- [Narrator] For my next bite, I'll take some of this bread
break off a piece of a kebab and then I'm gonna add
in some of these onions and sumac.
This is one of those pieces of meat
that deserves a moment of silence.
(pop music)
Good morning everyone it's Marc Wiens with
migrationology.com in Istanbul, Turkey.
Good morning Ying.
- Good morning.
- It is
a beautiful day outside.
The buses are running.
The streets are not deserted.
It is still pretty quiet.
But it is a completely different scenario
from 24 hours ago.
So we're gonna make a move
and go have breakfast.
Do you want it over?
- Yeah. - [Marc] Okay, thank you.
We are on our way to a (mumbling)
to a breakfast restaurant.
(pop music)
Okay.
That was a very short ride, about five minutes
and we got dropped off in (mumbling).
This is an amazing little neighborhood area
with narrow lanes, lots and lots of restaurants
and cafes.
And, we were here the other day in the evening,
and it was busy and packed.
This morning it is quiet and peaceful.
I'm so glad we decided to come out for breakfast today.
I did not want to leave Istanbul without having another
Turkish breakfast, and today is our last full day here
tomorrow we leave in the middle of the day.
I want to give a shout out to Tuba from both
fruityhub.tv, and also
IstanbulFood.com.
She recommended this place for breakfast, so
I'm really glad that we had a chance to come here
and that they are open this morning.
And I just ordered another Turkish breakfast.
Okay, thank you.
Whoa, that's a huge dog.
The other day
when I had Turkish breakfast, I ordered the
(foreign language), which is the scrambled eggs.
But today I went for more of the fried egg version.
And I saw braised beef on the menu
and I couldn't resist.
It came to our table and it was just sizzling away.
You could see the butter and the fat boiling
and bubbling over.
And the whole egg was kind of like pulsating
and it almost looked like a heartbeat.
And then there's some braised beef on top.
And then there's a sprinkle of, I think, chili flakes
and maybe zatar, or some kind of herb
sprinkled on top.
And, that looks like a wonderful egg dish.
Break off a piece
and I want to dig right into the middle where that,
where all that spice is.
Ohhh, yes.
Oh, and I love how the egg is just cooked like
half way cooked, so it remains raw.
And almost like gravy-ish.
Okay.
Beef, oh look at that wonderfulness.
Oh yeah.
Wow, that's good.
I think there's some cheese in there, is there
cheese in there too?
That's like
melty eggs.
Like, half liquid
and half cooked.
And then
it's salty, the beef is really tender.
And you've got that hint of like a
an herb, I think thyme flavor.
I think I may have been mistaken on my first bite,
I don't think there's actually cheese in there
but I think that cheese flavor might almost come
from the yolk and the butter.
That is so wonderfully good, mixed within this egg dish.
One more bite before I proceed onwards.
That is a, a hearty egg dish.
And this is another very common thing that you'll find
for Turkish breakfast,
it is clotted cream
with honey on top.
And, so you kind of get a combination of both.
Wow.
Yeah.
That is quite a contrast from the salty eggs.
But that sweet honey
and then just that really
it's almost like whipped cream, but just condensed
into a buttery consistency.
This one is the white cheese.
And I think I'll eat that with an olive.
Mmm.
Just a sensational trio.
- [Ying] What's that?
- Is that a cat?
- [Ying] Yeah. - That just licked my leg.
- [Ying] (mumbling) - Where did it go?
As I was taking that sip a tea a cat just
came up and licked my jeans, I think. (laughs)
And then it disappeared.
I have a slice of tomato.
Oh, and I think there's a little bit of olive oil
down here.
Mmm.
Tomatoes are so good in Turkey.
I'm gonna add this chili to the eggs, put that in there.
Break off a nice piece of bread.
And I'm gonna make this bite count.
I'm gonna make it a nice and big bite.
Ohh, this egg dish
is just impressively good though.
Ohhh, look at that.
Okay. (laughs)
There's like half an egg yolk in here.
Chilies, and braised beef.
One more thing to add to this bite before I take it.
Gotta hit that with some pepper.
Oh yes.
And I may as well pepper my whole eggs
while I'm at it.
That is amazing.
That was another amazing Turkish breakfast.
And this is the type of ambiance and the hip place
that you just, you don't even want to move after you eat.
You just want to sit here and relax and enjoy
the ambiance, the street,
the other cafes around.
This is an awesome, awesome place.
(pop music)
Beşiktaş is such a cool neighborhood.
I'm loving just walking around the narrow streets.
There's so many restaurants and cafes.
There are markets.
There's street food.
Great places to just sit and hang out.,
or to people watch.
(pop music)
(foreign language)
- [Marc] Thank you.
We're on our way walking to the Bosphorus
and we're gonna take the boat.
But I decided to get a quick simit.
This is something you will see everywhere
walking around Istanbul.
This is one of the most popular snacks on the go,
or light meals.
It's available throughout the day.
It's kind of similar, in appearance, to a bagel.
It is a circular shaped piece of bread.
And this one is topped with sesame seeds, and yeah,
literally everywhere you go in Istanbul
you will see carts set up selling simit.
Yeah.
It's just plain
but the, what I like about it is the sesame seeds.
The sesame seeds give it that extra flavor and touch.
The texture is a little bit chewy.
And, a little bit dry.
(pop music)
We made it to Beşiktaş Pier and we're gonna take
the boat across the Bosphorus to Istanbul today.
(pop music)
Thank you.
(pop music)
Istanbul is the only city in the world
that is divided between two continents.
Or, can I say, straddled between two continents
with the Bosphorus Strait.
And so we've been on the European side for our
entire trip so far.
And yesterday, I had planned to go and spend
the entire day on the Asian side of Istanbul.
When things didn't turn out quite so planned.
But that is okay.
This morning we are on the boat now
and we are heading to Asia.
Across the Bosphorus Strait.
We're on a boat that's gonna take us to (foreign language).
(pop music)
Welcome to the Asian side of Istanbul.
And we are gonna walk around this area.
It was exactly one week ago today
that we were in Mumbai, and we took that ferry
to the island.
This was a completely different ferry experience
from in India.
Both amazing.
I will link that video below
if you haven't already seen it.
Ahhh.
This is a very nice and very peaceful neighborhood.
We are now walking down the street
and on our way to Kadikoy Market.
(world music)
Oh Ying, this is what I want to eat, this fish here.
We made it to Kadikoy Market.
And we are in the fresh market section.
It's a little bit quiet today, because it's Sunday
and I read that some shops don't open.
But it's still a wonderful market, an open air market.
Lots and lots of colorful vegetables and fruits.
There are lots of olives and fish.
The fresh fish.
Oh, look at all this produce
and these wonderful fruits.
Look at all those cherries.
And then if you walk
a little bit up the hill a little bit,
you come to lots and lots of clothes shops
and cafes, and restaurants.
Can I have one kilo?
- [Man] Okay.
- [Marc] Of cherries.
- [Man] (mumbling)
- [Marc] Thank you.
Ying and I have been loving the cherries so far
since being in Istanbul.
Just the other day we bought a kilo of cherries
which we finished.
So we saw the cherries here and had to get
another kilo of them.
Look at these beauties.
Mmm.
They're so juicy.
And so plump.
Hello, thank you.
There's so many different types of pickles in here
and many different chili pastes, as well, and olives.
- Pickle juice? - [Marc] Yeah, pickle juice.
Yes, okay.
I think just one. - One.
- [Marc] Yeah.
Thank you.
I saw this in a TV show about Istanbul.
Drinking pickle juice.
And so I was just walking through this market
I saw this pickle shop.
I came inside and asked him for some pickle juice.
And he just gave me a cup of pickle juice.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, that is straight up pickle juice.
That is sour and salty.
Hooo.
That will wake you up in the morning.
I kind of like it.
Ho.
Thank you.
Don't let the color of this fool you.
Although it looks like grapefruit juice.
It is absolutely nothing
like grapefruit juice.
Ho, that's like
that tastes very like
kind of cleansing and like
energy filled though, because you've got
all those salts in there.
The sourness.
It's like a
a powerful concentrated energy drink.
Ha.
I think I got my sodiums in for the day
just from that one cup of pickle juice.
But I won't deny, I enjoyed that.
(pop music)
(mumbling)
Sardine grilled, scorpion fried.
(mumbling)
- [Marc] Hamsi grilled.
- [Man] Okay. - [Marc] Hamsi grilled
and also the.
Ying (foreign language)
We walked through the market
that was very enjoyable.
And then we came across the street
to a different neighborhood.
And we are now sitting down at a restaurant
called Balikci Lokantasi.
And this restaurant specializes in seafood.
After walking through the market
and seeing that selection of seafood
I wanted to eat seafood so badly,
so we're at the restaurant now.
And I ordered some anchovies.
To begin with, we have this beautiful plate of salad.
There is parsley on here, there's lettuce,
there's cucumbers and carrots and tomatoes
and, I'm gonna squeeze on the lemon.
Just let me start with a bite of the salad.
Mmm.
There's arugula down there too.
Oh, that's nice.
I absolutely love the rocket, or the arugula.
It just, it gives salad an extra flavor
that is so good.
Wow, that smells incredibly good.
This is a dish that I really wanted to try
at this restaurant.
There are cubes of fish
and it came in this, I think it's a clay
a clay little vessel.
It came just bubbling over.
The aroma of this is incredible, you can smell
all those onions.
You can smell like an herb, maybe some thyme in there.
And there are tomatoes in here, there's chilis.
Wow, this is just amazingly
amazingly smelling.
Oh, there's even some mushrooms in here.
Okay, I'm just gonna take a straight up bite first.
Mm-hmm.
That is really hot.
And incredibly good.
That's almost like lava, down there. (laughs)
But that is wow, that's unbelievable.
Oh, that's so good.
It's salty.
It's, I think that's
is that all butter?
Let me just see.
I think that might all be oil, or butter.
But it just provides an immense amount of flavor.
You can taste the, maybe a little bit of
black pepper in there.
You can taste the herb in there.
The tomatoes, the caramelized onions.
The onions are a little bit sweet.
Wow.
That is remarkable.
I think
it would be good with a little squeeze of lemon.
And the fish itself is also really good.
It's
very soft.
But not
like starchy or mushy.
That is superb.
Get some bread
go ahead and dip into that butter and the fish.
With that lemon.
And those onions.
Those onions are insane.
Okay.
This is one of the best dishes so far I've had in Turkey.
And also, the other dish that I was
really looking forward to, and I'm glad
I have a chance to try it in Turkey is hamsi,
which are anchovies.
And I got the grilled version.
Looks like they kind of butterfly cut the anchovies.
And maybe there's a very light breading
or batter on them, before being fried.
Or these are grilled, yeah.
And then they sprinkle them with some chili
and some, I think it's an herb, or maybe zatar.
And, I'm just gonna try one of these guys first.
Put this down on my plate.
Oh yeah.
Anchovies are a beautiful thing.
Mmm.
Has just a very faint bitter taste to it.
But then they're really soft, really tender.
They have a little bit of a crispy exterior.
And then just a very light finish with that herb and chili.
Anchovies are a wonderful thing from the sea.
They also dished us this side plate
and I think this is the
maybe this is roasted chilies in tomatoes,
I'm not totally sure.
And then, I'm not sure what that is.
I'll try this thing, which I'm not sure of
what it is first.
It doesn't really have a smell at all.
Ohh.
I think that's eggplant.
Roasted eggplant.
And then this one, I've had it a number of times already
so far being in Turkey.
And it is marvelous.
I think it is red chili.
It's a little bit sour.
And there's like a, I think it's a really nice
parsley flavor.
I'm honestly not sure if this is oil,
like olive oil, or butter.
But it is so good.
Now I'm just trying to fish out all of the rest
of those herbs and onions.
And also the garlic in here.
That's so good.
This was one of my favorite dishes so far this
entire trip to Istanbul.
Wow, that was good.
I just paid, and we were about to leave
but then they gave us a cup of tea and some dessert
to try, so that is very kind of him.
I don't know the name of this, but I think
I've had versions of it.
I think it's semolina.
And then served with bananas.
Let me taste a bit of this
with a banana.
Mmm.
Yeah, I think that is semolina.
It has a grainy texture.
A little bit of a honey like sweetness.
And with that banana, it actually accompanies it
very well.
If you eat that together, it's almost like banana bread.
In a different shape.
Ahhh.
Oh yeah.
Always good to finish a meal with tea.
That was an amazingly good meal.
The staff and the owner and the waiters,
they're all really nice at that restaurant.
And it's in kind of a really quiet street.
Very close to Kadikoy Market.
I found that restaurant just by doing a quick
Foursquare search in this area.
And I wanted to find somewhere that served hamsi
which are those anchovies.
The anchovies were good.
But that black sea salmon
turned out to be the absolute winner, one of the
best dishes, maybe the best dish I've had so far
in Istanbul.
That was amazing.
(pop music)
We're getting back on the boat
heading back to the other side
back to Europe.
(pop music)
And I'm not really sure why, but both times we took
the boat, it was free, there was no charge.
I'm not sure if it's just today
or if we got on the free boat.
I don't know, but it was free, both times.
We decided to take a little stroll up the hill.
We're now in the vicinity of Galata Tower.
(world music)
We have come to the base of Istakal Street
and there's one thing we just got to do.
I'm gonna pass the camera to Ying
and I'm gonna be the victim.
(world music)
You want vanilla or chocolate?
- Vanilla, chocolate, lemon.
- [Ying] Vanilla.
- Vanilla please.
(singing)
- He's so fast, I don't even know what's happening.
(foreign language)
(singing)
(laughing)
(singing)
(laughing)
- Taste.
- Mmm.
- Taste. - I think I got it now.
(laughing)
I'm not totally sure, but I think I've got it.
Even though you see the ice cream man dishing
out the ice cream and playing with their customers
when you're actually the victim of it
(laughs) you really don't even know what's happening.
They're so fast.
And, it's pretty awesome.
It's such a sticky ice cream.
I got a few licks of ice cream
when we was dishing it out to me.
But let me taste it really now.
(drumming) Oh yeah.
Mmm.
Yeah, it's such a sticky ice cream, it's almost like
it has some elasticity to it.
(singing)
Whoa.
Yeah, it's so sticky, it's like dough almost.
Wow.
(laughs)
- Yay.
(kissing)
(laughs)
- (laughs) Thank you.
Thank you. - [Marc] Thank you.
Every time I'm walking past
and I see somebody orders ice cream like that
you always see them getting played with.
And so you think you know exactly what they're gonna do,
but they fool you every single time.
(laughs)
(foreign language)
How's the ice cream?
- Ay, it's good.
- Yeah, it's a really sticky ice cream.
It almost has like a
a mozzarella cheese, but we got the vanilla flavor.
It's almost a mozzarella cheese flavor.
And a little bit of an elasticity, as well.
Or some serious elasticity, that's how they
can play with it so much.
(pop music)
This is the restaurant we are looking for right here.
Hello.
- Are you Marc? - [Marc] Yes.
- How are you?
- [Marc] How are you?
- Fine, thank you.
- [Marc] Did David?
- Yeah. - [Marc] Send you a message?
- He send me a message.
- [Marc] Okay. (laughs)
- And also some pictures.
- [Marc] Okay.
- This way.
- Thank you very much.
Hello.
Oh yes, he said this is the best
for the kabob.
(pop music)
I am sitting here
bar side, watching him grill the meat.
And the smoke coming off the aroma of that meat
and just the expertise of how he is grilling it
is incredible.
For the kabob, he mixed the minced meat with the spices
right there before he put it onto the sword.
And then he put it onto the sword
and then stuck it straight onto the hot charcoal.
This is an incredible experience.
This restaurant is called Zubeyir Ocakbasi.
And this is a style of kabob and a style of grill
where they have, it's right, the grill is right
in the center of the restaurant.
And then there's this like metal chimney
which goes up through the roof.
And that is the centerpiece of the restaurant
and that's where all the meat goes down.
That's where all the meat is grilled.
And that, it's almost like a vacuum, it just sucks
up all this smoke, and just, it's incredible.
It keeps the fire so stoked and so hot
as it grills the meat.
We got a lamb kabob.
We got some chicken.
We're gonna get some lamb chops, as well.
And then also he roasted some chilies and tomatoes.
Look at that, you can actually still see
all of the spices mixed in.
There's maybe that's some parsley.
You can see the little chili flakes in there.
I have to begin with a kabob.
And I am just gonna go pure meat on this bite.
Wow.
Look at how tender that is.
Oh, it's so tender, it actually just falls apart
in your fork.
Oh wow.
Oh my goodness.
That's absurd.
Oh, that is
that is unbelievably flavorful.
Oh, it's salty.
You can taste the lamb flavor and the lamb fat.
Oh, and that like extra smokey fire
it just gives it like this incredible
like depth of smoke embedded into the minced meat.
I have had kabobs before, but I have never
had a kabob like that.
For my next bite, I'll take some of this bread.
And then break off a piece of a kabob.
It's so tender.
And it definitely has a high fat content in there
because it is so just packed with flavor
and juicy.
And then I'm gonna add in some of these onions
and sumac.
That is meat sensation.
Next I'm gonna try this eggplant salad.
Roasted eggplant.
I'll take some of that bread.
And just scoop, scoop a bit of this up.
Mmm.
That is fantastic too.
Extremely creamy.
And I think there is some chilies in there, too.
I think that's, could that all be parsley?
And then tomatoes.
Ah, this is beautiful.
I think that's a balsamic
and olive oil dressing.
But really like densely flavorful.
And then, diced up tomatoes.
And I think that's parsley.
I'm gonna move a chili, one of these
roasted chilies over my plate.
Oh.
And also one of these scorched tomatoes.
Open up this.
I really love these fire-roasted chilies and tomatoes.
I just got to have a piece of that chili.
That fire-roasted flavor
they're soft on the inside
and have that skin, that like burned skin.
Oh, that's very like crackery.
Mmm.
Yeah, that's like a
a very paper thin
almost cracker like crispy.
And then I think it's topped with
dried chili flakes.
Or maybe a chili paste.
And some kind of herb, maybe either parsley or cilantro.
This restaurant is known for their kabobs
but I think they are most well known for
their lamb chops.
So the lamb chops have arrived
and these are fresh off the grill, just moments ago.
Oh these are, I can't wait.
I can't wait.
Ohh yes.
Oh, look at that, get a close up of this interior.
Oh yeah.
That is remarkable.
Wow.
That is impressively good.
Oh, I don't even barely know how to describe it,
it's, oh wow.
You can taste the pastures.
Maybe with some onions on this next bite.
Set this down.
And I think that is a little layer of fat
on the edge there.
And I will
these are some, it's definitely
expertly grilled and seasoned.
But at the same time,
this is some very good quality lamb.
Yeah.
Wow.
That is a
a very a lamb chop that you'll never forget.
This is Ying's position.
Ying being (mumbling).
(foreign language)
Ending our meal with some watermelon
and maybe honeydew melon.
Mmm.
Nothing like juicy sweet watermelon.
After such a a meaty, salty,
marvelous feast.
That was not only
one of the more incredible meat meals that I've had,
that was just an unbelievable meal experience.
That food was so good, that kabob and those lamb chops
just, mind blowingly delicious.
Special thank you to Ali, who took care of us
in that restaurant.
That was fantastic.
And also to Mr. David Dudi,
Nama, and Honuman, thank you all for your recommendation.
That was just another just outrageously good meal.
in Istanbul.
And actually today,
we have had three back-to-back amazing meals.
This has just been a,
this is actually our final day, tomorrow we are
going to the airport and we are leaving Istanbul.
So it is
it was just an absolute joyful
last full day in Istanbul.
And I'm gonna, Istanbul.
(shouting)
(laughs)
Some great people and so much good food in Istanbul.
I'm gonna end the video for today right now.
Thank you all for watching today's video.
Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
And leave a comment below, and make sure you subscribe
for lots more food and travel videos.
And, thank you again for watching.
(upbeat music)