Let’s be honest.
In four years in this great city I have experienced too many #reasonstolikeistanbul to sum them up in a few farewell blogs.
Sorry. Your city is too extraordinary. Maybe that’s not a bad problem to have.
For example, people often ask me about my favourite shops, restaurants and cafes. But there are countless thousands of excellent establishments in Istanbul; they change fast and I’m no culinary expert. So my best advice is to consult the splendid Time Out Istanbul.
One area where I do have views, however, is on street food. I’ve munched a ton of it around the city, and tweeted out results. Here are some of my favourites street food #reasonstolikeIstanbul:
Chestnuts on a rainy October afternoon – wonderfully warming;
Kokoreç – defined unglamorously by Wikipedia as “lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal”. Best washed down with bright purple salgam suyu (Wikipedia: “the juice of red carrot pickles, salted, spiced, and flavoured with aromatic turnip, fermented… hot paprika relish is added just before drinking”). Kokoreç isn’t one of my favourite street foods but I’m glad it exists;
Fast fish – you can get this everywhere in Turkey, but it’s great in Istanbul. I rarely say no to a balık ekmek (fish sandwich), preferably enjoyed close to the sea;
Hot salep on a chilly December evening – a hot milky drink often served from containers on the street. It includes milk, flour, rice flour, potato starch, sugar, cinnamon and the eponymous salep (Wikipedia: “a flour made from the tubers of the orchid genus Orchis”). Excellent stuff.
Ice creams – I’m afraid I’m guilty of regularly eating (and tweeting) about Ali Usta’s in Moda. Nice creams and a good goal if you’re on a day out from the European side.
Summer cucumber stalls – spectacular.
Döner – stereotypical but why not? English-speakers may wish to note that “döner” comes from the Turkish word “dönmek” – to turn.
Köfte – best enjoyed late at night. The smell is delicious and I like the way köfte stands pop up wherever there are crowds.
A simit – to eat, or feed to the seagulls? Many Istanbullus enjoy feeding their simits to the flocks which mob the Bosphorus ferries.
Börek – a delicious and good value breakfast. Seriously: TL5 for two gives you more than you can eat – including tea.
Midye tava (fried mussel) sandwich – if you can’t find a balık ekmek, this will do fine.
I’ve missed a few off this list, such as the ubiquitous fried or boiled corn-cobs which I like when they’re good but are a bit variable; the kağıt helva wafers – a bit dry for my taste – and the macun, like a sweet lollipop hand-crafted at some major tourist sites – I find the bright colours a bit scary.
But I’m open to all suggestions. Do you have any other types of street food which are #reasonstolikeistanbul?
Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter @leighturnerFCO