Posted on by admin

Notes on Istanbul

Most Of you know at least something about Istanbul. I just want to add some of my experiences. These are my Notes on Istanbul. I have a preference for where I stay and it’s near Taksim Square. Buses from either of the airports leave very close nearby every 30 minutes and there are quite a few hotels in the area which you’re not that expensive and which are well equipped. And you also have a good bus hub as well as the metro right nearby. The one thing you need to watch in this area it’s really geared towards the incoming and outgoing tourist which means most of the people who come to these shops in this area will never show up again. And that creates a very touristy attitude which is not typical of much of anything outside of Istanbul. Here I will give you some examples.

Chicken with vegetable Notes on Istanbul
There is a restaurant called Big mama’s. The food was very good. I ordered what’s on the plate and without asking they brought bread.
LamB fritter Notes on Istanbul
Then they brought something very tasty made of lamb and offered it to me saying, “it’s free”. Even though I didn’t need more food I accepted it. I also enjoyed it.
TEa Notes on Istanbul
Next they brought some tea saying, “it’s free“. You should note here that every restaurant in Turkey except for Istanbul brings tea after the Meal as a service, no charge. The total of what I ordered was 800. The bill was 1000. So obviously either the “it’s free“ was not really the case or as some people on Google maps reviews have indicated they like to charge a “service fee“ which in two months in Turkey I have never come across. But this is the tourist treatment. I didn’t complain about the bill. The food was delicious and the service was very good and the people were very nice so I didn’t mind the extra 200. But this is just one case of the tourist situation here in this small area. Almost every restaurant seems to have some little tourist thing going.

as you’re walking down the streets here you are constantly being requested to eat in the restaurant or come into the store so it can be a little bit irritating. Since it happens in almost every Second store, going to the metro station you may pass 20 of these people asking you to come in. I just smile politely and keep walking. One thing I should add, out of all of the restaurants I’ve been to in this little area near my hotel which I explained is near the bus station, all of the food was very good and of good quality except for one restaurant which I will never go back to again. So even if you’re facing the tourist tricks here I think the food will still be pretty good.

Soup and beer Bill Smale
The fellow outside this restaurant said he would give me a beer for 250 instead of the usual 400. There was only one table full and he said he wanted more customers to sit down so that it would look busy and more people would come in. I felt like I wanted a beer so I came in and I ordered the soup as well. The bread came without a request. Then I was reading a comment on Google Maps about the same situation here and a bill arriving with a much higher price than promised. The person was very irate. So I decided to take care of the situation by asking the fellow who called me in to remind me again of the price for the beer. He said, “no problem, I told everybody here to give you that price”. But when the bill came it was 400 for the beer which I expected knowing this is a tourist area. So I called the fellow over, showed him the bill. He explained to the fellow the situation and they changed the bill to the appropriate amount. So just watch out for this and resolve the situation in a quiet and friendly way.

There is an area of Istanbul I really like. The Uyghur and Mixed Race Chinese people from that area (a colony of Communist China) live in this area and have a variety of very interesting restaurants which are for the local people so you don’t get the frustrations of the tourist atmosphere. The food is really excellent in all the restaurants I visited and it’s very interesting food. It’s much different than Turkish food and you can get the Uyghur Style food or the Chinese types of food in this area. I opted for the Uyghur Style food since it’s new to me. The prices are very reasonable and as I mentioned before it’s all very delicious.

Uyghur food Bill Smale
This is at the Köklem Uyghur restaurant. I don’t know if they provide chopsticks but I didn’t request them because I always take my own. This was a eggplant and vegetable dish with very different flavors from the Chinese style.

From my hotel near Taksim Square I walk about five minutes to the bus stop and get on a bus that takes me directly to this restaurant in about 20 minutes.

Clean plate Bill Smale
As you can see I ate pretty much everything except for one and a half grains of rice.
Secret bus Bill Smale
I guess this was a secret bus going back to the airport.

Overall Istanbul is a great place to visit. You just have to slink past all of the people who are trying to pull you into their shops especially the ones trying to sell carpets. They are unrelenting. But just know that the rest of the country isn’t really like Istanbul. It’s much more relaxed, you don’t get the tourist treatment except for a few of the big tourist attraction areas, and the people are really Gracious , kind, honest and friendly. It’s a fantastic country to visit and spend time in. If you’re used to driving a car in Thailand then you can definitely drive a car here in Turkey And Car Rental prices are Reasonable.

Click inside the box to comment or subscribe to my blog.