Turkey Eats

25 things we ate in Turkey

We spent 10 days in this massive country and with the help of some local people and Lisa's friend let me show you what we ate thought our drive in Turkey!

1. Gozleme

We love this delicious savoury pastry snack food back at home in Australia so we ate it as often as we could whilst we were in its home land! We had Gozleme at a road house, we had Gozleme at the Pamukkale's travertines and we had Gozleme whilst watching the sunset over a Rose Valley in Cappadocia.

Eating gozleme whilst watching the sunset over Rose Valley in Cappaodocia was one of the most memorable moments in Turkey.

2. Shish Kebab

Mmm Marinated meats cooked on skewers over hot coals. We had this twice on our trip. Once in our own little upstairs room in Konya and another time in a restaurant in Istanbul. The meat comes with sides my favourite being the Acili Ezme which is like a Turkish Salsa that's fresh and chilli.

Our kebab banquet! it even had grilled lamb chops! yummy!

This is acili ezme like a spicy salsa. I really liked it!

In Konya we got to eat our Kebab in this cute private room with floor cushions and low tables

This is an adana roll. I think I confused it with Doner Kebab but I quickly learnt the difference!

3. Seafood Platter

Whilst in Istanbul we thought we had to try the seafood so we ordered a grilled seafood platter. It came with local fish, squid and prawns grilled and served with veggies. It was a good way to sample the local produce but I felt it was too simple being just plain grilled with salt and lemon. Next time I would order some kind of seafood dish instead that incorporates some kind of traditional recipes.

4. Pottery Kebab

Famous in Cappadocia we gave this one a go. It's kebab meat cooked inside a clay pot with some veggies. The waiter brings the out to your table and cracks it open with a hammer! I was really worried eating this one as I was a little paranoid I would down a piece of ceramic but I was fine. Our meat was a little tough and the dish did seem kind of gimmicky but try it for yourself :)

5. Manti

Manti is like a mini ravioli Turkish style. We had a meat version which was boiled and topped with yoghurt and spices.

6. Mercimek Çorbası 

Mercimek Çorbası is a simple lentil soup that is readily available around Turkey. We had ours on a cold night in Cappadocia where the outside temperature was around 3-4C. The soup warmed our souls :)

7. Doner

This is the classic meat sandwich that's is f**king delicious and super cheap! Get it with the garlic yoghurt it's so good. We took ours back to our hotel and had a fat night in.

This tasted so good I was already half way done eating it before I realised I haven't taken a picutre of it yet!

8. Borek

Fatty puff pastry filled with things like cheese, spinach or minced meat. This is my kind of breakfast snack food. We started our morning in Kadikoy with this treat and then followed up with a Turkish tea. Very niice.

9. Kokorec

This dish is interesting. It's offal tightly wrapped in intestines and the grilled on a rotisserie until it's crisp. The roaster then finely dices the meat with some lemon salt and pepper and serves it in a toasty roll. Because everything is finely chopped with added pepper and lemony flavours I really didn't know what I was eating so it was good! 

10. Midye Dolma

These are stuffed mussels with seasoned rice with herbs and spices. We found these being hawked by street vendors in Kadikoy. We tried a few from different carts and some were clearly better than others so if your first batch tasted meh try shopping around. I wish we bought more of these!

This guy hand fed Lisa!

LOL at Lisa's awkwardness to the guy hand feeding her

11. Balik Ekmek

This is a grilled Makeral sandwich. We got these in Kadikoy where the fish is fresh. Makeral is an oily fish so when its grilled it is full of flavour. It's actually my favourite fish to eat with rice. This sandwich was served with onions, lettuce, squeeze of lemon juice salt and pepper. 

12. Dolma or Sarma

Dolma means stuffed so I think these can be called Sarma. They are stuffed grape leaves with seasoned rice and meat. We could find this dish everywhere and had ours from a street vendor at a produce market.

13. Çig Köfte

This is raw minced meat. I actually didn't know it was raw meat when it was served to us as it was just included in our banquet. To me it tasted like a heavily seasoned paste. I ate it with the bread like it was pate and it was super yum. 

14. Sucuklu Yumurta

Sucuklu and eggs. Sounds basic but it's a Turkish version of sausage and eggs. And yes we got em for breakfast whilst in Goreme. Our version was lightly scrambled eggs but next time I'd want to try it with the yolk still in tact so I can dip my bread in it too :)

15. Sigara Boregi aka Cheese cigars

On one of our nights we skipped dinner and wanted to have a night in so we walked into a shop and bought a bottle of wine. On the way back to our hotel the receptionist noticed and suggested that we order some cheese cigars to go with our wine. He said it's the Turkish way! The cheese cigars went very well with the wine!

16. Baclava

Rich filo pastry desserts drenched in syrup and honey and topped with chopped pistachios. We tried ours at the famous Hafiz Mustafa which has been in Istanbul since 1864! We even bought a take away box to bring to Lisa's family in Germany as a Christmas gift.

17. Dondurma - Turkish ice cream

This sticky elastic ice cream made of is exclusive to Turkey. The secret ingredient is Salep which is produced from a special type of orchid and due to the high demand it could soon go extinct! We bought the ice cream from a typical vest wearing vendor and he mucked around with Lisa leaving her with just the napkin to eat.

18. Selmonila Halva with ice cream

We were in Antalya and this shop called Fehim Usta seemed pretty trendy with the locals. They make a hot mix of selmonila halva and serve it with ice cream. It's like hot cookie dough crumb but a little more syrupy with cold ice cream added. 

19. Turkish delight

We got a chance to try this after our Hammam experience at Aya Sofya. After a long scrubbing session they take you out to a relaxing lobby area and serve you water, Turkish coffee, and a Turkish delight. It was a perfect way to end a relaxing night at the spa.

20. Simit

This is a street food we found close to the blue mosque. Pretty much like a giant Pretzel and we got ours filled with Nutella. Its a chewy bread with a slightly crispy outside sprinkled with sesame seeds. 

21. Kestane Kebab - Roasted Chestnuts

Also close to the Blue Mosque vendors sell Roasted Chestnuts. These guys stack them very neatly into tiny pyramids ready for sale. Chestnuts were the main source of carbs for the Turkish once upon a time.

and now for the not so Turkish food....

22. Ice cream sandwich

Ok this is not Turkish but we ate it in Turkey and it deserves an honorable mention because it was so good! In Kadikoy it's pretty trendy and we found this place called Frenchi which had 4.8 on Google so we walked over. The guy has good coffee and makes these delicious ice cream sandwiches prepared fresh for you. Definitely, definately try these if you are in Kadikoy.

23. KFC

yep we tried KFC in Turkey! We've been told that because Turkey is a Muslim country the chicken meat is Halal which means that the animal is slaughtered a certain way and the meat is treated a certain way. Some say you can taste the difference... I thought it was just as delicious. If you love KFC at home try it in Turkey to see if you can taste the difference.

24. Japanese food!

You know when you travel and you miss Asian food. yea thats us. So when we were in Pamukkale we saw that this Japanese restaurant had high reviews we decided to get some comfort food. The taste is authentic Japanese and it really hit the spot for us. We can recommend Lamuko's Lokanta in Pamukkale!

25. Home stay

Finally we also had a home stay with a family in Konya. They prepared a beautiful banquet dinner for us and the next morning they prepared a Spanish omelette! I played chess with their son and we had good time chatting. These guys were so friendly I recommend a homestay if you can!

That's our Turkey eats! If you ever go to Turkey, eat up lots and lots and tell us what we need to try next time we go back!

- Sang