Food in Turkish Restaurants

Aloha Everyone,

They are rich, tasty and prepared with spices. One can appreciate the wonderful, strong influences of Italian and Greek cuisines or maybe it’s the other way with Turkey influencing Italian and Greek.

Restaurants are found in most unexpected places. For example, on narrow, slanted alleyways you find a small sign by a door and the restaurant is located on the roof.

J.J. and I have been treated to gracious service by an owner whose wife was in the kitchen preparing meals. For bigger, more flashy restaurants catering to tourists, the person who tries to get your business are aggressive. They try to converse in multiple languages to solicit a response. If you decline to sit in the restaurant, they could be rude. One day J.J. and I declined to be seated and chose the restaurant next door. When we finished our dinner, he asked us why we didn’t eat at his place.

Once you are seated, service is slow. Yes, even slower than in Greece. The staff is busy trying to get more customers. The two of us have no choice but to go with the flow.

Aloha -- Cathi