Slippers are any home’s staples in Turkey. Most likely the streets are not clean enough to permit the shoes worn outside to be used in the home because of the religious and social norms of living. Even for the likes of me who are more tolerant in this respect than the elderly and/or classical Turkish families, slippers are a heavenly leisure to increase the sense of homeyness.

This little store, hidden in a narrow passage on Tesvikiye Street, in the elegant shopping district Nişantaşı, is famous for its well-crafted, original hand made slippers. The slippers stacked up to the ceiling in lovely antique boxes dating back to the 1950s are mostly made of real leather. They also use some original woven materials. All are designed by the third generation of the same owner’s family. Their artisan workers are also the same old people taught by their masters and are now teaching another generation.

Narin slippers is on the shopping and stocking list of many famous Turkish people including the politicians, but also a very select international clientele including Kings from Arabic Countries to Tyler Brûlé, the founder of Wallpaper Magazine and the editor-in-chief of Monocle.

The real leather slippers do not need replacing for years to come, but you might want to stock up for different occasions, or simply for decorative purposes. Don’t forget your slipper-less friends!

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Narin Terlik | Shopping | Slippers from TL 145
Teşvikiye cad. Hak Pasajı 172/33 | +902122252871
10:00 – 19:30 daily

I do like making and having a good coffee, and transformed many indifferent friends of mine to coffee addicts, hence my nickname ‘coffee bender’. This recently opened small coffee shop called Kronotrop has immediately become my favorite in Istanbul: a true micro-roastery.

It is tiny, with seating available only for a couple of people, but the coffee is really good. The owner/barista uses high quality single origin beans roasted on site. One of the signs on the chalkboards says ‘Coffee snobs are welcome’, probably because the eccentric owner of the shop, Cagatay, is well equipped to deal with them. Afterall this place does not have much of a competitor around, as all the other places are serving mediocre, standard international mass fare.

Located on a side street just 2-3 minutes off the main pedestrian Istiklal Street, this place requires a bit of attention to find, and is well worth the detour for a proper fix of espresso or flat-white, or latte, and what not.

They also sell beans and grounded coffee, very kind to those who don’t have the opportunity to come over here everyday in this mega city. They sell some international newspapers as well.

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KronotRop | Coffee & tea | Latte (S) TL 5.50
Kuloğlu Mahallesi Yeniçarşı Caddesi No. 5/B | +902122499271
Mon – Sat 08:30 – 20:00, Sun 11:00 – 19:30

Ara Café takes its name from one of the most celebrated photographers of Turkey, Ara Güler. This cosy little café with a well appointed patio is located right under Ara Güler’s studio/atelier. The name ‘Ara’ in Turkish also means ‘side’, which perfectly suits the narrow side street location of this place, just few steps off the infamous Istiklal Street. Istiklal Street’s craziness makes anyone feel like taking a relaxing break, and this cosy place with cool and chill vibes is the right answer.

The photographs on the walls and the placemats are made by Ara Güler himself of course. You might see the photographer (he does not want to be called as the ‘artist’) sitting at one of the small tables during the day. He is the aged wise guy with an out of trim beard.

The menu offers a wide selection from Mediterranean – Turkish cuisine, and changes seasonally. One of their most famous dishes is Balkan Kofte (Balkan Meatballs). My personal favorite here is ‘Sigara Boregi’ (an exact translation would be: Cigarette Borek), a famous Turkish cylindrical pastry with cheese and potato filling. You might opt to have just a snack with a nice hot Turkish tea, or a mint lemonade with their infamous wet chocolate cake.

Ara Cafe is also good for snacks, providing nice people observing opportunities both from upstairs and the patio. Of course, the tourists would not know how many actors and actresses, playwrights and other renown people there are in the place at any certain moment.

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Ara Café | Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Turkish) | Balkan Kofte (meatballs) TL 18.50
Tomtom Mah. Tosbag Sok. No.8/A | +902122454105
Mon – Thu 07:30 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 07:30 – 01:00, Sun 10:00 – 00:00

Karakoy is one of the most inspiring districts of Istanbul. Very representative of the whole, this important piece of the puzzle has it all: History, modernism, art, shops, stalls, sea, boats, business, different kinds of restaurants, ongoing construction, and chaos. 

In this lively, chaotic district tucked in a historic passage way called French Passage Way there is Bej Cafe seeming very afar from all the chaos 10 meters away. 

The open plan space with a big long bar, colorful flowers, nice lamps, and an open terrace with long tables to share, feels like an oasis. Seasonal soups, delicious salads, wraps, and pasta are some of the menu highlights. The toasted German bread served with lemon butter, goat cheese salad and pasta along with a glass of wine are my favorites. They also have set lunch menus, and nice -maybe not very fulfilling, as some complain about the sizes of portions – breakfast options.

Though recently started to resemble a classic restaurant rather than a cafe-bar, you still can drop by for a coffee or a drink, and read your guide books or make plans for the rest of the day, after a meal in the more traditional restaurants in the neighborhood.

Saturdays they have happy hours between 17:00 – 21:00, again Saturdays after dinner there is DJ music till 02:00 in the morning, making it quite a party place. 

Right behind the main island of the restaurant there is Kagıthane, a stationary and gift store sharing the premises.

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Bej Kahve | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants | Beer TL 12
Kemankeş Caddesi Fransız Geçidi No.11 | +902122517195
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 00:00, Sat 10:00 – 02:00, Sun 10:00 -17:00

There is a Turkish proverb saying that ‘coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love’. Here at Galeri Set, you’ll find the most precious ceramic coffee cups to serve this ‘story’. 

In the maze of Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar there are several stores selling similar products but Galeri Set is admittedly a treasure. 

The most important thing about the owners of this 40 year old store is that they are so evidently passionate about what they do. They produce everything adhering to the originals of the Ottoman Palace Culture. Palace coffee cups, hand made according to the original gold leaf technique, come exactly in the same colors of the masters of the Ottoman Palaces between the 16th and 19th centuries. The colors of the founding years of Ottoman Empire are pink and turquoise, the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent is characterized by a deep coral red (see photo), green is the colour of the Tulip Period between the 1718 – 1730, the final years of Ottoman Empire is marked by a somber yellow, etc..

Tea cups, saucers, soup bowls, dessert carafes, pitchers, candy bowls are some of the products that would make an excellent Ottoman accent for your home or as gifts. From Queen Elizabeth to Fidel Castro, from the Presidency of the Turkish Republic to select international hotels, Galeri Set has many famous clients. The movie star Monica Bellucci preferred the coral red coffee cup for her coffee during her visit to the store, so they say .

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Galeri Set | Shopping
Mısır Çarşısı İçi No:78 | +902125263553
Mon – Sat 09:00- 19:00

In Turkey the best kebab chefs are from the Gaziantep city, so is the founder of Tatbak. Founded in 1960, on the same Nisantasi street in a small place with only three tables, the restaurant now has a two storey place accommodating almost 90 people.

Even the name suggests how confident they are: Tatbak means ‘Taste and see!’ Aside from the other traditional dishes and kebabs from Gaziantep cuisine, their Gaziantep style ‘Lahmacun’, thin and crust Turkish pizza with minced beef, is the strongest magnet for regulars. They bring most of the ingredients from Gaziantep.

You can order your Lahmacun with extra vegetables, parsley and tomatoes. They even have a ‘Lahmacun with aubergine’ option, which is a rare thing among kebab houses. Lentil soup, with lemon, is a good starter before the Lahmacun if you will not have any other main kebab dish. Don’t forget to order a Lahmacun salad, which is basically herbs, lemon, and tomatoes. The other kebap houses usually serve this on the house, but because the prices are rather low comparatively at Tatbak they serve this separately.

Apart from the traditional minced beef grilled on a skewer kebabs, the same recipe with minced chicken is as good (Urfa kebab, and Chicken Urfa kebab). As they have no other branches, upon strong demand they started to sell frozen vacuum packed Lahmacun’s.

They close  for two weeks in August. In 2012 the closing dates are 19 August – 03 September.

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Tatbak | Restaurants | Lahmacun TL 4
Valikonagi Cad. Akkavak Sok. No.28/A | +902122461306
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 21:00 (closed 1st 2 weeks of August)

In many supermarkets, in most countries you can find Turkish nuts and dried fruits. Yes, Turkey is indeed famous for its hazelnuts, roasted pistachios, pistachio kernels, dried sultana raisins, apricots, figs and all.

Guven Kuruyemis is the place if you want to sample best of these and many other organic dried fruits, and nuts. They have all the variety you probably cannot imagine of: dried plums, apples, pears, dates, mulberries, blueberries, different dried fruit pulps (‘pestil’, in Turkish) with or without walnuts, cashews, roasted chickpeas, etc…

Get some and eat them while you wander around Nişantaşı and most probably you will find yourself wanting to have another go for a bigger purchase. Their resealable packages are handy when it comes to carrying them in your bag for an emergency.

They have both of their two branches in Nişantaşı. They have e widespread loyal regular customer base, stocking up on every visit to Nisantasi. Yes, vacuum packages too are available. The other branch is their first, just around the corner, at Valikonagi Cad. No:50, Nisantasi.

They source and select everything they sell very carefully and re-process them in their own facilities: hygienic, organic, high quality. They are a tad pricier than anywhere else, but the quality and hygiene is well worth. Guven is the first dried nuts and fruits shop in Turkey with an official quality standard.

They have recently opened a big flagship store in Kemerburgaz, a chic suburban residential area. Not very touristic of a place, but just in case you pass by.

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Guven | Shopping, Snacks | Almonds, 100gr TL 4.50
Teşvikiye Cad. No:22 | +902122918596
Mon – Sat 08:00 – 23:00, Sun 09:30 – 22:30

Pideban is such a humble, down at heels place you could easily miss even if you specifically search for it. Not many Istanbul locals would know it, either. Luckily in Sariyer neighborhood many can finger point it.

Their most famous dish is ‘pide’, a flat pita or pizza like dough baked in stone oven which you get to see on the first floor. Although ‘pide’ is a staple of Turkish cuisine available in every other place, best versions are ‘Karadeniz Pidesi’, that is the Black Sea type just as you find here. You can have yours either with minced meat, or ‘kavurmalı’ (sort of precooked and frozen meat reheated ), or with incredible cheese coming right from Trabzon city of Black Sea. Not only the cheese, but almost everything used in ‘pides’ including the flour that makes them soo crispy, precooked meats, and butter all come directly from Black Sea Region.

Do not forget, the best friend of any ‘pide’ is the Turkish yoghurt drink: ‘Ayran’.

The delicious home made pickles served automatically are on the house!

On the upper floor various other typical home cooked Black Sea dishes are being presented on a window. Especially rice with Turkish anchovy (Hamsili Pilav), and ‘dible’, a dish prepared with green beans and some sort of cabbage called karalahana are ‘must’s. You can order them by ‘half a portion’ as is a tradition in similar restaurants in Turkey.

They have two other branches, both in greater Sariyer neighborhood. But this central one has the more comprehensive menu.

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Pideban | Restaurants | Cheese Pide TL 8.00
Dereboyu Caddesi No. 23 | +902122424239
10:00 – 22:30 daily

Karakoy Balıkcisi, does not even have ‘the restaurant’ connotation with its name. The name simply means: Karakoy Fish Seller. ‘Tarihi’ used at the beginning of the name is just an adjective meaning ‘Historic’, and founded in 1923 it is ‘historic’. Its location is rather quirky: just behind the Karakoy Fish market and adjacent run down coastline, in the very interesting and historic Ironmongers’ Market.

This unassuming, two story box-like place is open only for lunch, and they don’t serve any alcohol. Most customers are people working in Karakoy neighborhood and their business connections. And of course anyone who has had the chance of tasting their fabulous specials find a reason to come all the way from wherever they are. And mind you, in Istanbul’s heavy traffic, traveling just for lunch requires quite some time and a strong will.

The days’ fish along with their daily prices, and the other menu items are announced on a blackboard written with chalk. The most famous duo are the Fish Soup, and the Sea Bass cooked in Paper. Their fish soup is probably the best in town. They only use the fresh natural ingredients, that is no frozen shrimp or whatsoever. You can consult the stuff about what’s the best catch of the day.

Upon the strong demand the owners opened an evening venue, just next door. Called ‘Griffin Balık’ this second place has a stunning view of the old city. But the atmosphere in the original lunch place is ‘original’.

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Karakoy Balikcisi | Restaurants | Fish soup TL 8
Tersane Cad. Kardesim Sok. No.30 | +902122511371
Mon – Sat 11:30 – 15:30

While in İstanbul people always tend to ask me “what else could we visit/see”. If they are all through with the “classics”, I suggest they have a look at the Pera Museum.

The Pera Museum is very centrally located and with its periodical enticing exhibitions and constant collection exhibitions (i.e. Orientalist Painting / Anatolian Weights and Measures / Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics) it’s a must for me.

If you are into art where you can vision scenes of İstanbul and Daily Life in the Ottoman world between the 17th to the early 20th century you need to have a stop here.

The new temporary exhibitions in Pera Museum are as follows:

Manolo Valdes Paintings and Sculptures

8 May – 21 July 2013

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The Pera Museum | Art & culture | Entrance TL 10
Meşrutiyet Caddesi No.65 | +902123349900
Tue – Sat 10:00 – 19:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00