to be seen. I will say that I can't wait to meet up with some of my old favorites here, the lahmacun, acili ezme, saksuka, and patlican salatasi....they're all calling my name.

Welcome back Sultan, we've missed you!

Sultan Baklava Mediterranean Cuisine
770 4th Ave
San Diego, CA

Sultan is back to only Baklava, Saray Restaurant opens in its place

*** Please note - Sultan is back serving kebabs. This time in the Gaslamp. You can read a short post here.

This past week we decided to make our monthly drive out to El Cajon. We were craving some Turkish food from one of our favorites, Sultan. You've probably read at least one of perhaps a half dozen posts we've done on the place over the last couple of years.

Imagine our shock when we drove into the parking lot and saw "Saray Restaurant" instead of Sultan Kebab & Baklava. We were confused when we saw that the Sultan Baklava sign was still in place.

New signs, paintings, and posters adorn the interior of the place and we didn't see anyone we recognized. The folks running the place, a husband and wife team are very nice and welcoming.

The menu was a combination of Turkish and Persian dishes and a bit confusing.

More than the menu, we were kind of concerned about the (former) owner, who always made us feel welcomed, always stopping for a short chat. We hoped that he was doing okay.....

All was soon cleared up when he appeared, walking through the front door, waving to us, then coming over for a chat. He explained that between taking time for the baklava; his booth in the Famer'sMarkets, having the restaurant was getting to be too much of a burden, so he has decided to sub-lease the restaurant to this couple. He brought the owner out to chat. We found out that he was previously one of the chefs at Sufi Restaurant; the one next to Balboa Market. They took over the restaurant side of things about two weeks ago. After the chat, they both went back to the kitchen area where it looked like a whole lot of intruction was taking place........

We ended up having a decent dinner; the prices seem a bit lower and the portion sizes a tad smaller. Here's what we had. Since it looks like they're just getting started, I'll reserve my opinions until we revisit in a couple of weeks.

Saray Restaurant
131 Jamacha Road
El Cajon, CA 92019

We are sad to see Sultan close down the restaurant part of their operation. Sultan inspired us to travel to Turkey, a country we've fallen in love with. Yet, I fully understand why the former owner wants to dial things back and am glad that he is well.

It's been a while week: Sultan Kebab and Baklava revisited

Ah Sultan.....hard to believe we hadn't been back in over a year. There was a time when we'd make the 20+ mile drive each way a couple of times a week. Like Latin Chef, Sultan inspired us to travel to Turkey, which we loved. The food at Sultan was delicious enough, that it took two trips to Istanbul before we found a place where we thought every dish eclipsed Sultan. I guess the memories managed to last for over a year.

Sultan is a wonderful example of the benefits of blogging. We'd never have found the place were it not for FOY (Friend of Yoso") "KenB" (hope you're doing well), whose email got us to visit, and revisit, many times. One of other wonderful benefits and I'm sure other Food Bloggers will agree, is that once in a while we're contacted by Producers or Story Editors from various food shows and are able to share these wonderful mom-and-pop restaurants. I was lucky enough to be able suggest, along with many others I assume, Sultan along with the next two revisits I'll posting on, to those shows.

Finally, after over a year, we returned........

We got there pretty early. This is a little mom-and-pop place, so when it gets busy, you just need to relax, and go with the flow.

The Missus and I decided to share a combination meze plate.

There is of course, those cooked to death green beans which the Missus loves. The patlican salata, smokey, with hints of cumin and oregano, antepezme (acili ezme), mildly spicy-tangy-sweet, the shakshuka with tasty potatoes, eggplant, and red pepper. Along with some lavas....sorry, forgot the photo, but hopefully you've read previous posts.

We also ordered the "mixed grill", Karisik Izgara, which is enough, along with the mezes, for the two of us.

We times things pretty well. You see, we've postulated that the cooking is much better during Ramadan, and this visit adds to that belief. The chicken kebab (tavuk sis) so tender and moist, full of flavor, the standard issue Urfa(ground beef) kebab, delicious and moist. Only the Kuzu Sis seemed a bit too mild, as in not gamey enough for us. The rice was fluffy the haydari (yogurt dip) seemed much more creamy than we recalled. In fact, this whole meal just seemed a step better than previous visits.

Perhaps time does make the heart grow fonder, or maybe we were just missing Istanbul? The reason is probably out of grasp, but that doesn't really matter. The point was, after having so many disappointing meals recently, this was the perfect meal, at the right time. Just what I needed. We gotta get back again soon......

Sultan Kebab & Baklava
131 Jamacha Road
El Cajon, CA 92019

Istanbul: Our favorite restaurant - Gaziantep Sahre

It really did seem like we've spent a good deal of time in Istanbul. In actuality, I'm thinking maybe three weeks max. On our last couple of short stays we started getting away from Sultanahmet and taking the metro to places like Osmanbey and Sisli, home of the Nisantasi Shopping Mall. On the top floor you can walk out onto a small patio and take a photo like this one....though the heights kinda got to me rather quickly.

This is the hip and modern Istanbul, looking all the world like just about any major city in the world.......including the traffic.

Having at least a rudimentary familiarity with a city is nice as it opens up other options for shopping and dining.

We'd kind of hit the wall with eating in Istanbul. All of the nice young men in the hotel, except one, who really knew his stuff, would recommend tourist type places. Like the fish restaurants that line the touristy Kumkapi Fish Market area.

Hawker's try to lure you in....but they lose us as soon as they mentioned the "culture show"......

Across the street is the bright, mega-restaurant district of Kumkapi, which seemed a bit too much for us.

All of these type of restaurant/entertainment districts have a certain look and feel to them. The bright lights, the loud music, the free flowing alcohol. Nothing against this, but we wanted something a bit more low-keyed.

And we found just the place. It was a bit of a walk, about 3 kilometers from our hotel. But we had just walked past Kumkapi into the area known as Yenikapi. Right past a massive Korean Restaurant on Kennedy Caddesi we saw this place that looked full of locals.

We walked on up the stairs and noticed that even though the restaurant dining area was pretty large, everyone was eating on the patio. All the customers were male when we arrived, though more couples started coming in a bit later on. More importantly, everyone seemed to know the servers.....like they were regulars, just what we were looking for.

When the men started coming around with trays....we knew we had found a Meyhane.

Though I'm thinking that there must be an amount of tourist business as there's an English translation of the menu.

Anyway, we were met with sort of an amused attitude. There was one Server, a really nice guy, who spoke passable English and I think he found us a bit interesting as we took to the menu like wolves.....

All the usual suspects were present.

He seemed even more amused that I actually knew the names of some of the dishes, like Acili Ezme....

Which was really good, chunky, decent spice, slight pungency.....

And the delicious shaksuka.

All of which was made for bread....we were provided with two different variations.

The Missus just loved this salad, which I thought was a version of Coban Salatsi, but the gentleman said no....so we asked what it's called. He didn't quite know what to call it. So what to do? We he broke out his iPhone and translated it to English......"chopped salad?!?" We just cracked up. I still think it's a version of Coban Salatasi. Whatever the name, it's delicious!

There was one item we saw on every table, so I just had to try it out. The Missus hesitated at first, but I just had ot have it. The Server brought us a piece to try and we were sold.

This is called Çiğ köfte. In this case it's minced raw lamb combined with bulghar, herbs, and spices. Wrapped in the lettuce leaf with a mint leaf it is pure heaven. Refreshing, a bit lamby, herbaceous, and now one of my favorite things!

As we were polishing things off, our Server came by and dropped this off for us, saying "we have extra...."

This was a really tasty lahmacun. Nice crisp bread topped with a very tasty mixture of lamb and spices. Have you noticed the lack of Sultan posts in the last year or so? It's mainly because the Missus has had the food here.......

The next day we headed off to Rhodes and Symi, but we hadn't forgotten Sahre. When we returned to Istanbul, we had one full day before heading home. That's when we visited Osmanbey. When the inevitable lunch question arose, the Missus asked to eat at Sahre. That would be quite a hike, so we decided on a cab.....we weren't sure on how we'd communicate the instructions correctly to the driver, until the Missus found a package of sugar from the restaurant in Her bag.

It took a while with Istanbul traffic, but we finally arrived poised for lunch.

One thing we noticed as we walked up the stairs was that a makeshift table was set-up in the downstairs parking area. A family of five was eating there. The Missus quickly noticed that one of the older gentleman was in a wheelchair. I guess this is the handicap section set-up.

We were a bit disappointed to find that Çiğ köfte was not served for lunch! The Missus hadn't stopped talking about it for the week we were in Rhodes. Anyway, Her other favorites where still available. Our favorite Server wasn't working and it's not the typical meyhane set-up for lunch, so I just pointed to the menu, which was supplemented with a trip to the back to select what we wanted.

We also ordered some içli köfte.

This was a decent version. The exterior was nice and crisp. The filling, a mixture of minced lamb, bulghur, and spices was adequately flavored.

Think of this as being like a croquette or kibbeh. The best thing was the texture.

I also saw chicken wings on the menu. I really enjoyed the version at Mehmet Kebab, so why not try it here as well?

This were nicely grilled. For some reason, I've really taken to the combination of spices used for wings here. Smokey, salty, with a mild spice.

We both tried the grilled green peppers. Most regions in Turkey don't care for really spicy food. I had tried the peppers at Can Can Pide in Antalya which were pretty darn hot. But this was Istanbul, folks don't like things too hot here, so I took a bite....yikes! Man, this had some pretty good heat. That's when we noticed that all the plates on the tables around us still had their peppers intact.

It ended up being a nice lunch. We had dinner reservation later that evening at Mimolett Restaurant, a restaurant that is trying hard for a Michelin star, but we both had out hearts set on having that Çiğ köfte one more time. So we ended up cancelling when we got back to our hotel.

It was our last evening in Istanbul for this trip and we took our time walking the 3 kilometers to the restaurant.

Still we arrived at Sahre a bit early. A few minutes later "our" Server arrived, looking quite amused to see us. We asked about the Çiğ köfte, and he told us, "no, until 7....."

But we were here and determined to get what we had come here twice in one day for...... It was our last night in Turkey and this was a Meyhane, so I decided to get a couple of Efes.

Meanwhile, we noticed storm clouds coming in from the Mamaris. We, like everyone else were seated on the patio, but were safe since we had the awning above us. Soon enough raindrops started to fall and the most amazing drill was initiated. Like a well oiled machine, all the tables were moved from this configuration....

To this....in a matter of minutes......

We had started dinner......

 Of course our Server knew the Missus was after one thing. So a few minutes into our meal, he told the Missus "come" and took Her into the kitchen of the restaurant and the station where the Çiğ köfte was being prepared. He then grabbed one for the Missus to have on the way back to our table!

Of course we got the first plate when it finally came out of the kitchen.

It was just as good as our previous visit.

 For some reason, we really took to this place. We'll be back the next time we're in Istanbul.

Gaziantep Sahre Restaurant
Kennedy Caddesi No 130 Sahilyolu Yenikapi, Istanbul

We walked through all the restaurants in Kumkapi, then back to Vericeriler Caddesi which turned into Divan Yolu Caddesi.

We mainly wanted that one last view of the Blue Mosque at night.

As the final call to prayer started, I looked out at that same quiet street in front of the Hotel Djem. There's something about Istanbul that I love....that had me visiting here twice in two years. I'm not sure what it is, but it's just a matter of time before I return.

Thanks for reading!

This post is dedicated to "Senor" who got me to finally take the time to write this post. I hope you have a great time in Turkey!

COMC - International Edition: Places that didn't make the cut in Madison, Chiang Mai, and Antalya (Turkey)

You may find it difficult to believe that we don't actually post on ALL the places we visit. Usually, if the Missus and I have an upscale dinner in San Diego, I usually don't take photos, unless it's happy hour or has some other interesting tie in. There usually are too many people around and I'm a pretty low-key person.....I don't like attention. And then there are those that just "don't make the cut"...it doesn't mean the place was terrible or anything, it could be that I just never got around to doing a post....of course, if it was a stellar meal, you know I'd have done a post.

So anyway, with a minimum of my blabbing, here's a trio that just never made it until I COMC'd (Cleared Out the Memory Card).

Inka Heritage - Madison Wisconsin:

To my disappointment, I got to Mad-town during restaurant week and Inka Heritage had what amounted to a prix fix menu, so I had to go with what they had.

Ceviche 3 Ajies (3 peppers):

Pescado Inka Heritage:

Sooo much cheese...but heck, this is Wisconsin, right? What should I have expected.

Inka Heritage
602 S Park St
Madison, WI 53774

The Wok Restaurant - Chiang Mai, Thailand:

The dishes looked so lovely, but just didn't deliver.....very bland, somewhat dumbed down. These folks run a cooking school I was thinking of joining....kind of glad I didn't.

The Wok Restaurant
44 Rajmankha Rd,
Chiang Mai 50200 Thailand

Ucyildiz - Antalya, Turkey:

So if MickeyD's, or say ChowKing came to Turkey, I'm thinking this is what the food would look like. Sorta artificial....funny, the photos in the menu looked so lovely.

 We still chuckle when we see the photos....you can't win 'em all.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by and reading....or staring, or whatever it is that you do when it;s mostly just photos!

Istanbul: Asmali Cavit

One of the things I most regretted about our previous visit to Istanbul was that we were unable to visit a Meyhane, what we  would basically call a "tavern". Where small plates are served with the Turkish national spirit, the anise flavored drink called raki.

I wanted to rectify that omission and did a bit of research before we left. We also missed out on visiting the Beyoğlu area, which is considered by many to be the heart of modern Istanbul. Beyoğlu would probably be more familiar to folks like Ed from Yuma and the Greeks as "Pera".  As I mentioned before, getting around Istanbul using public transportation is a snap. We simply took the tram to the last stop Kabataş, then the funicular up to Taksim Square.

Now just about every large city in Peru has Plaza de Armas, New York has Times Square, San Francisco, Union Square......Istanbul has Taksim Square, which seemed to be wall to wall people when we walked up the stairs to sunlight. There was also some large rally going on as well.

So we headed off down historical İstiklal Caddesi, once known as "Grande Rue de Péra". There are supposedly tons of historic buildings, many of which represented many different styles, from Neo-Classical to Art Deco. But the pedestrian street was just packed to the gills with people....and I mean just totally packed that we felt like little fish in a giant school being pushed along.

So while we did manage to take in some interesting sites, we just kinda pushed along until nearly reaching the end of the avenue and a cross street named Asmalimescit.

The side streets seemed like little peaceful oasis from the crowded avenue, though the masses had started to dwindle near the end. On this street was a meyhane mentioned by the New York Times and other sources named Asmali Cavit.

 The place was empty except for one rather raucous raki fueled party when we arrived. We appeared a bit early, but the very nice gentleman running the place led us to the counter where all the mezes were to start us out. It seems that in spite of the menu, most folks here know what they want upon arrival.....something we saw several times as folks arrived when we were leaving.

A lot of stuff was not available and we'd had quite a large lunch. We stuck with some mezes and the guy behind the counter recommended the shrimp.......

Of course I recognized the "standards"....the saksuka was not my favorite, fairly bland. The ezme was smokey and spicy, with a nice touch of tangy and pungent flavors. The pickled items were nice and refreshing. The patlican saltasi, the eggplant puree, was smokey and delicious. The shrimp wasn't anything to write home about....I think the guy serving us were worried that our palates might not survive anything particularly challenging.

All the dishes were decent renditions, but we weren't wowed by them. I'm not a big fan of anise flavored spirits, but I took to raki....of course the more I drank, the more I enjoyed! Turkish raki is closer to ouzo than Greek raki (tsipouro/tsikoudia). Overall, a decent meal, with prices much lower than the old town.

After finishing our dinner, we headed back to Istikal Caddesi. By now the crowds had dwindled.

We decided to catch the vintage tram back up to Taksim Square and head back down that way. But when the tram stopped, it went out of operation. The conductor came out and announced something....one of the folks waiting saw us and very proudly announced in English, "there is big meeting....BEEEEG MEETING, track blocked, tram cannot go!" You know, folks here are really great. I'm guessing that the rally we saw earlier had gone into full demonstration mode and the tracks were blocked. Anyway, it's not something we wanted to get mixed up in. Instead we caught the Tünel (Tunnel), next to the London Underground, the second oldest underground rail line in the world.

It a very short trip just 600 yards or so.

Instead of catching the tram back to Sultanahmet we decided to walk back, which was the right choice as we got the chance to take in the sunset on the Galata Bridge which is where I took the first photo of the "Where the heck are we" post.

It gave us a chance to take in a nice evening.

While the "balik" (fish sandwich) boats were doing great business, the Spice Market was closing up shop for the day.

We stopped the Missus's favorite place in Sultanahmet Park to take in the Blue Mosque......

While we chatting about the next morning and our flight to Tunis.

Thanks for reading!

 

Istanbul: Ciya Sofrasi and revisits to The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia

"You're going to Istanbul again? Why?" Was the response many of my friends and acquaintances when I told them we were headed back to Istanbul. Even though we'd always spoke about returning to Laos or Peru, we'd never gotten around to pulling the trigger. And here we were headed back to Istanbul, and yes, even Greece, though this time it was the island of Rhodes, a place I'd been wanting to visit.

So why Istanbul? We really loved visiting last year, the history, the people, the vibrancy, but perhaps not as much the food.......strange. We compared many of the dishes we ate during our trip with what we enjoy at Sultan and though there would be singular dishes that surpassed those at our favorite Turkish restaurant, both of us were quite impressed at how the food at Sultan stood up. Soon after our trip I took stock of how much effort I really put into researching restaurants in Istanbul. It turns out that even though I had a list, the trip was overwhelmingly about sites and history....we'd often be too tired or lazy to go and search out places and ended up spending all of our time in Sultanahmet, Sirkeci, and Eminonu. Easy enough to do, I suppose since there's so much to see and do. But plane fares seemed reasonable and the Missus wanted to fly out of San Diego instead of making the rather long trip, bus from the house, train to Union Station, then bus to LAX, then the reverse or some facsimile on the way back....which was even worse. So there we were, back in Istanbul.

We arrived around midnight so by the time we made it to our hotel, we were booked into the Hotel Djem again, it was time to crash.

The hotel has gotten even better over the last year, good wi-fi, even conditioner.......during the first leg of our trip we stayed in the new "annex" location, a very large room. The front desk staff had changed over, but they were a nice bunch.

The first place the Missus wanted to see after breakfast was the Blue Mosque yet again.

Known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, it is an imposing, yet beautiful, fully functional mosque. Our hotel sat right behind it.

I had wondered where the wash area outside the mosque was. It is important that certain parts of the body be washed before formal prayers, but had never noticed it before. It is discreetly located right next to the stairs.

Our next stop......well I did mention wanting to revists Hagia Sofia. Which is what we did. The lines weren't as long as on our previous visit and we had the drill down....get your ticket and head straight for the interior getting there before the tours and ohter tourists. Heading upstairs you can really understand how grand the place is.

I was fascinated by this marble door on our previous visit.......I didn't know what the significance of it was. Well, it's called, what else, the "Marble Door" and participants of synods used the door to enter and exit meetings.

The amazing thing about Hagia Sofia is, that no matter how many hundreds of people are in the place at once.......it never seems totally filled.

As we left Hagia Sofia, I was on a mission........we needed to get out of the area and to some of the more well known eateries. "Lokantas" are eateries where working stiffs traditionally got their fill of good home style cooking. Many of the items are in steam tables and you pick what you want. Before you go where I think you're going....this ain't Panda Express, as lokantasi have become a key player in bringing the cuisine of Turkey to the forefront. Here's a great article from The Guardian. One place that I saw constantly mentioned over the last year on food forums and blogs like Istanbul Eats is Ciya Sofrasi, having been called a "culinary shrine" and even "the best restaurant in Turkey", among others. Ciya is located on the Asian side of the Bosphorus....so this time we were actually using the ferry, not taking a tour. The fare is cheap....2 TRY, about $1.10 gets you across the Bosphorus.

Beyond just the metro and tram to and from the airport, we'd find out just how good the transit system was in Istanbul on this trip. Taking the ferry is a snap. you just find the station for whichever area you're going to, put your 2 Lira in the entrance gate and wait in line.......also, folks in Turkey, in spite of a rather serious looking demeanor, are generally very helpful and nice.

Here's what the Asian side looks like from the ferry.

About 40 minutes or so later......you're getting off in Kadikoy.

It looks like a middle class residential-business area. The part of Kadikoy where Ciya Sofrasi is located contains a ton of restaurants, vegetable, and seafood stands.

We arrived at Ciya a bit before they opened.

So we decided to walk around to kill time. We found a shop that sold coffee and inquired about a place that actually made a good cup of proper Turkish coffee. We were directed a couple of door down.

Turkish coffee takes a while to make. And it was kind of funny trying to tell the shop owner exactly what we wanted since he spoke no English.

A quick word about drinking Turkish coffee. If you ever get a cup, let it sit for a minute or more, the coffee is very fine and unfiltered, you get a mouthful of finely ground coffee if you don't let the coffee settle to the bottom of the cup.

Walking back to the coffee seller the Missus bought a packet of sahlep......She's been wanting to get some.

We arrived back at Ciya and the place was just opening. The owner and chef of Ciya Sofrasi, Musa Dağdeviren is quite a celebrity both in and outside of Turkey, having been a presenter at the Culinary Institute of America and featured in articles such as this one in New Yorker Magazine. Musa is renowned for gathering recipes from all corners of Anatolia, some which have almost disappeared and placing them back on the table.

I had read that there are over a thousand different dishes offered at Ciya over the course of the year, though Ciya is most famous for the vegetarian dishes of the region of Gaziantep.

Upon entering the Missus was drawn to the table of cold dishes.....which the person behind the counter explained to us is simple terms was...."salad bar". Though I've never seen a salad bar quite like this. Here you could get a variety of whatever you wanted and it was priced on weight.

There's a section of other various soups, stews, and cooked dishes. Here you could choose what you want.

You could also order various kebab and meat items from the menu....but really, with all of this to pick from?

Here's the items the Missus selected from the cold table.

The dolmas...stuffed items were quite good, but it was the various salads that were really outstanding. The pickled thin branches and leaves up top I believe are pickled caper leaves....which were wonderfully flavored.

The Missus also picked a simple red lentil soup, something we've had many times....just for comparison purposes.

The Missus just loved this. I'm not a big fan of lentil soup, but I had a taste......this was lighter than other versions, not as buttery, with the wonderful palate cleansing flavor of mint coming through. I actually enjoyed it.

The stuffed artichoke, not as much......

It was a bit dry for me.....also on the bland side.

We'd had a not so great experience with kuru patlican (dried eggplant) before. However, in this dish, combined with great savory flavors, it was outstanding. The texture was slight crunch and the flavor of the eggplant came through.

The one meat dish, a simple lamb stew paled in comparison....under seasoned, the meat very tough.

The dried eggplant dish would have been my favorite, if not for dessert....yes, that's right, dessert. I really don't have a sweet tooth, which is often a saving grace considering what I eat....but this, something I believe is called "teleme", just seemed made for me.

What the person behind the dessert station told the Missus was that this was dried figs and milk. It had a the wonderful flavor of figs (I do love fig newtons) along with what seemed like condensed milk. Sweet, but not a sugar sweet if you know what I mean. This was by far my favorite dish of the meal. Which was capped off with some tea......not Turkish tea though. When it arrived at the table it had a very familiar scent.....this was oregano tea! It really smelt like dry oregano.....we weren't sure at first, but it was pretty darn good!

Our meal came out to about 40 TRY, approximately $22 US. We were later told that Ciya was considered to be quite expensive with regards to Lokantasi.....but to us, it seemed like a bargain.

After lunch we headed back to the ferry station....but then the Missus stopped at the Dolmus station. No it's not stuffed grape leaves or peppers. Dolmus (literally "stuffed") are what they call the minibuses that run specific routes around Istanbul. On the flight to Istanbul, the really nice woman seated next to us struck up a conversation. She was born and raised in Istanbul and lived both in the US and Istanbul part time. She recommended that we visit an area called Bağdat to see what modern, everyday, albeit upper middle class Istanbul was like. So there we were, in a dolmus, having paid a simple 3 TRY each on our way to Bağdat Caddesi. Driver didn't speak any English, but others on the dolmus did and explained where we needed to stop.

The streets in the area were wide by Istanbul standards....I really didn't take any photos because it really looked like just about any large western city. Eventually we got tired and waved down a dolmus. This guy didn't speak English either, but understood "ferry" and dropped us off. We made it back to our hotel just in time for a nice nap........dreaming about what we'd have for dinner!

Thanks for reading!