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...

Bikahvaltı Cafe

Cruised by the breakfast street at 9am this morning and as it was a weekday, most were in the unpacking-of-chairs phase. If this had been a weekend, I guess more would open earlier.

Later on, at about 11, everything was in full swing.

So. Decided to have a go at Bikahvalti Cafe which is at the bend in Çelebi Oğlu Sokak.

No greeter - the guy in front was a customer. Note the dude from Deep Store on the left wooing all and sundry. The beckoning really puts me off so I steered the other way.

Their pişi /pi:ʃi:/ was tasty, and a plate like this sets you back 9TL, not including tea. You can order more in an a la carte fashion, the basic pişi plate being only 6TL. Pişi is basically a lighter and sweeter Yorkshire pudding type thing. Still, quite stodgy and it's better if you can share them. They also have the usual Turkish breakfast plate starting at 8TL.

Service was good and quick. The waiter seemed to have wings on his feet.

Certainly one of the happier kitchens I've come across - poor thing, I got caught trying to take a sneaky behind-the-scenes photo.

Not sure whether the youth of Beşiktaş are pleased with breakfast street or not. They do enjoy relentless cigarette smoking and mobile usage.

Here is a typical cross-section to help you with handy identification later on.

a note about Beşiktaş

Beşiktaş /beʃɪktæʃ/ literally means cradle stone, it's one of the large areas of Istanbul.

Çarşı /ʧɑ:ʃə/ refers to a left-leaning political movement that has been in the area for at least 20 or 30 years. It's also the euphemism for Beşiktaş's football supporters.

Recently, Suleyman Seba, one of their owners and a previous player and coach , passed away. There he is in a big banner overlooking the big eagle sculpture in the main square (a black eagle is the team's symbol).

Here is Istanbul - the Bosphorus heading diagonally up to the right towards the Black Sea.

The thumbtack shows where Beşiktaş market is, although the administrative area of Beşiktaş spreads further up along the coast.

Here it is a bit closer.

No underground system, but you can take a regular dolmuş (minibus) from Taksim, or a ferry boat links it to Kadiköy or Üsküdar.

Only one crosswalk serves as you scuttle over Beşiktaş Caddesi, the main road separating the Bosphorus. Then, make a left up Ortabahce Caddesi, just behind the dolmuş van in the picture.

Soon, you should find this junction - Suleyman Bey overlooking. To the right, there's the big eagle landmark.

On your left, you should see the small eagle sculpture with a trophy in its talons.

Welcome to Çarşı territory!

But directly in front of you , where the van is unloading, is the beginning of breakfast zone... 

Happy hunting, and happy eating!









For the map-obsessed, here is the way you've come. The black arrow-like thing at the bottom follows Ortabahce. Blue streets are a heavy concentration of breakfast places, yellow are more sparse. The black blobs are meant to be the big eagle and the small eagle. Apologies for messy Microsoft Paint work there. :) 

Cafe Faruk

You can't miss Faruk as you pass along the breakfast street called Şair Veysi. Their mob of greeters will eagerly corral you into this unassuming breakfast joint that's quickly  becoming the hottest one on the block.

Breakfast is less art than science here. At 6TL, for students and malingerers like me who enjoy eating out on the cheap, the basic breakfast plate is a winner for a decent-sized weekend morning fuel up. 

I've had other items here - but the results were a bit haphazard so it really pays to go simple. 

(slovenly, frowsy = şapşal  /'ʃæpʃæl/ my new favourite Turkish word)

For the uninitiated:

Traditional Turkish breakfasts have a few key components. Cheese, butter, jam and bread are arranged with differing degrees of creativity on your plate. Smears of tomato or olive paste are common; honey and clotted cream sometimes sneak on there too. 

A cold boiled egg and a few chopped veggies make it a pretty hearty affair. I'm no big fan of Turkish tea - but it does do a good job of washing down all that cheesy, buttery brekkie.

Here was my offering from Faruk today.

The seating stretches around the corner and gets a lot of traffic. There is often a queue for the choice sunny booths. 

Having just reno-ed the canopy from a dingy white and red strip to the current smart grey one, Faruk is already in slight danger of becoming trendy.

But the blase service once you're seated could push it either way.

Area cats.

Ihlamur Kahvaltı and Cafe

Retroey, open-air place nestled at the top of Hattat Tahsin Sokak on the corner. Window boxes of fake daisies and vintage decor make it feel like an American diner. Dude who serves me could pass as a Turkish Richie Cunningham with his upturned big hair and blue eyes.

No surprises on the menu. But the kitchen is open and the guy at the helm looks like he knows what he's doing. I go for Menemen (scrambled eggs with peppers and tomato sauce). Everywhere seems to have their own interpretation in terms of how saucy or eggy, or bland or spicy they do it. This one was just right to my taste - quite spicy and big chunks of pepper. Some bal-kaymak, which is thick cream and honey, to top it off.

It was all really tasty. Prices very reasonable: 9 TL for the works including tea. And they've got wi-fi.

Recommended for a fair-weather, nearly-al fresco lunch served to you by the cast of Happy Days.

Çakmak Cafe

Been going to the Çakmak off and on for a while. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes the overly-alert waiting (as in whisking your plate away while your fork is still in hand) can be alarming. But the food is cheap and reliable.

You can find it right where Şair Veysi Sokak intersects the other big kahvalti street, Çelebi Oğlu, and it's immediately next to the worse-for-wear Hamam. 

The Çakmak falls foul of the common problem of inconsistent service. Three or so wait staff prowl around and just do stuff. If you were unlucky enough to place your order with baggy-trouser dude just as he was thinking of having a fag break and checking his phone, you know your order won't make it to the cook for at least another ten minutes. By which time, confusingly, someone else will come over to try and take your order. 

It seems like once you are sitting, you are largely on your own and would do well to try to direct the waiters yourself. Try to buttonhole a sharp-looking one. A difficult task as the staff always seems entirely different on every visit. Saying that, it's still cheap as chips and you can sit among some nice ivy on the pavement while you feed a cat your saucisse.

No wee-fee, and good luck trying to use the Hamam as your WC. 

Saklı Bahçe

[Turkish review and address and map]

"Hidden Garden" is both hidden and a garden. Turn right from Şair Nedim onto Köşeli and there is an ironmonger staring you in the face. The cafe is opposite, but you won't see the cute garden 'til you've gone straight through.

8 lira basic breakfast included the usual stuff - nice cherry jam and cheeses. The place is clean and cheerful. Waiter was quick, if a bit nothing-doing. The menu is extensive to say the least. 

The garden goes quite far back and some men drinking tea observed me from there while they kibbitzed about who knows what. There are a few stone thingies scattered around and the ubiquitous grannies hanging laundry out from above in the adjoining apartments. Very charming and makes a change from the hyperactivity of the places around the hamam. Would have been even better if they'd had wi-fi.

Didn't see any cats, but I'd wager they are around there somewhere.