Eat Like Ushi

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.

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!

On the morning before taking the ferry from Kadikoy to the airport, I made a dedicated hunt to find baklava. Luckily this slightly obscure place located semi-behind another cafe was found and the pistachio everything came into view.

I ordered a few different things, all variations on a theme - the dark green roll with a shiny covering, the soft green middle with pastry sides and the logroll pastry cylinder with nuts in the middle. I think my favourite was either of the first two as they had the most pistachio and syrup taste to really make the treat worthwhile. The finer nuts make a nicer texture than the harder full ones in the cylinder.

They aren't expensive. Try them all!

Pistachios and sugar are combined to form these wonderful pastry offerings.

I couldn't decide what I wanted so ended up with the slice of pie looking one. The pistachios are crunchy and the pastry is dense kataifi and not as sweet as it looks.

It wasn't as glorious as I'd hoped but a good snack after wandering around the Blue Mosque.

Unfortunately my fading memory and the space of time means that I forgot to attach my thoughts with these photos when I uploaded them.

Basta! is a modern take on the ever present (in the world) durum/doner kebabs. The way Jimmy Grants (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/jimmy-grants-melbourne-01-2014) transformed and modernised (even though the recipe is more traditional) souvlaki in Melbourne, Basta! has done the same in Istanbul. The chefs have Michelin-star experience and therefore bring the quality and prices along.

There isn't a lot of seating inside and there isn't any English translation of the menu. The staff try (with some difficulty) to explain what some of the items are, but in the end you'll probably be safe picking any of the durum. It was a mid-afternoon snack between lunch and dinner - perfect for the smaller size (but better in quality!). The hummus is a specialty of the venue also and if I had more stomach space or hadn't chosen the Sucuk durum, I would have ordered one of those too.

- Sucuk (homemade lamb chorizo, hummus) YTL21;
- Dana (smoked rib, pickle, mustard) YTL21.

Both were delicious with the quality of the grilled meats and sauces potently coming through. Even though I liked the thicker chunks of smoked rib meat, I was surprised to prefer the lamb chorizo. Maybe it was the spiciness or the hummus - either way I'd be keen to stop there if I ever find myself in Istanbul again.

Before driving off to Dalaman airport, a perfectly timed lunch at Fethiye fish market turned out to take longer to drive through some traffic and find an appropriate parking space, after a police car moved us along from a bus zone. Luckily there's a carpark near the waterside and then the fish marketeers can show you their wares.

After ordering your seafood, they clean it and prepare it before taking to a restaurant of your choice (or their's since who knows which one to go to...) and they cook it for a minimal fee. In our case we went to Recep's Place which was across from the fishmonger. Additional salads cost extra but the meal is cheap.

Seaweed and bean salad and zucchini flowers were all lovely. The zucchini flowers didn't have much seasoning and so the flavour and cheese stood out. Surprisingly the prawns had no flavour despite being grilled. I don't really know why and I like eating the heads for maximal prawn-ness also. The squid on the other hand were lovely with slightly creamy insides. I don't mind it but others may think it's undercooked.

I'd go back but I'd find somewhere different for prawns. I suppose I was drawn to that place because it was one of the few that had prices on the seafood to know what I was paying.

The Asian side of Turkey has a few coffee shops in close succession to get the mornings started. I don't drink coffee but the smell comes from the pure black offerings there which are strong and bitter. We did ask for a little milk just to temper it and I hope the hipster barista didn't get upset.

On the other hand I enjoyed trying salep, a warm drink made from orchid root, milk and cinnamon. It's similar to a horchata I suppose but probably closer to drinking a rice dessert (without the rice). It's quite thick and very sweet. Full of energy for the day ahead.