Monday, June 29, 2009

Istanbul: The Spice Market, and Two Restaurant Recommendations



I had the opportunity to travel to Turkey this spring with one of my best friends, Lauren, and her mom. They really showed me a great time, and it's a trip I won't forget.


(mmm Turkish Delight!)

While we were in Istanbul, we stopped in the spice market. It's definitely worth visiting the spice market. There are all kinds of Turkish sweets, spices from Turkey and all over the world, and of course, Turkish specialties like baklava and pastrami. Please enjoy some of the photos I took a little farther down in this post.



Above the spice market is a famous restaurant named Pandeli. A couple of people had recommended it to me before my trip, so Lauren, her mom and I made sure to make Pandeli our lunch stop that day. Pandeli is most famous for it's sea bass en papillote (sea bass cooked in a parcel, photo below). That's what I had, and it was truly delicious.



I must mention one other restaurant I went to in Istanbul; Balikci Sabahattin. This restaurant is a seafood place, and every single thing we had there was excellent. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, but it would be the first restaurant I would head to if I was back for another visit to Istanbul.

Please enjoy the photos of the market; it was a lot of fun to visit, and a great place to pick up some Turkish Delight to bring home to friends and family!

Turkish Delight and other tasty treats...



Lots of spices...



Peppercorns...



Turkish Saffron...



Baklava...



Something else that looked tasty but I don't know the name of...



Dried vegetables including dried aubergine (eggplant) which I had never seen before...



A huge wheel of goat's cheese...



Pastrami, which was more cured and more spicy (but less peppery) than the American version...



Finally, pomegranate tea... so pretty!