Into the labyrinth
Istanbul is a city of two continents, Europe and Asia. Over a long weekend of exceptional cuisine, John Blow meets locals while taking in the sights, both ancient and modern.
AGATHA CHRISTIE had good reason to stay in room 411 of Istanbul’s Pera Palace Hotel. Purposely sequestered from views overlooking the Golden Horn harbour of the beautiful Bosphorus Strait, the story goes that she was not to be distracted while writing Murder on the Orient Express.
If there’s any truth there, it was a wise decision. Fictional mystery would surely have made way for time immersed in the real life puzzle of the labyrinthine streets in what was once called Constantinople.
In 2024, it’s a place where sixth century domes compete for attention with bazaars, or the smell of street food, strokes for the omnipresent cats and dogs, or a walk along the water to see this sprawling home to at least 16 million people over 39 districts – all spread over a major metropolis straddling both Europe and Asia.
Ayşem Erginoğlu, our encyclopaedic tour guide, says Istanbul is like a “bridge connecting the West to the East. Therefore the culture was grown that way too, so you find in the city lots of contrasts – from history to very modern, from, I would say, conservative to very liberal.”
No such history can be summed up here, but over the centuries it has seen Roman (the Byzantine Empire) and Ottoman rule, before the modern republic was created in 1923 with founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as its first president (there are still large posters of this beloved figure around the city).
There are certain world renowned monuments: the Galata Tower, built in 1384 by a community of Italian immigrants mainly from Genoa. Further back in history is the Hagia Sophia, originally a Byzantine church constructed between 532 and 537, which was converted to a mosque and is considered one of the world’s great buildings. Facing it is the Blue Mosque, built 11 centuries later and known for its magnificent colour inside.
Likewise, we find ourselves close to the Rumeli Fortress, built in 1452, on an unseasonably sunny morning when we stop for a traditional Turkish breakfast at Kale Cafe & Restaurant. This eatery, near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, is visited mainly by locals. What’s served is hearty and varied, sweet and savoury fare, with highlights including bal-kaymak (buffalo milk cream with honey), tahinpekmez (tahini mixed with grape molasses), muhlama (flour, butter and cheese, pan fried – this delicious stringy predicament is one for Instagram), and baharatli peynir ezme (crumbled cheese with herbs and spices).
Along the promenade towards Bebek there are lines of fishermen prospecting for sardines at the edge of Bosphorus’ narrowest point. Present also are some of the city’s famous residents – the sort with four legs and a tail. Free-roaming cats and dogs here enjoy a fuss and, treated with love, live harmoniously with humans.
A look at the fashionable quarter of
Nişantaşı reveals a different scene, where many of the luxury brands live, including Vakko, the department store named after native businessman Vitali Hakko. But the city has its artisan producers too. In an old, gated complex near Taksim Square, a mini commune of women crafters can be found. Tülin Bozüyük, a former classical ballet dancer, set up her pottery shop, Atelier Touline, five years ago in the studio where the famous ceramicist Füreya Koral once also worked and lived. Tülin had been in the wine business for 12 years and opened her own restaurant but was struggling to find the plates she wanted. After taking classes herself, she “fell in love with the ceramics, with the kiln and the mud”.
Her neighbours are Pinar Yegin, an artist whose walls are filled with her charming tile sculptures, and Alkimia, an alchemy shop devoted to the “magical and mystical”.
In the evening Mürver, a Michelin-recommended top-floor restaurant, not only serves well-rendered lamb but a stunning nocturnal vista over the strait too.
“So, today we will be on a different continent,” says Ayşem the next morning, outside the Galata Istanbul Hotel, our very comfort
‘A walk along Bagdat Caddesi, a popular area for shopping and dining, shows how the Asiansideisa more relaxed prospect.’
able accommodation (above which we enjoyed delicious mezes at the Mesai Karaköy restaurant). A walk along Bağdat Caddesi (Baghdad Street, or avenue), a popular area for shopping and dining, shows how the Asian side is a more relaxed prospect.
The Moda neighbourhood is all about cafes and culture, where visitors will find parks and plenty of teahouses. For the price of a drink, customers can take their own picnic and enjoy a waterfront view under a canopy of pistacia atlantica – a species of pistachio tree.
Kadiköy Market, nearby, is the place to be for food lovers: where olives have been pickled with blueberries to become a luminous purple; or to try Tulum cheese, so strong the mouth tingles after being ripened in the skin of goat; and where Çiya Kebap, the celebrated restaurant of Musa Dağdeviren, once featured on the Netflix show Chef ’s Table, can be found. This is outstanding traditional Turkish food, including pistachio kebab, lavash bread and perde pilav, a wedding dish of rice with chicken, onion, currants and almonds, served in pastry.
Later, simit (sesame pretzel) bought on the street is also delicious – and the gulls think so too. It’s common to throw treats from the ferries for birds as they fly alongside. Keep your head up, though, and behold the city’s landmarks.
As the trip comes to an end, Ayşem says that Turks have an expression, “Şeytan tüyü”, meaning the devil's feather – possessed by those who can charm and convince others easily. It seems to me that the people of Istanbul embody their own idiom.
The visit was courtesy of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency. Hotel: the Galata Istanbul Hotel – MGallery, www.thegalataistanbul.com. Flights: Turkish Airlines, www. turkishairlines.com/