Sokak Cafe

This might be my first post about a restaurant on the fish market side of Beşiktaş - meaning on the other side of the small eagle from where the main breakfast streets are.

Just past the small eagle is a very hip cafe (on the corner) called Mamboccino and that little side street is affectionately known by most in these parts as "beer" street.

Here on the right.

Erasmus students aplenty, and always a watering hole, or a place to tuck into some grub. One cute-looking breakfast spot kept on catching my eye.

Beer street has some secret goodies hiding away - there is a very romantic, inviting wine bar there, any Beşiktaş game will be on several screens and there is a serious sense that you're in the heart of the market. It's more intimate than where the fish restaurants are, more down-to-earth.

So, I had high hopes that the Sokak Cafe would be another nice surprise. It opens early and seems very efficiently run.

As if by magic, the husband in the concern appeared just as I was slowing my pace to peer at the menu. How could I not give it a try?

The menu looked right. There was everything in its place, and the prices would make any student put the phone back down as they were ringing mum and dad for a bank account bolster.

I opted for a tested formula and one which often reveals how well a breakfast restaurant performs. The menemen (scrambled eggs and bell peppers) and bal-kaymak (clotted cream scooped over honey) combo. If they can do it decently, with a generous portion, and hot fresh eggs and use creative seasonings, then it's usually a winner.

It came out very presidentially, brought on a little tray by my man. Nescafe, (!) check. Bal-kaymak, exactly right. However, the main thing, the one thing that kind of makes it or breaks it, the eggs, were a watery mess. Hot, they were. There was even a hint of taste in there. But, I'd asked for "sucuklu" which means with sausage, and I'll be damned if I could taste any.

It wasn't an unenjoyable meal. The old dudes over the road caroused with one another, a stray dog made a whimpery appearance, the dawn light magnificently illuminated the lovely narrow street.

But I struggled to find inspiration from my anaemic menemen. It stuck in my craw. It wasn't what I wanted. And I know there is better and it's not only a question of taste - I beg you to consider that good scrambled eggs ought not to puzzle even a rank amateur cook.

The ceremony with which it was all presented did appease me a little. 15 lira for a warming and nourishing petit-dejeuner - let them have it, the dears.

If it is as I suspect: a ma-and-pa operation - then it is a little bit pleasant to think of the satisfaction they might glean from studiously making the same watery eggs for us that they've churned out for their kids and grandkids for years. 

But no real coffee or any wifi? It's a no-brainer.

Next time I'll be returning to the high-stakes world of battlefield breakfast!

First one that gives me a real huevos rancheros wins.

Balkan Lokantası

Much business is transacted in the early hours in Beşiktaş. Even before the insanity of rush hour, delivery men, bakers, and tradespeople are up scurrying around by 7. I rose early to join them.

Winter is here and stalls that normally brandish sunglasses and bikinis have swapped over to cold-weather wear.

Having decided to seek out more traditional Turkish fare for a morning meal, I went over to the far side of the neighbourhood nearer the buses to enjoy a hot bowl of soup.

As you walk up from the Üsküdar ferry boat terminal, Beşiktaş market appears on your left, after the mosque.

You are inevitably led up to the left along a wide pedestrianised road (this one) and the very first turning on the right is Akmaz Çeşme Sokak (Oxbow Fountain Street).

If you were to go all the way up, there is a cinema under construction, a gaggle of nargile cafes and a Tolkienesque sculpture that wouldn't go amiss as a secret object in the Legend of Zelda.

But go no further! 

As charming as the dilapidated old Ottoman houses and junked out vespas are, the steepness of the hill before you will no doubt shave years from your life. And life is for breakfast-eating as we all know.

Back down opposite the row of paint supply stores is Balkan Lokantası.

I have never seen it closed in the morning. The men who work there all wear hamam sandals and cook and clean with monastic devotion.

One is reminded of the order and heirarchy of a ship at sea under a captain. You walk in and are surrounded by the buzz of greeting, clearing, productivity. If there were a heaven for retired people, exiles and orphans, then this might be it. Simple tasks like portioning puddings into little cups are done with precision and dignity by young and old workers in crisp uniforms.

Every customer is treated with decency and even poorer folk can come up with the two lira for a warming bowl of soup. It is very reminiscent of the Milk Bar cafeterias I saw in Poland.

So, Ezogelin - red lentil soup with spices - the middle one on the right - is the one I had. 

Ezo was a fabled but unhappy bride from the south who made it to please her mother-in-law. And failed.

It's a good hangover cure, some say.

Chicken, rice, yellow lentil, and of course the legendary beef tripe soup, işkembe, are also available. 

Despite being a very male environment in the morning, there is no whiff of gym sock in the air.

For thrifty eaters, they'll do you a half portion for 1 lira with no complaints.

Alas, poor Ezo did a good job and didn't deserve her fate.

With a little dried mint on top and a squeeze of lemon, it's hard to beat on a cold morning. 

And for only 2.20 TL (20 kurus for a hunk of bread) it may be one of my favourite breakfasts in the 'Tash.

Yağmur Cafe

Yağmur Cafe is awkwardly stuck right in between Deep Store and BiKahvaltı. The proprietess works tirelessly to attract attention, but the guys working at the other places are way too damn smooth. 

Sometimes it gets custom, but I've noticed that poor Yağmur often gets ignored until the other places are absolutely rammed and there's nowhere else to go.

Yağmur means "rain" in Turkish. I'm sure it has lovely connotations in other languages, but perhaps that has been part of its undoing...

Joanna and I were wiling away our morning looking for good breakfast so we said, "Hey, let's give it a shot!".

Today I chose a return to the traditional Turkish breakfast, and Joanna opted for Menemen - spicy scrambled eggs!

This platter was generous. Plenty of greenery and veggies, and a really nice homemade spicy tapenade served in an organic ice cream cup.

Their egg was beautifully hot and medium-fried rather than the usually old, cold boiled.

The other punters were slow to trickle in, but the service and good quality of the food made us wonder why this place was not more popular. 

Turks often smoke while eating. The food can be peripheral to the puffery.

A heater near us made us feel like we were near a cold volcano.

The durned thing would not stay on.

However, it did make me feel like making an offering to Imhotep while we waited.

In general, the Yağmur is a thumbs-up from us though. 

Wi-fi, toilets, good service, and decent food. 

Give these poor guys a look in!

Limos

Limos is right across from Carmenta - see two posts ago - and is

obviously a slight revamp of its predecessor, Effessa, which was trying a bit too hard to be a Greek taverna.

Now, it's trying too hard to be a funky Spanish bar. 

But that's actually okay.

There is A LOT of seating inside, which is nice considering the queues at these places are getting a bit out of control come 1pm.

The menu is remarkably similar to the last one, big and pricey. They do fancier coffees than many of the other breakfast joints and have desserts as well.

It's lively and well-lit, it has bathrooms and wi-fi. The service was disarmingly quick and alert.

No mistakes!

Back in its Effessa incarnation... well, maybe it doesn't bear mentioning now...

...but just imagine a quadrupled bill, and staff who almost literally ran away from us.

Not so at the new and improved Limos. Three of us trucked down to

check it out. 

Straight away, Bella's perfect "flat white" coffee brought tears of hungry gratitude to our eyes.

Gozleme was yummy (not as big as at Siyah, but flavourful)

(It's nice too not to have it already cut up into bitesized pieces for you.)

Potato filling is the best option all the way - although I still await "Mexican" jalapeno gozleme. 

One of these days...

Siyah

The good weather is dwindling. Only a desperate few last weekends remain before winter sets in in earnest and al fresco dining becomes plasticated.

 

Siyah is situated along the interconnecting street between Faruk and Deep Store.

Its pavement seating is inviting, and there is an indoor option that looks cosy.

Service is good. Was here before and had a Dutch guy serving, which was kind of oddly funny.

They don't have wi-fi, but there's a loo and the menu is quite big.

It seems gözleme is a dish that is open to many "interpretations".

Recently, the Ihlamur massacred it. 

The last go at Carmenta was disappointing. 

It should be buttery, not burnt, and filled generously - and have something to it, a hint of spicy seasoning at least.

Well, Siyah didn't disappoint. 

The 8TL price was more than made up for by a huge portion that was really tasty.

This is a good people-watching spot too. 

Plenty of students and artists hang out on this stretch.

Pışı, opposite, was getting a lot of custom. Will have to try there soon too.

This place gets a thumbs-up from me. 

Shame about the internet, and it may lose some of its charm once the summer is firmly over but if you want great gözleme, big enough for two and under a tenner, look no further.

[Gratuitous artsy photo.]

Carmenta Cafe

This morning saw a return to Çelebi Oğlu Sokak (the left-hand turning at the little eagle) in this yabanci's quest to find a good, honest breakfast in Beşiktaş.

Snuck into the Carmenta Cafe while the greeter guy was busy watching a film or something on his mobile. 

I'd never given this place much of a second look before, but like many such cafes, once you're inside it seems to go on forever to the back.

The menu is short and cheap - not a bad sign. 

Disturbingly though, it feels like a primary school cafeteria; the plates are chipped, the knives and forks look old and streaky, and there are incongruous pictures seemingly bolted to the walls, which are lit by an institutional fluorescent light. 

Had gözleme many times before. Sometimes it's overcooked, or a bit

greasy. This one felt like a little kid's dinner. The sucuk inside was little more than sliced hotdog weiner. And it was bland.

And the fact it was cut into wittle squares to help me eat it didn't alleviate this feeling much neither.

Couldn't even bring myself to ask if they had wi-fi. Just wanted to leave asap.

So, as affordable as Carmenta is/was, I would not be rushing to go back there anytime soon... happy never-ending fag break, dude!

kara tahta

I really, really want to like "kara tahta". And I still do - sort of. Things started out so well, like in a brand new, exciting relationship. But somewhere along the way, there was a foundering, a displacement. 

If only the "help" hadn't come along and spoiled everything... where to begin?

Kara tahta is immediately opposite the Hamam on Şair Veysi Sokak. It's always looked cosy, had plenty of seating, and the punters generally seemed quite contented.

Thought I'd give it a go!

(Although I didn't try any, their freshly-squeezed orange juice looks sumptuous and the mama proprietess was diligently churning it out).

To my absolute amazement - they had a novel menu item! Jalapeno menemen.... A revelation! Someone give them a medal!

This is the kind of innovation I've often dreamed of...

And the prices were exTREMely reasonable to say the least - nothing over 6 TL in sight.

So, hanging with Sucuk, or Patates, or whatever the local dog's name is, I tucked in... :) 

Absolutely great. No complaints. Compliments to the old baba who's doing all the work in there. Afyet Olsun to everyone.

And along comes the most persistent problem on breakfast street. The waiters...

I'd first of all wanted a coffee with milk. It came back without - and there was no salt, pepper or sugar or napkins on my table. But this was just when the breakfast rush was starting, so no problem.

First, the old lady's daughter rocks up (to help out - I'm thinking) and pretty much does as little as humanly possible and picks her nose.

Next, at the stroke of 11, a dude comes along who seems full of energy. "Ah" I think,"this is the real muscle in the operation".

But sadly no. He exerted himself heroically sweeping, and clearing a few tables, but was so inefficient that it took me twenty minutes to get the bill. Which turned out to be absurdly wrong. And wrong in their favour. The delightful sweet and spicy taste of that jalapeno suddenly went an awful sour as I asked him, "What are you doing?" in incredulous, trying-not-to-sound-too-sarcastic Turkish. 

(Am I being too fussy given it is a cheap-ish place?)

Anyway, Sucuk was entertaining, 

Will return to try that yummy frothy orange juice and have another jalapeno menemen.

No wifi - but they have a toilet and there is evidence of weather-retardant sheeting and heaters at the ready for the winter that cometh.

BaaL Cafe

Bayram has set its teeth into Istanbul and Beşiktaş was very quiet, if not a little sombre this morning. A few moustachioed men could be seen out shuffling along the streets to grab bread or milk in the early hours.

Most have left the city and the feast of the sacrifice has begun.

A few of we foreigners crossed our fingers and hoped that glorious breakfast street would at least be open, offering a little respite from the quiet 4-day holiday stretching ahead of us.  

Lo, what light from yonder cafe breaks? 'Tis a basket of bread, and some variously-arranged morsels on a plate!

We were in luck and gave BaaL a try. It's just there ahead up on the right on Şair Veysi, not far from Faruk's.

After having tried a few of these breakfast plates, we found that the 8TL offering was acceptable. Helena mentioned though that there was no olive tapinade, as you might find at Faruk's - so not quite as good a value for the same sized plate, but all acceptable, in general.

I had the gözleme, which was very tasty and substantial. Sorry there are no actual food pictures this time.

Service was quick, but a teeny bit stiff. The guys running around in BaaL wear funny bellhop outfits, incongruous with the casual nature of breakfast in these parts. One gets the impression the manageress is trying to set her establishment apart from the others, but the grub and the price were very bog standard, I'd say.

She did give us a little chocolate treat as it was Bayram, and was very attentive. Add wi-fi availability, and it gets a thumbs-up from me!

 hey! resist!  çarşı!

Alli Börek

If you spend any amount of time in Turkey, and are one of those people who can't wait until 10 or 12am to find nourishment on the streets of Istanbul, you will eventually become acquainted with the stodgy street food called: simit, börek, açma and poğaca. Börek is the one I associate most with something akin to breakfast - hot, greasy, but the layers of filo pastry (or yufka) still surprisingly light.

In Beşiktaş, as you proceed down Ortabahce after passing the small eagle, the area becomes a lot more leafy and the road turns into Ihlamurdere Caddesi.  Cafes, banks and clothes shops (this one selling gas masks) line the boulevard. 

Feeling an early-morning impulse to grab some food - and the usual eggs-for-breakfast restaurants still not open, I sought refuge in Alli Börek, a very typical example and I thought I could just make out a garden at the back.

Luridly-coloured menu on the front glass prevents disappointment and/or confusion.

Garden was underwhelming... more of a waste area that had a fern stuck in front of it. But beggars can't be choosers...

...and this börek was fresh, hot and delicious. 

I chose potato, which is usually lightly spiced. You can usually get cheese, spinach or meat-filled ones too. Or if you ask for sade, or plain, it comes with icing sugar on top.

Good eats, and never more than 5TL for a portion. 

beş taş

Smack dab in the middle of Şair Veysı is "beş taş". I remembered it from last winter because they had constructed a weather-resistant plastic tent around the main outside seating area... allowing punters to smoke to their heart's content. Erasmus students tend to gravitate here for some reason.

The name, a play on words with Beşiktaş, also refers to a Turkish stone-throwing game, something like marbles.

Going on a weekday made it hard to see how they deal with a busy period. Still got the standard plume of cigarette smoke in the face along with my "Hoş geldiniz!". 

Not necessarily a point against the place. They all do that.

Funky stuff like this old oven ...

... ,the hipsterish, but endearing jar chandelier ... (DIY-anything scores points with me)

... and the off-hand arts-student servers...

... didn't really prepare me for the mediocrity of my French toast. 

Granted, it's not a staple breakfast option in Turkey. But knowing the 5 lira I paid could have stretched to a full plate of mixed goodies down the road sort of made the dry, tasteless discs - well, a little more dry and tasteless. Even the filter coffee didn't help.

Saying that, it seems like an affordable place to hang out. The fresh coffee was only 3 lira, and their standard breakfast weighs in with 7 items for 9 lira. I was still left thinking if I should have gone to Faruk's for true value. And there's no wi-fi.

Cheapness does create lowered expectations - the guys in front of me had gözleme (a thin sheet of pastry wrapped around meat or veggies) that had been burnt around the edges. They made faces, but were very well-mannered and didn't complain. Well, for 5 lira what do you expect I guess. 

Go here in winter if you're a smoker...