Istanbul Ambiance

When I lived in Arkansas, my studio apartment didn't have a dining room, so I never purchased a dining room table.  When I cooked at home, I usually just sat in a chair and ate my meals off of a folding TV tray that I had purchased for ten bucks at Walmart.  I'm not a bad cook, and most of what I made was probably fairly tasty, but when you eat your meals in an unappealing setting, the act of eating isn't particularly special, even if you're consuming Lobster Thermidor.

This past week in Istanbul, not only did I cook a delicious meal with a Turkish chef in a posh restaurant specializing in Ottoman Palace Cuisine, but I also had three delightful meals in unique settings which proves that ambiance is one of the most important ingredients you can add to a dish. 

The first interesting venue that I experienced was the historic Galata Tower.  In the U.S., restaurants in famous landmarks are often overpriced places that serve mediocre food, but the restaurant at the top of the tower was excellent and not more expensive than the run-of-the-mill kebob house I had eaten at the night before.  The Galata Tower was built of wood as a lighthouse in 528 by Byzantine Emperor Anastasius Oilosuz and rebuilt of stone in 1348 by craftsmen from Genoa.  The meal I had was delicious and the view across the Golden Horn to the Old City was unsurpassed.

Galata Tower

Interior of the restaurant

The view from my table of the Old City

The grilled sea bass and salad with walnuts and cheese were both outstanding

The second amazing place I had a meal was the outdoor cafe at the National Archeological Museum. It's a wonderful place to sit and relax among the ancient relics...no I'm not talking about the tour group of British retirees who walked by while I was eating.  Rather, the cafe is situated in a garden cluttered with old columns and other assorted stonework up to 2500 years old. And, for a little entertainment, your meal is accompanied by a small clowder of cats hoping stray crumbs land on the ground for their benefit.

The cafe at the National Archeological Museum

The final restaurant with wonderful ambiance was an outdoor place near my hotel in the Old City.  The Green Corner doesn't have the best food in Istanbul, but you'll get a good meal. The most-wonderful feature of the Green Corner is that it sits almost hidden in a jungle of trees across the street from Hagia Sophia. It is isn't every day that you have a 1500-year-old architectural and historical wonder staring down upon you while you eat.  That extra dose of ambiance makes the kebobs a little more tasty and represents a bit of an upgrade from eating one's meal off a Walmart TV tray.

The Green Corner Cafe

The view from my table: in the background, bleached by the sun, is the dome of Hagia Sophia