$0.70 Luxury Baklava in Istanbul 🇹🇷

I went on an Istanbul street food adventure of deliciousness, culminating in a trip to a famous handmade baklava delicatessen.

My Airbnb host had suggested that I visit a popular restaurant near the apartment called Suat Usta Mersin Tantuni. They specialise in 'Tantuni' which is crushed meat that is boiled in salted water and then fried on a large pan with cotton oil.

The best way to eat tantuni, according to the owner's son, is in a durum wrap and with lemon squeezed on top of it.

I tried both the beef version and the chicken one. The 20 lira ($2 USD) beef tantuni was the winner for me. The strips of beef are tender and aren't overly seasoned. There's no sauce added, so most of the flavour of the meal is coming from the beef, a nice meaty, natural taste.

I did find the tantunis to be a bit on the salty side, so I left the restaurant with a good thirsty. Fortunately I stumbled upon a fresh fruit juice seller and immediately ordered a large pomegranate juice.

My juice was made from two and a half large pomegranates, which the vendor squeezed the juice out of using a hand-powered juicer.

He showed me the pomegranates when he cut them in half, so I could see how fresh they were. Turkish pomegranates are always a deep, deep red colour and the taste is just as intense. In other parts of the world the pomegranates can be more pinkish and weaker in taste.

A large pomegranate juice cost 45 lira ($4.50 USD) which is a lot more than I'm used to paying when travelling in places like India, where the cost is more like $1 USD. Nobody said that travelling in Europe was going to be cheap!

Further up the street I found a place selling what I thought was some kind of kofte or Turkish meatballs. It turned out that it was vegetarian Çiğ Köfte, which didn't sound too appealing to me at first but the vendor gave me a free sample and it was nice, spicy and full of flavour.

I ordered a portion of Cig Kofte in a durum wrap. That and a cup of ayran (a local yoghurt drink) cost only 8 lira ($0.80 USD). By far the cheapest meal I've had on my travels for a long time.

After leaving the kofte joint I went on a dessert hunt. There's many shops selling local sweet treats such as lokum (turkish delights) but I was looking for somewhere with tables and chair so I could sit down and enjoy it there and then, rather than to take home.

I found Karaköy Güllüoğlu, a huge and very busy delicatessen with about 100 people sitting and enjoying baklava. I found my dessert place!

Karakoy Gulluoglu specialise in baklava and it's all handmade. At 7 lira ($0.70 USD) per small piece it's quite reasonably priced for what is a very premium baklava. Especially when you can dine in.

All the baklava was delicious but the personal favourite of mine was the chocolate one. Baklava pastry soaked in chocolate syrup, nuts, and chocolatey crisp pastry on top. An intense combination of flavour and textures that results in a very special little snack.

📍 Tantuni Restaurant: Suat Usta Mersin Tantuni
Address: Katip Mustafa Çelebi, Tel Sk. No:1, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

📍 Kofte Restaurant: Serince Çiğ Köftecisi
Address: Boğaz Kesen Cad. No:53, 34433 Beyoğlu/Istanbul

📍 Juice Vendor: Boğazkesen Cd. 43, 34425 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

📍 Baklava: Karaköy Güllüoğlu
Address: Kemankeş Cad. Katlı Otopark Altı No: 3-4, 34425 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

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Видео $0.70 Luxury Baklava in Istanbul 🇹🇷 канала Dale Philip