Guys, the turkish breakfast is a sight. In Turkish it is called kahvaltı, which literally means "before the coffee", and in fact it looks like a real lunch. It includes cheese (beyaz peynir, kaşar), butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam and honey, fresh bread and simit (the typical donut covered with sesame). The highlight is the menemen, a terrine prepared with eggs, tomatoes and green peppers fried in butter and olive oil. There beverage to accompany it is the mythical chay, the turkish black tea.
One of the best places to enjoy a typical Turkish breakfast is the Pierre Loti café-restaurant, a real institution here in Istanbul. It is found at Eyup, a chaotic neighborhood rich in history, surrounded by greenery and away from the most touristic circuits of the city, on top of a panoramic hill. You can go up here with the funicular: here is the Pierre Loti, a terrace that overlooks the waters of the Golden Horn.
It is a crowded literary café with small tables, checkered placemats and a truly romantic and evocative atmosphere: the café stands among the tombstones in an old cemetery… not transferable! The location is fantastic, the breakfast very good, the prices are average: calculated from 13 to 18TL for a full breakfast. To get there you can take a taxi from Eminönü (at the foot of Sultanhamet) or a ferry, direction “Golden Horn”.
