So we got the classic with pistachio, my favorite way of eating baklava
and we also got chocolate baklava
First stop on our tour around Karaköy
Fish wrap. This is good! Wow! All those spices in here. Lettuce, pepper, tomato, onions, cucumber and then
grilled fish, which was grilled over charcoal. So a specialty here in Karaköy is the balık dürüm.
Balık Dürüm is fish wrap. So unlike the balık ekmek that has the thicker bread, this actually has a really
thin wrap where they put the fish in, which is really nice because
you actually get more of the taste of the fish. But let's take a bite
It's so bright, I have shades on, you can't see my eyes. But I guarantee you they're bulging out
because this is absolutely delicious. Taste the fish, but you also taste that he puts pomegranate
molasses in here. Gives it a nice flavor and even mixing with those greens there's mint. Really
gives a refreshing kick. I love that spice blend on the outside. Not only does he put spices in the wrap
he puts it on the outside and grills the wrap up so it gets a little crispiness.
It's smoky too because it's grilled on charcoal. This is absolutely delicious. There's so many
vendors in this area. We just picked this one because he's grilling over charcoal.
Kind of a random operation right outside of Karaköy Balık Evi.
Absolutely incredible
What a beautiful beautiful view of the Asian side. We've been staying at the Asian side of Istanbul
and to see it from a distance from Europe you really get to appreciate it even more. If you
are coming to Istanbul, if you like less touristy stuff like less tourist less crowd, go to Asian
side. Definitely worth it. You get to watch the sunset setting over Europe's side next to
Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque. But look at that. Stunning. And you just need a ferry ride to cross.
Here at Karaköy Çorba Evi,
which literally translates to Karaköy Soup House. Now even though it's very hot outside, we
love this soup. I'm having a sour soup, which is vegan and Greg is having something that's lamb.
Love my garlic. Oh let's have that bite.
So I got here the Kelle paça
Now sometimes the soup can be used with sheep head or veal head or different offal. Like
in this case on the menu they say it's veal trotters, like the foot.
And the soup is very creamy almost milky. Look at that color. I'll try it first.
It's very rich, creamy. The meat is so soft and tender. I believe this is it does taste like
veal. They do say on the menu it's veal trotter. It does taste like it. But what you really have
to do to make this soup next level, you have to add all the toppings. Squeeze some lemon in here
Just cut through that richness. Gonna add some of this minced garlic. Lots of it, I'm a garlic lover.
Crushed red chili. I've noticed here the red chili here in Turkey is a little bit salty and not as
spicy as what I'm accustomed to say in Thailand or really other spicy countries. But I like that
because it doesn't overwhelm. Just gonna put everything in here. Oregano, dried mint, got it all.
You can really customize your bowl. That lemon cuts through that richness.
It's a very rich soup. I've actually heard that this soup - people like to have this after a
night of drinking. Supposed to be a real hangover buster and I can totally see why. Especially I
could imagine this on a really cold night. But even on hot day like this it's quite delicious.
You really get your workout filled walking in Europe side. It's so steep.
And in this part of the episode where you buy us a coffee,
we do the walking and mostly the drinking. Thanks to you
down here below for making this even more possible. Now help us support more local shops like this one
by buying us a coffee. Thank you. We made it to one of the most famous Turkish coffee shops here in
Istanbul. It's called Mandabatmaz. This place is so cool. I walked inside, it's a little hole in
the wall spot. I saw them making the Turkish coffee. They use a copper cezve like uh
they also call it a ibrik. It's where you make the put the coffee in, the water and then put
it over high heat so the foam bubbles up to the top and then you turn it off and pour it into the cup.
This one looks so rich. Look at that.
It's not even really like a foam, it's just like
looks very thick and muddy like oh it smells amazing.
Whoa. This one's really finely ground and very strong flavor. Like nice pleasant bitterness to it.
Kind of a unique flavor to other Turkish coffees I've tried. It's very good.
Definitely see why this is known as one of the best in Istanbul.
I happen to agree, at least so far. Also love about this shop is it's located here in
Beyoğlu, a little north of Karaköy in like a little side alleyway. It's off of the main Istiklal Caddesi
on this little side road. It's really cool. They have all this outdoor low wooden tables, low wooden
stools. That's become a thing here I noticed with coffee and tea shops and I'm all for it. I love it.
We just took the funicular they call it the Tünel, I think if I'm pronouncing it right.
It goes back to 1875 from Beyoğlu to Karaköy. So it's really cool it's a very quick ride
and you just use your Istanbul Kart like you would right in the subway or right in a ferry here.
It's cool, it's definitely worth taking. It saves you that really steep walk down or up.
In Istanbul we just can't get enough of midye dolma. It's become one of our favorite
foods in the whole city. Look at how nicely presented they are. They look beautiful. Really fat chunks of
mussels stuffed with that rice. And at first glance, it doesn't look like it's overfilled
with the rice, which is nice. I'm really excited to try it. Try first without lemon, just pure.
You really get that mussel taste so fresh. The rice really nice, nicely flavored, but it doesn't
overwhelm the mussels. Really get that taste of the mussel which I really appreciate. Delicious stuff.
You can't come to Karaköy and not stop at the most famous baklava shop in all of Istanbul, at
least from what we've read. It's called Güllüoğlu, Karaköy Güllüoğlu. I'm sure I'm butchering that pronunciation, but the spot is popping.
It's really old school inside. It dates back to 1843. They have so many different varieties
of baklava. We got the classic with pistachio, my favorite way of eating baklava, and we also
got chocolate baklava. Looks so good. Look at all that ground pistachio on top, all the pistachio inside.
That is just a sinful bite of baklava right there. Oh my god. It's sweet, it's quite buttery too, but it
balances it well. I don't think it's overly sweet like some baklava, but it is absolutely delicious.
There's a lot of - generous amount of pistachio in there. But I'm really curious about this chocolate.
Damn. Really rich chocolate flavor. Same level of sweetness. Get a hit
of that buttery flavor too. But I love that rich chocolate taste. Jumi, I think you'll like this one.
I've never had chocolate baklava, so this is going to be interesting. Smells very chocolatey.
These two. It melts in your mouth it's so chewy.
You can taste the pistachio and in chocolate you can really taste the chocolate. It's
also I think they use dark chocolate, but mixed with the honey. Ah it's delightful. Glorious.
çay time. We wanted to get çay at the baklava spot, but we passed this place where well this
little corner first before the baklava and we thought of coming back here just to get çay.
Because what a better way to have çay than sitting on a stool
facing the Bosphorous Sea with the sun setting in the background. Well
you can't really see the sunset here. The best sunset spot is right next door right
there. You just take a ferry just take it, but um it's the ambience. It's the ambiance.