Dan and I spent a very fast two nights in Istanbul on our July trip to Türkiye last summer, only staying in Istanbul because we needed to fly out of the Istanbul airport. We have been to Istanbul previously, but we didn’t explore the Asian Side of Istanbul, so we stayed in a hotel on the Asian Side and also booked a food tour in a local, and adorable, neighborhood of Kadıköy. This article reviews our delicious food tour, which would be relatively easy to recreate on your own!
STOP ONE: BREAKFSAT AT CAY TARLASI & CAFE
The first stop of the tour was for breakfast, at a small spot that our guide frequents with her friends after a big night out, LOL. Cay Tarlasi & Cafe is a family-owned restaurant that is open all day, every day, from 8 AM to midnight. We squeezed into a table on the second floor and were immediately served Turkish tea, which is basically black tea in a curved glass. Turkish Tea is common alll over Türkiye, and locals drink this tea all day in all weather (including the hot summers!). Turkish Tea is a bit bitter but not difficult to drink, especially if you add sugar. For breakfast, two large pans quickly graced the table. The first was filled with menemen – one of my favorites! Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast of eggs, peppers, and tomatoes mixed together with some spices (I had a great one at our hotel in Cappadocia). Think a mix between scrambled eggs with toppings and an omelette. In any case, menemen is great, and this version was particularly good, especially paired with the local bread. The second pan contained muhlama, which is another local dish consisting of cheese, butter, cornmeal, and water mixed together and cooked. The muhlama was also very tasty and reminded me a lot of our at-home Raclette machine, yet also of Southern grits. I preferred the menemen between the two dishes, but suggest trying both in Türkiye. We left Cay Tarlasi & Cafe stopping ourselves from eating more.
Menemen. This dish is easy to find in Turkey.
Muhlama. The consistency was like grits.
My plate with the black Turkish tea.
Storefront for those interested in visiting. The owners were welcoming and spoke English. Visitors may need to wait for a table.