Eating in Istanbul.

As I have mentioned a million times before, a lot of young people live in Istanbul. What does that mean?

-This means people barely eat at home.

First of all, the kitchens I have seen visiting my friends' apartments are all small. There is not much space to maneuver. Secondly, there are places to eat out everywhere. The part of city I live in, the restaurants have put chairs and tables even on streets. And Finally, there are enough cheap places to eat. You can find a filling meal as cheap as $4.

I myself, who pride in cooking at home and staying economical, usually have one to two meal out in the restaurants. In addition, I want to learn about Turkish delicacy which obviously I do not know how to make. All I eat at home is breakfast (tea, cereal, eggs, bread, pasta and other easy things).

So what do people eat here?

Burger King: One of the most favored fast food chain 

There is apparently everything. The American and European Fast food and coffee shops, chain grocery stores (sorry, I have not seen Hyvee, Target or Walmart yet. Though Aldi might be here). "Doner" is a big thing where meat is roasted on a rotary and layers are chopped off as they are cooked. This roasted meat makes a variety of meal. Even though, Turkish food is a common choice, there is a craze for all kinds of variety. Thank you globalization! Chay and Nargile (hookah/shisha) is a very common thing and there are plenty of cafes and restaurants that serve these ethnic things.

Nargile in the making: My flatmate preparing one for the night

I know you will definitely ask about tipping culture. Although I have been told that servers "expect" tip I have never seen anyone actually tipping. Not even to the guy who brings your home delivery. In self service restaurants you leave your seat after finishing your meal without taking care of your tray and leftovers.

Home delivery reminds me of this amazing service they have in Turkey. There is a website called "Yemek Sepati" (literal meaning: food cart) yemeksepeti.com where you can order any kind of food from any restaurant (listed on the website) in no time (without having to tip your server too). Since the city is so big, I understand these kinds of service can sustain easily. Some people have told me that there is such a big competition that you have to incorporate these services.

Half eaten Tavuk Doner Porsiyon

Porsiyon means meal. So if you want to have a meal of say chicken doner, you ask for "Tavuk Doner Porsiyon". You will be served the meat from the rotary with some veggies or rice, some fries and other condiments. In fast food restaurants, if you want a combo you ask for "menu". Once I was trying ask for a meal and used words like "combo", "meal", etc and nobody understood what I was asking for.

A screenshot of my yemeksepeti page

It seems like Turkish people love mayonnaise. They have mayonnaise and ketchup with most of their meals.  But I have never seen any mustard around. That must be a thing here.

Well, these are the basics I have learned so far. I will be describing about particular food in future posts. There much more to eat here and time is running out very fast. So, I am off to get some food now. Or should order at "Yemek Sepeti" (I have not done that by myself yet)?
Have a knowledgeable day everyone.

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