Eat Like Ushi

After failing to enter Szimpla Kert on Friday night and taking a leisurely stroll through the premises on Saturday morning (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/szimpla-kert-budapest-11-2017), the advice from a tour guide overheard there was to go to a different more local and quieter ruin bar in the evening.

I read about a few ones online and liked the sound of Csendes. Somewhere to drink, chat and play boardgames. Unfortunately they didn't have any board games but they did have a DJ playing very old tracks off vinyl one after the other (not DJing as such), a good atmosphere of what seemed like mostly foreign non-English language and some good drinks.

As with the other ruin bars the walls are covered in random junk including encouragement (I assume) to add your mark to the walls.

If I'm ever back in the city with friends for drinks, this will be on the list.

Szimpla Kert is *the* ruin bar to visit as a tourist. It's the original and the decor is so very eclectic and interesting. I obviously only saw one other ruin bar to compare with but people who know best online have agreed it such. It's the place to be when you want to hear English and as a result the difficulty and competition to get in during the evening with the drunk young crowd is really only if you want to be one too. And likely sweat amongst them also. I don't doubt the atmosphere is fun though.

A recommended way for the less imposing is to visit easily during the day when everything is quiet and subdued. There is a very nice looking farmer's weekend brunch buffet that I would have liked to try and otherwise coffees and housemade lemonades to choose from.

I think I preferred it this way and finding another quieter ruin to peacefully drink and chat in the evening (which ended up being Csendes http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/csendes-budapest-11-2017).

After arriving and finding most things closed or closing, we thought we'd try our luck getting into Szimpla Kert. On a Friday night at 2330pm I didn't realise how ridiculous that sounds even in cold and slightly rainy November. Luckily and coincidentally there is a collection of food vans next to it with some broken heaters (not so lucky), warm mulled cider and decent food.

I wanted to try langos and found the modern take in the form of a burger 1450HUF. The guy didn't have ANY change and so I ended up overpaying by 150HUF for the version with grilled paprika, rocket and sheep cheese. The langos bread is deepfried dough without much seasoning. It takes like deepfried dough and a much milder (which is fine) version than the Chinese donut. The beef was meant to be medium (at the guy's suggestion) but was thin and cooked more. Nonetheless it was juicy and tasted very good with dripping juices mixing with the vegetables.

The chimney cake 1300HUF seen ubiquitously in the city was a big log of dough turned over charcoal then sprinkled with sugar, in my case coconut sugar. It's quite firm and chewy when hot and becomes much more dense when it cools. It's expensive and huge and I wouldn't get it again.

There's also pizza and other burgers to pick from. Next time I would go for the langos burger again or the standard langos pizza (and make sure I get exact change!!)

On a day of hefty rain and waiting to leave Budapest after a morning bathe, Stika was warm, steamy and busy. Groups continually turned up only to be turned away while a lucky few managed to squeeze onto the tables and us at the window counter. The owners apparently wear bowties but none did today but I wonder if the two guys running the place were indeed them.

The chai latte with soy was a reasonable offering from a city I wouldn't expect to do so, with cinnamon and not too much syrup or sweetness. Fresh OJ was frothy as expected.

- Stika breakfast 2390HUF - 1 well made soft-yolked fried egg, grilled sausage, excellent strong salty crisp bacon, with some salad, weak mustard and some bread slices. It was a decent offering in my search for Mangalitsa although I suspect if it was, it would have been advertised as such;
- Veggie burger 2390HUF - this was a new offering and a good one. It featured a mushroom patty which was overwhelmed by the amount of cheese lying under it and a circle of brie above it. Not so much for me but one for the cheesheads.

It's only 10mins walk to the 100E bus stop to the airport and so made for a well timed and positioned lunch.

Eating out around town is relatively expensive (with the exception of fried chicken and curry) and so I've been keen to try places with soft opening and weekday discounts. Sager + Wilde is a wine bar that is hidden off the main streets of Bethnal Green by a huge and ugly construction site of assumably apartments.

Luckily the weekday deal from 5-7pm of pasta + house wine for £10 is there to make it worth my while going to try. The insides are warm and cosy looking.

- Pappardelle with aged beef ragu + whipped ricotta - quite al dente fat pasta with a excellent meaty flavoured ragu;
- Spaghetti with brown crab + cacio e pepe - (not fully pictured) quite al dente in a thick cheese/oil sauce;
- Buttered greens £3.5 - simple flavoursome vegetables;
- Fried potatoes + tonnato sauce £4 - excellent crisp potatoes topped with mayonnaise, anchovy bits and capers. Really delicious.

An excellent deal for £10 with the sides adding different flavours and filling up the stomach. Would happily go back.

For breakfast overlooking Taksim square...

You'd think that given the popularity of doner kebabs at 3am all over the world that Istanbul would have the same drunk food. And yes there certainly is, but the reputation is overshadowed by the islak burger. It is at it appeared in the photos - a soggy humidified burger with a salty patty.

I had the pleasure of trying one sober (opportunistic) and can happily say I don't need to have it again.

It may seem like a much better idea when completed wasted though...

Back in the days before the ease of internet restaurant reviews (let alone in English) it was a much harder effort finding places. Due to a combination of my Rough Guide to Europe and the casual wandering around Taksim for a couple of days, I ended up at Zubeyir in search of a good grilled meal.

The seating in front of the charcoal meats is the perfect location of watching the choices go from raw to smoke to yours.

Delicious.

There's a few reasons to go to the Asia side of Istanbul - to view Sultanahmet from the ferry, to wander through the food markets, to get away from the hordes of tourists, and lastly to eat at Ciya.

Before the easily accessible days of tourist Google maps, I didn't know where Ciya actually was within the Asia side. After asking in a bakery and confusing them with my mispronunciation, we eventually worked it out (it's pronounced "chi-ya") down the road. I didn't realise there are actually two branches of this and there wasn't any information online back then on the difference. Apparently the full restaurant is better than the kebab one (as I recently read in 2017), but I'm sure both are ok.

These days there's still no more famous restaurant in Istanbul, at least on the Asia side, but there's plenty more reviews available and choices.

I'll make a more dedicated effort to be back there when I return to Istanbul one day...

I struggled to find lokum (aka Turkish delight) in Kadikoy. You wouldn't believe it but it's true. Leaving the hotel I asked the reception and luckily he knew a place enroute. It was easy to find along the main street downwards and I suppose I hadn't previously ventured along that road all the way down to the ferry area.

There were many choices of lokum in all different flavours.

I'd tried many since coming home and each have that perfect lokum gummy texture. I have to admit the flavours generally aren't my style and so I think I'm happy sticking to baklava when it comes to Turkish takeaway desserts now.

But everyone is different!