Istanbul: What We Ate

Turkish food! Yum!

Chicken Schnitzel:

This one came with a side of bulgar wheat and fresh veggies. It was good, although the chicken reminded me of two frozen chicken patties, each folded in half, with cheese tucked in the middle. And yes, it's a pile of mayonaise and a pile of ketchup at the back of the plate.

Traditional Turkish Bread:

This was served almost every time we sat down to eat. This one was unique in that it had sesame seeds sprinkled on the top. This bread puffs up, but it never deflates. It has a very thin top and bottom and the inside is full of one big air bubble. Our 2-year-old enjoyed snacking on it quite a bit. 

Turkish Meat Pizza:

This was wonderful! A lovely dough filled with mild tomato sauce, meat, and cheese. Baked to perfection with a crisp outside and a soft interior.

Cold Appetizers:

Tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, hummus, baba ganoush, olives, tomato salad, etc. I love the oil, spices, and salt that are rubbed all over the olives. Such a savory treat!

Fish Casserole:

This was okay. We were assured that this casserole was boneless, but it ended up being far from the truth. Also, we were charged $50USD. Ouch!

Turkish Ravioli:

These are shaped more like tortellini, filled with a bit of meat and topped with a yogurt-like sauce and some reddish oil. Enjoyed this quite a bit!

Turkish Pancake:

This was available with a variety of fillings: cheese, spinach, potatoes, etc. Or, you can get it with everything, which we did! It was like a quesadilla, but not spicy at all. This restaurant was the only place we found the Turkish pancake. Otherwise I would definitely have eaten this more than once!

Children's Menu Macaroni and Cheese:

Some of the finest mac-n-cheese I ever did see! It was penne pasta, in a light white sauce, topped with parmesan cheese. Included were small chunks of rich, soft cheese. To top it all off, an egg, cooked all the way through, but not brown, was thrown in there. The egg sounded odd to me, but it ended up being quite delicious. We both helped our daughter finish off this kid's meal!

Chicken and Mushroom Crepe:

My final dinner in Istanbul. This was by far the finest meal I enjoyed. It was perfect. Inside the crepe was a generous portion of cubed white-meat chicken and large-dice mushrooms. The cream sauce was light, and the cheese on top was broiled and golden. On the side, the orange carrot ribbons were absolutely the sweetest carrots I'd ever had!

What ethnic foods do you enjoy? In your home country, or abroad?

Is your mouth watering?