Miss. Delicious #73 : Gulhane Sark Sofrasi in Sultanahmet!

Dear Steemit friends:

Did you know that the Michelin Star Restaurant Guides were first published over one hundred years ago to help travellers (primarily motorists) with useful information relevant to their travels? The first editions did not include information for dining, rather, it had information like where to stay, petrol stations and garages for repairs. Later, the guide began including reviews of dining establishments!

Over the years, it has become a de-facto standard for those looking for fine dining establishments to wet their appetites. No doubt the guide has provided many hungry travellers with important reviews of where to eat whilst on their travels in foreign lands.

Although Miss. Delicious has been existence for just one year, we've already had the pleasure of visiting and reviewing over 70 different dining establishments all over the world! In the future, the whole catalogue of dining establishments may prove to be useful for prospective travellers in all of these wonderful locations.

Today, Miss. Delicious will be visiting a little gem of a restaurant in the heart of the Sultanahmet (Old City), Istanbul.
Whilst a world of difference from the Michelin Star establishments in terms of it's luxury dining experience, getting a taste of authentic Turkish food is nevertheless an extremely rewarding experience, particularly in the historical centre of Istanbul.

Let's proceed and find out what awaits us!

Gulhane Sark Sofrasi is the restaurant that we'll be visiting today. Located at the South-West corner of the Gulhane Park, it is perfectly situated for visitors taking an afternoon break from visiting the numerous historical sites of the area.

As you can see, the restaurant is not trying to present itself as a fine dining establishment, instead it retains the old rustic feeling akin to the area and integrates perfectly with the old city's surrounding architecture.

A very colourful string of rainbow umbrellas decorate the outside seating area of the restaurant, making it rather easy to spot the restaurant which is otherwise much like any other in the area.

As we know, the Turkish flag is red, and thus represents the colour of the country. The restaurant stays humble to this colour "nomenclature" and uses predominantly red for it's table clothes and chairs. I really love how vibrant the red colours are because they serve as a reminder that we're eating at a traditional Turkish restaurant that has been family run for it's entire history.

In other parts of the world, the rainbow colours would represent LGBT pride, but in Istanbul and Turkey, they represent a vibrant country that yearns for peace in tumultuous political times.

The small vase of flowers further reinforces the feeling of harmony and peace, which I think go very nicely with the already very rich colour scheme of the restaurant.

Like many foreigners visiting Turkey and experiencing the culture for the first time, I was confused as to what these pots were used for. There were dozens laid out on the pavement just adjacent to the restaurant, all neatly stacked with aluminium foil wrapped over the opening.

My initial assumption was that they were used pots for storing some kind of snack and left outside to dry in the sun. Perhaps they might have been used as an instrument for fermentation.

Of course, I had to ask the waiter and he quickly informed me that they are used for a special kind of Turkish Kebab where the meat is cooked inside the pottery over a live fire and serves as a sort of mini kiln.

The Menu

First up, we have the cold appetisers, on the left we have the Haydari which is a kind of Turkish Yogurt Dip. It consists of strained yogurt with herbs and garlic. To me, this seemed to be the all encompassing sauce which complements all sorts of other foods.

Next to it, we have the Turkish Salsa Salad which is a mixture of Tomato, onion, peppers, garlic and parsley, I do love the slightly sweet and sour taste of it with a touch of spice.

I even tried it with the Haydari on the Pita bread. Very appetising indeed!

Tuna Salad - A very Tuna heavy salad complemented by several different kinds of herbs. Although Tuna salad's can be enjoyed in all parts of the world, the extra herbal tastes of this Tuna salad makes it very unique to Turkey and is worth a try!

Moving on, we have the hot dishes, first up, the Shrimp Casserole which is baked with mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers and garlic. Usually I expect a dish like this to be quite thick in texture and very creamy but this dish was not creamy at all, the complexion of the sauce appears to come from the juices of the shrimp and vegetables making the dish seeping with natural flavour!

I was so surprised to see the Pottery Kebab served directly from the pot itself! The waiter came over with the tiny jug and smashed it open with a big knife to reveal this delicious smelling baked Lamb dish, garnished with tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onions and garlic!

The vessel helps to retain all of the taste of the food whilst it is being cooked, saving all of the rich food aroma for the very moment it is served to you!

Still missing my grilled snapper from Bahamas, I decided to try out the Grilled Sea Bass which looked very delicious on the menu. This was actually Tania's choice but of course, we always like to share our food to get a good taste of everything!

It turned out to be every bit as delicious as it looked, me and Tania were so happy with it! Not quite the same taste as the snapper and certainly thicker in texture. The sea bass had a barbecue taste to it and with it's thick meaty flakes of meat, it had a lovely rich buttery taste. Incredibly delicious!

Finally, the infamous Turkish Baklava. No visitor to Turkey should leave without trying this sweet dessert pastry full of rich nutty pistachio flavour. The pistachio's are some what a home grown phenomenon in Turkey and are produced in over 56 provinces in Turkey. No wonder these desserts are so popular!

After lunch, we decided to go for a walk around the old city. These little cafe's can be seen dotted around the old city walls, and there are many people who are hiding from the sun whilst enjoying some coffee / tea and shisha!

This is one of the corners to the Hagia Sophia Mosque, now used as a carpet museum.

Actually, there are carpet stores all over the old town. The textiles produced in Turkey are very well known and some people travel all the way from China just to buy them and ship them back!

The old streets are amazing for little walks back into time. Here, there are no cars as they are prohibited from accessing the pedestrianised area.

Another angle of the Hagia Sophia

Along the path, I found these new houses which were built against the old city wall.

Here you can see what I mean about the houses being built against the old city wall. You can even see one of the gates to the other side of it.

And that wraps up this edition of Miss Delicious!

Thank you for joining me on this culinary trip through the old town part of Istanbul. As my first proper meal in Turkey, I couldn't be more pleased with the quality of the food, the friendliness of the restaurant staff, and how incredibly rich in culture the whole place feels.

Even though I'm accustomed to living in modern cities, I really appreciate how much history has been preserved in this area. Whether it's the style of architecture, or the food, both give me a strong sense of the Turkish culture which I have experienced so little in my life!

As always, I appreciate your upvote if you liked my post, don't forget to follow me for more updates, and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

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在过去，米其林作为知名的轮胎制造商，为当时开着车满世界跑的游客们提供了来自全世界的美食旅游指南。在Steemit上，我的Miss delicious也为大家提供了来自各个国家的旅游美食推荐，至今为止，已经有70多篇美食日记以供大家在旅游中参考啦。希望在未来，我也会有像米其林一样有自己的书籍，为全世界的游客推荐好吃的餐厅。

来到了这个充满传奇色彩的神秘国度土耳其，怎么能不尝尝这里独具异域风情的土耳其菜，今天我就带大家走进土耳其的老城区，探索一家大家公认的味道五星餐厅，这是一家主营烧烤，土耳其料理和海鲜的餐厅。蕴藏土耳其历史精华的老城区，就像一片小街小巷组成的迷宫，非常热闹，前面这家挂着一排彩虹伞和翠绿的小盆栽的餐厅，就是我们今天的目的地了。那鲜艳的土耳其民俗图案的红桌布，还有桌上透明花瓶里彩色的小花，都是这家餐厅的亮点。然而最大的亮点，还是要数土耳其特色的瓦罐炖肉的小瓦罐，一排排摞起来，整齐的沿着马路一字排开，瓦罐上还抱着锡纸，用于隔热，这大概是这家店一天卖出的瓦罐炖肉，可见生意非常好呢。于我而言，这拍小瓦罐倒更像是艺术品，述说这这个国家神秘的文化背景，激起了我摄影的欲望。

虽然我是Miss delicious，但是对于土耳其菜了解不算多，在平日的生活里也很少吃到。土耳其菜其实属于世界三大菜系之一，世界三大菜系包括中国菜，法国菜，还有就是土耳其菜了。土耳其菜的特点在于突出原料，例如肉类和奶制品的自然风味。这是餐厅的菜单，干净整洁的版面设计，而且都配有食物的图片，对于刚刚来到土耳其，对于这里的地方菜还非常陌生的我，是很大的帮助。图片边上详细的标出每道菜所用配料，可以让刚到土耳其，还在云里雾里的游客们，顺着图片，更加直接的选择出自己所爱的口味，我选择了几样还算有特色的菜品，下面就一起来尝尝吧。

首先上来的是土耳其几乎每家餐厅标配的小料，土耳其特制酸奶和salsa沙拉，虽然这两样小菜，在任何一家土耳其餐厅都有，但是对于我来讲，真的是百试不厌呀，这两样小料不仅是白搭，和所有的食物搭配在一起都超级好吃，单口吃味道也很丰富，我最喜欢的是这个salsa沙拉，里面有切碎的番茄，辣椒，还有一些特殊小料，吃起来酸酸的，有点微辣。吞拉鱼沙拉，不仅色泽鲜艳，味道也好极了。土耳其特色的黄油烤虾，味道非常新鲜，感觉就像今早刚刚打捞上来的。

接下来就是大名鼎鼎的瓦罐炖肉，里面有番茄，牛肉和鸡肉，吃起来就有点像咱们的砂锅番茄牛肉，配着米饭，非常好吃又鲜美。Tania点了烤鱼，我偷吃了几口，味道简直太棒了，鱼肉很软很香。我和Tania开心极了，碰个杯预祝我们这趟土耳其星月之旅的惊艳开场。这家店的老板非常热情好客，和我们聊天，还送我们甜品和茶，这个就是土耳其的经典甜品Baklava果仁蜜饼，这是一种加了果仁，蜂蜜，糖浆的酥皮点心，吃起来口味浓郁，味道真的是超乎我想象，我怎么也没有想到土耳其的点心原来这么好吃，甜腻的味道让我想起了咱们那的沙琪玛，很香很酥脆。据说这个甜品也是阿拉伯伊朗等国家常见的点心。

填报了肚子，沿着老城的坡路，一直走上去，两边有许多小小的很有情调的咖啡馆，除了音乐，美酒和咖啡，这里还提供各种口味的水烟，如果有充足的时间，真的可以坐在这小沙发上一下午。再接着散步，消消食，山坡上还有一些豪华精致的小房子倚着城墙盖起来，在房子间隔的深处，还能看见那满是历史痕迹的古老城墙，走在这样舒心的羊肠小道，真是有种意犹未竟的感觉呢。希望大家喜欢我们今天的伊斯坦布尔老城美食探索，接下来还有更多非常有特色又美味的土耳其小吃食记再等着和大家分享。