Friday, August 31, 2012

Horozluhan Restaurant Konya Turkey

Horozluhan is one of the best preserved caravansaries (inn). Built around 1246 in Anatolia used to be a caravanserai historic silk road routes a stop-over for tradesmen and travellers alike to rest.
This beautiful building is operated as a restaurant. It is outrageously exotic and authentic has a central courtyard that serves as a seating area covered with arches and domes that was supposedly the old stables for the merchants and caravans who would wish to stay.
There's a special ambience at this delightful restaurant it offers a excellent Turkish cuisine.
At first, we were served a generous amount of pita slices.
 Next, we had a lentil soup!
For our mains, we got a chicken kavurma/saç kavurma. This is specially cooked on a heated iron plate called a "Saç" in Turkish it's like paella. This is a chicken meat and mushroom dish which was cooked home-style and tasted quite good with the rice. We gobbled up everything!
The last of a mixed meat and cheese pide a Turkish pizza-like dish.
The cappuccino arrives shortly after the main course. No fancy patterns dusted in cocoa, and its delicious. Probably is the best coffee we ever had in Turkey!
For dessert, we had a semolina halva its overly sweet and not suitable for those diabetic people. All in all, everyone enjoyed the meal and absolutely love this place.
***
Horozluhan Restaurant
Konya Turkey
Website:
http://www.horozluhan.com/

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Uranos Sarikaya Cave Restaurant Cappadocia Turkey

Uranos Sarikaya restaurant its in the heart of a cave in the mountain of Gerome area in Urgup. The atmosphere of the cave make you feel cool in the summer and perhaps even warm in the winter.
Dimly lit and outfitted with furnishings made simply tables, benches, railings, columns and doorways are carved in place from the stone of the mountain.
Some old farm equipment, Turkish carpet and such adorned the walls.
The travel agency took us to this cave restaurant for lunch. It is obviously a place that many tour guides take their clients. As you walk into the restaurant you smell the flavors of the foods from the kitchen. The staff led us past a the narrow passageway and to our table, which was located next to the center of the wall. Eating in the cave was fun, it was like we were explore back in the old days when christian hide and live in the caves.
This extraordinary restaurant also features an excellent Gerome Turkish specialties. For starters we had a corbasi soup with bread which was some meat, vegetables and bulgur its surprisingly light broth balances the flavor.
Turkish Mezze Platter
The appetizer was plentiful mixed mezze platter which includes haydari, freshly made cheese, and several other delectable was placed on the table.
Mezze is the meal of choice as everything looks tastes so good!
The staff showed us the content of the pot which was slow cooked beef stew or testi kebab is a Anatolia dish served in Gerome. Its essentially a large pot that is sealed in bread dough and put into an oven for an extended period of time.
To serve the dish, the clay pot is cracked open with a large knife and poured out and serve in individual plates with delicious rice as our main course. The meat is so tender and flavorful very similar taste between beef caldereta, mechado and afritada was quite interesting and difficult to explain, except to say that it was pretty good.
The next main course was a sliced of beef I loved this dish, it’s very beefy in flavor and the sauce is amazing. It tasted like Filipino beef asado it is also served with rice, we all opted for the same dessert  it was called rice pudding. The food was really delicious it's worth a visit would like to return some day.
***
Uranos Sarikaya Cave Restaurant
Akbel Mevkii 50500/AVANOS, Urgup Turkey
Website:
http://www.uranossarikaya.com/

Monday, August 27, 2012

Perissia Hotel Cappadocia Turkey

We stayed for 2 nights in this hotel. It was a wonderful getaway that was just a short distance to the town center of Cappadoccia downtown. Our rooms was very clean and spacious, but there is no electric kettle or even a bottle of mineral water. According to the reviews it was packed of group people but only a few or 4 buses in the parking area.
The restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel its features a very simple dining table setting with cutlery, glasses, tablecloths and bouquet of small flowers on their tables.
The above was the buffet spread decoration these wonderfully carved watermelons in the ubiquitous flower pattern that you can see in most Thai cuisines.
If you are a Mediterranean salad lover then is the place to be. It has an extensive range of Turkish-Mediterranean cuisine. The platter comprises of varieties of healthy vegetables, peas and beans salads, cheeses, local home grown fruits, desserts, stew dishes and etc.
We’re not major buffet fans, especially hotel buffets are best avoided back home in Taiwan. But I'm a big fan of healthy salads, and this one was particularly fresh and healthy which was baby spinach and other mixed green vegetables ,tangy red cabbage, sliced tomatoes, sweet corn kernel, shredded carrots with a cool yogurt dressing which was Turkish is famous for.
The soup of day was the white potato creamy soup. Although it's not my favorite, I find it satisfactory because we had been eating lentil soup almost everyday.
There was quite a lot of appetizer to choose from. So we grabbed a bit of each to try  was the grilled aubergine with yogurt sauce, peas, beans, herb and spicy feta cheese, cold and spicy chicken.
For my main course, I had a zucchini stuffed with ground meat and rice, grilled anchovies, chicken stew with pilavi or rice. I personally loved the anchovies!
Next we toured the pastry station, they offer cakes, and fruits desserts, too many showcase for desserts and I only captured a few of them. I'm too busy having making choices.
Chocolate fairy chimneys of Cappadocia
It was hard to narrow down our selection of choice’s desserts. I'm not sure of their actual names and describe them, but generally describe the captured.
There's a variety of good food for breakfast as well. I prefer savory breakfasts so, once I’ve grabbed the hotdogs cooked in tomato sauce, fried half cooked eggs, ham, sauteed tomato and eggs and Turkish bagel. Likewise the hotdogs quite similar texture and taste of Filipino hotdogs, one of my favorited h-dogs during my childhood until now. The second day after touring the Cappadocia area and went back in the hotel. Were planning to take a taxi and have a dinner in the Gerome downtown. But the weather didn't improved sometimes, it was rain heavy until late at night. So we ate our dinner in he hotel, the food it was the same meal. We felt it wasn't delicious at all and eat less! Overall the food was ok.
***
Perissia Hotel
Mehmet Dinler Bulvari, 25, Urgup 50400 Turkey
Website:

Friday, August 24, 2012

Tamara Restaurant & Cafe Istanbul & Tahiri Gar Lokantasi Ankara Turkey

Lunch at Tamara Restaurant & Cafe in Istanbul which is located near at Sultanahmet Blue Mosque. There is nothing more disappointing on our first meal in Turkey. The atmosphere itself was still great but it seems to be not very clean.
Our menu was pre-arranged by the travel agency. This is what we got for lunch: For starter, a yummy crisp, colorful salad and appetizing as hot summer weather ones.
Another favorite is the lavash bread, it was a huge pillow of puffed up thin and crispy bread, fresh from the oven.
The red lentil soup it tasted as good as it should be.
For the entree is the grilled chicken kabob platter it smelled so good with healthy dose of saffron. We loved it! It was moist and really tasty, wonderful! and nice pilaf rice that was flavored. All in all, we enjoyed the meal. If you’re in the area I recommend you give it a try.
***
Tamara Restaurant & Cafe
6 Kucuk Ayasofya Cd, Sultanahmet Istanbul, Turkey
Website:
http://www.tamararestaurant.com/
Tahiri Gar Lokantasi is located inside the railway station and has a good, old-fashioned and some would say historic!
The Tahiri Gar Lokantasi offers decent traditional Turkish cuisine. The decor and atmosphere of the restaurant is something retro such as 1940-60's classic venue. One side of the wooden walls is decorated with old pictures of the city and striking photos of Atatürk. The chandeliers added the sense of antiquity to this restaurant.
We were brought some slices of baguette, it was a bit dry and unnecessarily chewy, which made the dry baguettes tasted a whole lot better if you dip or dunk them in the soup.
We had a red lentil soup (again!) as an appetizer which was creamy and really good flavored.
Our main entree was adana kebab, a mildly spicy minced-meat kebab with rice, su böreği (water pastry or pie) some mixed veggies and mashed potato. The kebab it was a bit dry but very tasty and delicious indeed.
Finally this time we were serve with this tiny sliced baklava. Before we came in this restaurant, we even followed up the dessert with our Turkish local tour guide and skipped a plate of watermelon slices. Since we are in Turkey why not to enjoy and indulge the taste of Turkish cuisine. Overall, it was a fine experience, the food was good thou!
***
Tahiri Gar Lokantasi
Doganbey Mh, 06050 Ankara, Turkey

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Kadioğlu Şehzade Konağı & Safran Tat Safranbolu Turkey

Safranbolu is a UNESCO World Heritage City it is a small picturesque town full of old Ottoman houses and also famous with its lokums. The restaurant offers its own distinct style and beautifully decorated with brilliant details, which makes it a perfect spot is so romantic, peaceful and beautiful in the little garden with the fountain and such a perfect place for dinner. Since it was set by travel agency our expectation is not that high it's just the same meal for everyone. Before we arrived in Istanbul we really know what to expect. We always asked with our Taiwanese local tour guide if we had chance and there is any good restaurant near by the hotels we live every night and he has no idea, poor tour guide!
Anyway we had 4 course meal, which a bread, soup, salad, main course and dessert.
The salad was tossed in olive oil and lemon it was very simple, tangy, light and fresh salad.
The corbasi or lentil soup  came with lemon was a little to watery. The lemon adds zest to the soup, which is not actually needed, the soup would be fine without it.
Stir fried lamb together with a side of pilaf rice.  The lamb chopped were nice and tender, absolutely yummy it remind me again the pork sizzling sigsig in Philippines it taste quite a bit similar. The dessert is not baklava or anything one would fancy, but a plate of watermelon slices and grapes that the same dessert we just eaten at Tamara restaurant in Istanbul.
 ***
Kadioğlu Şehzade Konağı
No:8 Safranbolu Merkez, Safranbolu Karabuk, Turkey
Having walked around for sometime we had all gained quite thirsty. There was just enough time to make a quick stop in a small tea house and view over Safranbolu .
We never had saffron tea before and I am very pleased to have come across this blend. The saffron tea is a bright gold brew served with honey is apparent smooth, bold, earthy and delicious flavored tea also very unusual.  I certainly encourage readers to try their saffron tea. If you are planning to visit Safranbolu
Safran Tat was  taken in the evening


After filling up on the ample breakfast, we walk down the hill from the hotel to the old town center. One sweet shop is the main tourist shop is actually called Safran Tat decorated with candy or Turkish Delight. The little store sell baklava and one of the best high quality saffron in all Turkey and of course lokum it was more delicious! The prices are way cheaper than Istanbul.
I ordered take out some assorted of baklava which was really awesome and delicious with the pistacios on top, all soaking up their syrupy goodness.
 Baklava rolls
Chocolate baklava
 Walnut baklava
Last but not least is the gullac top with pistachio nuts. Overall, it's a good place and I'm sure a lot of heart goes into what they're doing. Their baklava is one of the best we ever had in Turkey.
***
Safran Tat
Safranbolu, KarabükTurkey