It's hard to know how to dress oneself in Istanbul these days. Last week there were a few slightly sunnier days, but recently the city has been inundated with rain and wet snow. Just yesterday in fact, my breakfast in the 'tash was a homemade fried-egg-on-toast affair as going outside seemed plain crazy.
As the rain began to dissipate today, I grabbed my camera for some more culinary wanderings.
If you follow this blog, you might remember a little while ago I wrote about Balkan Lokantasi, which is up a small hill-street called "Oxbow Fountain".
They're building a cinema right at the top, and that's very exciting.
The construction is going painfully slowly though, and that is definitely not particularly exciting.
Çakmak 2 is to the immediate right of the construction site. This street is normally off the usual breakfast radar, but seeing it quite busy recently made me think there could be a gem in the offing. So, I gave it a whirl.
It is obviously another family concern and I felt my tea was being made almost with affection.
Now, reverential treatment isn't necessarily a criteria when eating out for breakfast, but it bodes well for what the kitchen might produce.
The menu has been around for a while.
Bal-Kaymak for 7 TL made my eyes water a bit. I reflected though, that not all kaymak is the same and went for the one-two punch formula anyway, of it and a full menemen.
Simple things done well and with the best ingredients are the order of the day any time. Here, big juicy chunks of sausage nestled in the eggs, which had been lightly stirred and even souffleed a tiny bit (at the end of cooking menemen, it's a good idea to cover it and let it "steam" to the last stage of doneness)
But the kaymak, OH the KAYMAK was fresh, unctuous, deliciously whipped, and there wasn't too much honey to disguise any inferior product that might be lurking.
No wimpy bits of bread either. They brought me a half a loaf to tear into as I saw fit. Bloody brilliant.
Please give this joint a look-in and maybe soon we can all grab breakfast and then a matinee, like this gentleman from another era seems to be waiting to do.
No wonder it's been busy.
The menu has been around for a while.
Bal-Kaymak for 7 TL made my eyes water a bit. I reflected though, that not all kaymak is the same and went for the one-two punch formula anyway, of it and a full menemen.
Simple things done well and with the best ingredients are the order of the day any time. Here, big juicy chunks of sausage nestled in the eggs, which had been lightly stirred and even souffleed a tiny bit (at the end of cooking menemen, it's a good idea to cover it and let it "steam" to the last stage of doneness)
But the kaymak, OH the KAYMAK was fresh, unctuous, deliciously whipped, and there wasn't too much honey to disguise any inferior product that might be lurking.
No wimpy bits of bread either. They brought me a half a loaf to tear into as I saw fit. Bloody brilliant.
Please give this joint a look-in and maybe soon we can all grab breakfast and then a matinee, like this gentleman from another era seems to be waiting to do.
No wonder it's been busy.
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