Archives for “local” tag

While in İstanbul people always tend to ask me “what else could we visit/see”. If they are all through with the “classics”, I suggest they have a look at the Pera Museum.

The Pera Museum is very centrally located and with its periodical enticing exhibitions and constant collection exhibitions (i.e. Orientalist Painting / Anatolian Weights and Measures / Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics) it’s a must for me.

If you are into art where you can vision scenes of İstanbul and Daily Life in the Ottoman world between the 17th to the early 20th century you need to have a stop here.

The new temporary exhibitions in Pera Museum are as follows:

Manolo Valdes Paintings and Sculptures

8 May – 21 July 2013

After having a good meal in MuzedeChanga (Changa in the Museum), I felt that I had to give more detail on the purity of the food there.

First the ambiance, it is situated just on the Bosphorus and on a small hill with trees from all over the world (you can read the information tags under each tree). The view is breathtaking.

Muzedechanga has a roof and it is best to enjoy the roof during the spring and summer time. Both the lunch and dinner times provide views of their own.

There are a few items on the menu, which are all unique. As a starter, salad with hummus and Turkish sausage with pistachio is great and refreshing. Also, we tried fried Hellim (Halloumi) cheese wrapped in a grape leaf. It is definitely recommended.

As the main course, they have one lamb, one chicken, one seafood and one pasta dish. I had the chance of trying the tender lamb which is cooked very slowly and wrapped in the grape leaf again. The meat was delicious.

The cocktails are unique as well. They have both alcohol and non alcohol cocktails. Satsuma, an orange and lemon cocktail is strongly suggested.

If you are in Istanbul and have something to celebrate and you want to give yourselves a treat, Iskele fish restaurant will be a good choice.

Iskele restaurant is located on an old wharf just under the second Bosphorus bridge which will make you really feel like you’re at sea.

The menu is classic, starting with cold mezes (marinated seabass, stuffed mussels are my favorite) continuing with hot mezes or appetizers. They make great calamari, fried or grilled. Also, the chef is quite good at grilled octopus as well, soft and juicy. I can also suggest roasted anglerfish.

As the main course, of course you have to ask the waiter’s advice depending on the season. If they have fresh Lagos (white grouper) fish, I think you should give it a try. Many people find small fish tastier. It is suggested here because small fish like goatfish are fried up to perfection. You can really smell and taste the fish.

As you can see, the menu is classic and not creative. However, every type of food served is top notch.

Finally, they serve small portions of different local desserts. But instead, you can ask for chocolate souffle, which is excellent.

The service is great with good English speaking waiters. Since Iskele is popular amongst celebrities and business people, it is always full and a reservation is highly required.

It is fairly expensive, but still it is a good option for a special night out.

Let me be very open and direct here, I have never had such great Italian food in Turkey. When I tasted the Pizza here, I really felt like I was in Italy.

Pipa aims to imitate both the food and the ambiance that you can find in a good restaurant in Italy.

First of all, the pizza oven is hand made by an Italian oven master. The materials were brought from Naples and the construction took days. And as a result, the pizzas and calzones that are made in this oven with high quality ingredients are the best you can find here and could even compete with what you can have in Naples. And we mentioned the ingredients, you can find good pork products here like proscuitto, both as a starter or on your pizza.

As for the starters, you can have mozzarella, prosciutto and salads, but my favorite is fried calamari. It is not easy to find lightly fried calamari and you will not regret it if you have it here.

All pizzas are excellent and the calzones are great as well.

Their signature dish is pizza with Nutella. It is self explanatory and a good choice for a dessert.

Pipa has also a good selection of wines, ranging from Italy to Chile. They have an award winning bartender and serve good Margarita in the pitcher.

Can there be a better combination? A museum, permanent collections, exhibitions, a quality restaurant, a peaceful garden, great looking building and even better bosphorus view. So it is easy to see why Sabancı Museum is the first thing I would do if I had only one thing to do in Istanbul (after the old town square of course).

The museum is named after the most famous business man of Turkey, Sakıp Sabancı. Sabancı family invested in the cultural development of Turkey with this museum and a top notch university. The location of the museum is convenient and beautiful: drive up north, passing under the second bosphorus bridge. It is by the sea, with a great garden that you can relax in.  

There are permanent art exhibitions owned by the Sabancı family, like historic hand written Qurans and books, paintings of world famous Turkish painters like Osman Hamdi Bey and İbrahim Çallı. Also, there are archaeological collections in the garden.

In addition to permanent exhibitions, there are seasonal exhibitions. They are announced on their website. 

On the summer Sunday mornings, there is brunch in the garden with jazz concerts presented by famous local jazz bands. Other than that, it is always relaxing to be in the garden and enjoy the view

There is also a magnificent restaurant called muzedechanga, which is awarded by many global newspapers and magazines.

The museum is open all year but of course the best time to visit is from spring to fall when you can enjoy the garden and the view.