For lunch, let's go to Asia

So far, I had spent all my time in Istanbul in Europe. All 12 hours of it. Well, that had to change. For lunch, we made a plan to head to Kadikoy, a ferry ride away to another continent, on the Asian part of Istanbul.

With a 2YTL ferry ride under our belt, we met up with Dena, a friend of Jen's who had a hot read on an old restaurant. We went to Ciya Sofrasi, an Ottoman cuisine restaurant with an enormous selection of lokantasi (prepared foods).

From the amazing and overwhelming looking cold meze bar, I picked a selection of interesting items. Starting at 11 o'clock, there was yoghurt with wheatberries, yoghurt with eggplant, spinach and other veggies, marinated mushrooms, red pepper and walnut paste, stuffed red pepper, and pickled sea beans. Standout one was the yoghurt with wheatberries; I still don't know what a wheatberry is, but it does awfully well at complementing yoghurt and bringing some earthy flavor. Another good one was the red pepper and walnut paste, which was delightfully savory. And, a surprise, from the new vegetable on the plate, sea beans. These were crunchy, with a light pickle. They were also a fabulous mix of a green onion, celery, and a bitter green like kale. After finishing the plate I was wishing I had more time to sample the full set of dishes on offer.

The first selection from the hot bar was icli kofte, a meatball that is surrounded by pounded bulghur. This version was just ok, as it had perhaps been sitting out a wee bit too long. The insides were a little dry, though the flavor of both bulghur and meat stuffing were nice.

Next up was the Ottoman chicken pot pie, the perde pilav. This savory cupcake was pastry dough filled with rice, chicken, seasonings, and raisins and nuts. It started slow, but there was something to the rice that beckoned me back, again and again. The flavors were basic but well-blended. And the dish didn't see the end of our meal.

Another item was meatball and sour cherry stew. This was fun to look at and to smell. The cherries and the meatballs had identical sizes and were covered in sauce. This led to some misidentified bites until my taste buds told me the truth. An interesting dish, but not my favorite.

Finally, we had some eggplant, chickpeas, and yoghurt. This was decent, respectable, though the ingredients didn't blend that much nor pick up much additional flavor from the sauce.

So, it was a good first adventure into Ottoman cooking, with some clear winners. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to get to Asia and try some more of those mezes.

And, to the Ottomans, I raise a glass, especially for their tolerance of diversity!

Thanks to Dena for taking me and to Erin for an earlier tip!