A Beautiful Bosphorus Brunch at Çırağan Palace in Istanbul

Some days, I cannot help but be nostalgic for my old life in Istanbul.

Mostly, I miss my friends. I often see their friendly faces pop up on my computer’s screensaver. This happened the other day, and I was reminded of the luxurious (good-bye) brunch we enjoyed with our dear friends at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski last March.

If you want to splurge, I don’t think you could dream up any more beautiful location along the Bosphorus than the Çırağan Palace, a former Ottoman palace and currently a 5-star hotel in the Kempinski Hotels chain. The palace, located between the neighborhoods of Beşiktaş and Ortaköy, dates back to 1863-1872, when construction was completed.

In 1910, a raging fire destroyed the palace, leaving only the outer walls intact. Then, the palace served as a football stadium for the Beşiktaş team for several years and finally was restored a couple times in the last 20 years. The Kempinski chain returned the palace to its former baroque style filled with polished marble and elegant tapestries. We enjoyed walking around the hotel mesmerized by its grandeur.

 On Sundays, from noon to 4 p.m., the palace’s Laledan Restaurant hosts an amazing brunch featuring a breakfast buffet with more than 250 mouth-watering items, including sushi and made-to-order risotto or omelets. The brunch costs 140tl per person (about $100USD when we went) and includes a glass of sparkling wine as well as tea and coffee.

The brunch is served inside a magnificent room facing the Bosphorus with high ceilings and decorative tables and chairs. Throughout the room, you’ll see images of the Turkish lale (tulip). When the weather is warmer, I understand you can enjoy your brunch outside on the terrace.

Now, let’s head to the buffet! You’ll find many elements of the traditional Turkish breakfast such as several varieties of cheese and salami, dried fruits, nuts, jams, honey, breads and pastries. However, I opted for more the “exotic” items such as smoked salmon, fresh mozzarella with basil, risotto, freshly carved roast beef, curried chicken and the sushi bar. I was in sushi heaven!

I cannot even remember how many times we all went back up to the buffet to refill our plates!

Oh, also if you have children, like our friends did, you can simply drop them off in a nearby playroom and enjoy your luxurious brunch in peace! After brunch, you may want to let your child run off some of that extra sugar outside on the palace’s extensive grounds.

A long hallway is the perfect place for 3-year-old to run!

Of course, you must save room for dessert! The desserts are created by the talented William McCarrick, the hotel's Executive Pastry Chef and Master Chocolatier, whom I had the pleasure to meet in person in 2013, and his team. There’s even an entire “chocolate room” dedicated to delicious delights dipped and covered in milk, dark and white chocolate. I think I may have consumed a box of chocolate truffles by myself!

For pastry enthusiasts, you’ll also find a wide variety of mini desserts and petit fours.

More than a year later, I still have fond memories of this beautiful brunch and of course, our dear friends back in Istanbul!

Afiyet olsun!

Elena and me outside after brunch at the Çırağan Palace.

Hubby and me with a Bosphorus view in the background.

Don't you want to jump into this heated pool? 

Location:

Çırağan Palace Kempinski

Yıldız Mah.

Çırağan Caddesi No:32

RSVP: diningreservations.ciraganpalace@kempinski.com

Telephone: +90 212 236 7333

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Turkish Pide with Eggs in Istanbul

Have you ever eaten something so delicious for the first time and wondered how the heck it took you so long to discover it?

I’m sure all of us foodies have.

In Istanbul, one of those recently discovered items is pide yumurtalı (Turkish pizza with egg). I used to order my pide with sucuk and kaşar peynir (Turkish cheddar cheese). Then, one day, the photo on a menu of a pide with a sunny yellow egg on top jumped out at me. I want that one I pointed out on the menu.

Unfortunately, the egg didn’t come out as oozing sunny side up as it looked like in the picture, but it was delicious.

Often, we’ve walked past a small pide shop near the Saturday pazar in Beşiktaş. One day, at my urging, we finally decided to stop and warm up with a bowl of soup and a pide. Karadeniz Pide Kebab ve Yemek Salonu is a simple place where you’ll find two or three daily soups, a few meze items and pide. I love the fact that almost every Turkish café serves soup!

If you can resist the gözleme at the pazar, stop by Karadeniz for a quick lunch. I think the cost for the two us was 24 tl ($13 USD).

Now, the best place I’ve discovered to eat pide yumurtalı is at Kırçiçeği in Ortaköy. Somehow, I received the most lovely, golden, oozing egg on top of my pide. I used the crispy crust to dip into my egg. Amazing!

Kırçiçeği, which means wildflower in Turkish, has several locations in Istanbul as well as Izmir, Bodrum and Ankara. This family-owned company, originally from Aydın, has been open since 1985.

Now, I haven’t quite figured out how to say that I want the egg to be sunny side up like I had at Kırçiçeği. Can anyone advise what Turkish words I need to say when I order my pide next time?

Afiyet olsun!

Locations:

Karadeniz Pide Kebab ve Yemek Salonu

Ali Suavi Sokak (Şehit Ali Kerem Mergen Sokak)

Beşiktaş

Tel: +90 212 261 2347

Kırçiçeği

Mecidiye Mah.

Ortaköy Değirmenci Sokak No:41 (by the Starbucks)

Ortaköy

Tel: +90 212 260 3535

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Happy First Day of Spring from Istanbul

Today it is officially spring according to my calendar.

In the Northern Hemisphere, spring begins with the vernal equinox at 7:02 a.m. (EDT) on March 20, which is today. In Istanbul, it's already been looking like spring for the past few weeks as evidenced in several photos I've shared with you here.

On Monday, I met a friend in Ortaköy and was greeted with an abundance of tulips already in bloom! I was surprised to see all these tulips in the middle of March.

That means the millions of tulips that are planted every year at the Emirgan Korusu (Park) will soon be blooming too. Be sure to arrive at the park early and bring a picnic with you. The beautiful tulips are worth seeing, but the traffic along the shore road is always horrendous. 

Hopefully, the first day of spring wherever you are brings you flowers and sunshine. Unfortunately, it's been snowing off and on these past few days back at my parents in the U.S.

Happy Spring!

Red tulips in Ortaköy.

Last week, these tulips and pansies were blooming in Sultanahmet.

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Other Baking Supply Stores in Istanbul

My answer to my friends on where I find my baking ingredient and supplies is always a resounding - Eminönü.

Unfortunately, I have to admit that not everyone shares my love of Eminönü or doesn’t want to take the time to go here. If you want the best selection and best prices in Istanbul, then this is the ONLY option as I mentioned in this post: My 3 Favorite Baking Supply Stores in Eminönü in Istanbul.

If you simply cannot get to Eminönü, I do have two other recommendations for you.

If you live on the Asian side, I have stumbled upon a small pastry shop, about a five-minute walk away from the fish market in Kadıköy. Coşan Pastacilik is located on a small pedestrian-only street called Serasker Cad. 

The store carries a variety of cookie cutters and molds, metal and silicone baking pans and cake decorating supplies. It looks like you can even order baking supplies from the company’s website. However, I can tell you the store’s prices are definitely a bit more expensive than my regular stores in Eminönü. I guess you are paying for the convenience.

Another baking supply store that opened within the last few months is in Ortaköy. Located a few blocks west of the shore road, Mutfak Kitap is a jam-packed small store that carries a decent selection of Turkish and baking cookbooks, baking supplies and cookie cutters. The prices here are more reasonable. For example, a one-kilo package of fondant here costs 12 tl compared to 10 tl at Besan in Eminönü. You also can order from this store’s website. 

When I popped in here again earlier this month, I found a new display case filled with imported goods such as rice vinegar, soy sauce, sushi rice, maple syrup and agave syrup. Odd!

Twice, I have bought items from Mutfak Kitap because I can quickly take the bus from Beşiktaş to Ortaköy when I don’t have much time. But I still prefer to stock up on as many baking ingredients and supplies as I can in Eminönü.

***Today, I thought of a third shop as I was out and about. The German chain of coffee shops/cafés, Tchibo, with several locations in Istanbul, also carries random baking supplies such as silpats, cookie cutters, special cake pans, kitchen appliances, etc. The inventory changes on a weekly basis. I find this concept totally bizarre because you can have a latté while you shop for long underwear, an ironing board, pillow cases and blouses.

You never know what you'll find at Tchibo so it's best to pop into here often. For example, this is where I bought my cookie stamps for my Holiday Message-In-A-Cookie Recipe.

Happy baking everyone!

Locations:

Coşan Pastacilik

Address: Osmanağa Mh. Serasker Cd. No:76

KADIKÖY

Tel: 0216-450-5071

Mutfak Kitap

Address: Muvakkit Sokak No:19

Ortaköy/Beşiktaş

Tel: 0212-511-5140

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Morning Stroll in Ortaköy in Istanbul

Yesterday morning, my girlfriend and I were the only females to be seen near the Ortaköy iskelesi.

We joined the dozen or so Turkish fishermen as they cast their lines into the Bosphorus. The glaring, but welcoming sun made picture taking more difficult, but we still got several good photos. 

I was getting tired of the rainy, gloomy days we’ve had lately; and they do not make for good sightseeing times with visitors.

Near the iskele, street cats and dogs were laying on wooden benches and the cold sidewalk soaking up the morning’s sunshine. I'm sure the animals also were waiting for some tasty bits to be tossed their way.

Three Turkish cats in Ortaköy enjoy the morning sun.

Autumn/winter mornings in Ortaköy are quite different from the bustling tourist season. Now, it’s quiet. There’s no one to disturb you if you want to do some “gezmek-ing.”

Since our friend from Düsseldorf only had a few hours to spare that morning, Ortaköy proved to be the perfect location for a relaxing stroll and breakfast. And as we found out, the seashore is nearly deserted of females early in the morning. Or at least, it was on this day. 

On the left, a Turkish man feeds the pigeons by hand in Ortaköy.

A lone street dog chased through the flock of pigeons in Ortaköy.

As I’ve mentioned before, Ortaköy is a charming neighborhood full of renovated old buildings that are home to cafés, restaurants, artist galleries and handicraft shops. You can have a beer with a view of the Bosphorus Bridge, Starbucks coffee (huge newly, renovated building), delicious Turkish ravioli (mantı) as well as a slightly fancy Turkish breakfast at The House Café (which is what we did).

The busy Bosphorus in the morning.

Ortaköy is just one of many great places in Istanbul where you can watch the world go by whether you are with a guest or by yourself.

A cute black cat surrounded by Turkish evil eyes in Ortaköy.

A rather plump street cat enjoying the sunshine and park bench in Ortaköy.

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An Afternoon in Ortaköy

(I apologize for the blog absence this past week. We had friends visiting from the U.S. so I was busy playing tour guide. There never seems to be enough time to sort through all the photos.)

I relish those rare moments when we have nothing planned so we can actually stroll around Istanbul and not feel rushed to get to the next destination.

Before our guests arrived, we spent one Sunday afternoon meandering through nearby Ortaköy, which means “middle village.” It’s hard to believe this bustling neighborhood on the European Bosphorus shore used to lie in the middle of the city’s boundaries.

Now, Ortaköy is full of trendy boutiques, open-air bars and cafes, kumpir and waffle stands and vendors selling jewelry and handmade trinkets. I bought a darling set of glass nar-topped çay kaşığı (tea spoons). It’s a good place to spend an afternoon and relax like we did.

First, we walked by one of  Ortaköy’s most famous landmarks - the Büyük Mecidiye Camii (Grand Imperial Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid), which generally is referred to as the Ortaköy Mosque. The eclectic-Baroque mosque, built in 1854, is the work of architect Nikogos Balyan, whom also designed the Dolmabahçe Palace. As you can see from the photo, the mosque currently is undergoing extensive renovations to its exterior.

The Ortaköy Mosque is depicted here with the Bosphorus bridge in the background.

Second, we found an open table at one of the many rooftop cafes along the Bosphorus shore and each ordered a half-litre of Efes beer. This also would be a great area to enjoy a weekend brunch.

After our beers, we decided to check out Banyan Restaurant, an Asian-Fusion restaurant I had heard about from a friend. The restaurant is on the more expensive end of the spectrum, but the view was so fantastic we decided to stay and ordered a late afternoon cocktail here.

A view of the Bosphorus with Sultanahmet in the background.

Often, we are disappointed by expensive cocktails because they are poorly made. It’s easier and cheaper to drink at home thanks to my bartender husband and our steady supply of duty-free alcohol.

But this time, Banyan pleasantly surprised us. My pomegranate martini was perfect with just a hint of lime while my husband’s cucumber gin martini was refreshing. 30 TL each.

Martinis at Banyan in Istanbul

We decided to have a snack to accompany the drinks - mini chicken satays with a sweet chili dipping sauce. 17 TL. Because we dined before 5 p.m., our check later showed a discount of 15 percent, which also surprised us.

A complimentary order of herbed bread and pickled vegetables in olive oil

 

 

We were happy and mildly full, so we grabbed a taxi to head home.

When you are in Istanbul, I highly recommend taking the time to while away a few hours in Ortaköy.

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