It’s
a shopping mall.
No,
it’s a restaurant and beer garden.
No
it’s a wine and book store.
There’s
a new place in Istanbul that’s actually all of these things. This new high-end
gourmet food market, complete with a dozen restaurants, flower shop, wine
store, fish market and more all rolled into one, just opened last week.
Mahalle, which means neighborhood in Turkish, is located on the top floor of City's
Mall in Nişantaşı.
Last
week on my way home from the metro, I popped into the top floor of City’s and
checked out the newly opened Mahalle. It's strange, expensive but still kinda
cool! As one of my expat friends
here exclaimed, Mahalle is like the Turkish version of Eataly
in NYC!
The
gigantic open floor plan contains the likes of NYC
Nathan's Hot Dogs (the 1st in Turkey), Günaydın Steakhouse, Wagamama for Asian
cuisine, Rigatoni for Italian, Mano Burger for a hamburger and fries, Komşufırın
for freshly baked bread, Namlı Şarküteri (without having to go all the way to Eminönü) and Malatya Pazarı for bulk
dried fruits and nuts.
It’s
like they took many of my favorite stalls around the the Mısır Çarşısı and fancified it
all! Honestly, I'd still prefer to go to the former, but it was fun to look around.
You
can even get Guinness and Hoegaarden on tap at the small beer garden area in
Mahalle!
To
complete the neighborhood feel, you’ll also find a baklava stand, a coffeeshop
by Caribou Coffee, a (pricey) döner stand by Yanar Döner and a few other random
stands throw in at Mahalle.
After
you’ve emptied your wallet and filled your stomach or shopping bags, you can even
stop by the section called Home Delivery; and what else, but have your bags
delivered to your home whenever you choose. You may finally be able to have
wine delivered to your front door in Istanbul!
For
anyone who's a foodie, Mahalle is worth checking out in Istanbul!
 |
| Rigatoni Restaurant located at the new Mahalle in Istanbul. |
 |
| Warm and comforting ev manti for a cold wintery day! |
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| Not sure how I feel about this very odd selection of döner kebab being offered at Mahalle. |
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5 comments:
that place looks like fun. there was something like that when i lived in toronto. are the hot dogs all beef? i guess no pork!
Not so sure about the chocolate doner either! Sounds like a really fun place to explore.
Guinness just 10 minutes from us! You are always providing vital information!! I had no idea about this place.
@Joyce, Fun to look around! All beef hot dogs but at least Nathan's is a decent hot dog. :-)
@Manya, Yeah, the chocolate doner and the Mexican one kinda turned me off. A doner should be plain and simple.
@Julia, you are welcome! I'm glad my blog is helpful at times. You see so much more when you walk around in Istanbul.
For Wagamama alone I'd go there every day.... jealous sigh....
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