Tag Archives: Restaurant

Villager’s Breakfast

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Ohh My Goodness. My first morning here we went out for brunch at place where they serve “Villager’s Breakfast.” To get there we drove up into the mountains and through the village. We arrived at the Restaurant. It was beautiful.


An open air establishment, they had designed the whole area around these big fat trees that must be a hundred years old. The restaurant was made of different levels of patios and wooden platforms constructed around the trees, and a stream running through the middle. It was a hot day, but nice and cool under the leaves, with the mountain breeze, and the fresh air from the water. It was rustic, here is the Mama hen and her chicks that were running around. Bülent is positive that she clucked in condemnation when he started feeding the chicks sugar cubes.


This is the duck couple that came by later. They were conversing pretty intently.


And the food. Bülent and his parents ordered sucuk omelets, and I had menemen. So tasty. The meal came with fresh warm bread, honeycomb, three types of cheese, olives, cucumbers and tomatoes, butter, homemade strawberry jam, peppers nuts and tea. Marmaris is known for its honey, and the honeycomb spread on bread was just about the best thing I have had. I will be looking for it later. After I take a run. Or eight.

Tales from Amasra No:2

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The Food

Amasra is a small village on the edge of the Black Sea, and to get there you must drive up the mountains, and once you reach the crest you can see the Black Sea below you and the town of Amasra nestled at the base of the mountains. The story is that when Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmet the Conqueror) conquered Amasra, when he arrived on the top of that hill he asked his second in command“Lala, could this be the Çeşm-i Cihan (eye of the world)?”

And that is where the first meal was, a a restaurant called Çeşm-i Cihan. In Amasra it is redundant to call a restaurant a “Fish Restaurant.” Because that is what they served. Seafood, and drinks. No menus. You are given a choice between two different fish as a entree. Salad comes with the meal. What I love about Turkish salads is that they often come with herbs in them, which make they a little zingy. This salad was particularly good and included, pickled beets, green onions, green garlic, lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions (soaked to get the bite out) dill, mint, tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage.

An appetizer, shrimp casserole. Super delicious, word to the wise, if you mispronounce shrimp in Turkish it easily sounds like drunk. Just an FYI, not that I did that repeatedly.

This was our fish, very tasty, though I forget the name of it, so I have posted it in its natural state below.

After we went to a Farmers Market (Pazar) where the locals were selling all sorts of great stuff. I carry a small Turkish/English dictionary with me which clears up all sorts of things. Like why the blackberry jam tastes like plums (Mulberries) or Why that cheese is decidedly tangy (water buffalo). And let me tell you, these women work hard.

Tons of different types of preserves from jams to different types of pickles, dried fruit, fruit leather, home made cheese and fresh vegetables. One look at their hands took all the fun out of haggling. They were clearly hard working hands.

The Second Day
Tasty Salad

Whiting

Red Mullet: Super Delicate. While you are able to eat the WHOLE thing I just could not bring myself to eat the heads(still had eyes) or the tails.

Dessert was particularly tasty. We did not have sesame halva, but yogurt with honey. Specifically water buffalo yogurt, which is so rich and creamy it is cut into squares to be served, and the honey on top was local, with a very pungent flavor. Well suited to the creamy yogurt, normally it has crushed walnuts on top, but due to my allergy we asked them to hold the nuts. Just in case you think I am a complete and total pig, all these meals were served family style, so orders were shared among several people.