New Neighborhood Concept Opens in Nişantaşı in Istanbul

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! 

FYI: tomorrow's blog post will take you back to sunny North Cyprus.

Rigatoni Restaurant located at the new Mahalle in Istanbul.

Warm and comforting ev manti for a cold wintery day!

Not sure how I feel about this very odd selection of döner kebab being offered at Mahalle.

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Dusk in North Cyprus

Our weekend was filled with warm sunshine, a table full of food and surrounded by new friends.

Now, we’re back in cold, dreary and rainy Istanbul.

I already miss sitting outside with a glass of wine in a short-sleeves shirt and admiring the lush green country side near Gönyeli, North Cyprus.

Just before sunset in North Cyprus.

Although we told ourselves we weren’t going to travel in December, we couldn’t help ourselves. We snapped up fairly inexpensive tickets to North Cyprus via Pegasus Airlines so we could visit our Cypriot friends. (Pegasus is always offering deals to destinations in Turkey and Europe. Seriously, sign up for the email newsletter.)

One of our friends, Umut, was hosting his third annual “Thanksmas” party. I volunteered to help make my pumpkin pies and hubby would help chop, prep things for the party. My new mantra is have apron, will travel!

Speaking of which, I have some holiday baking to work on so it’s time for me to don my apron and get in the kitchen. Editing photos and working on a new blog post will have to wait.

Here are some of my previous posts about traveling in beautiful North Cyprus.

More to come soon!

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Morning Stroll in Ortaköy in Istanbul

Yesterday morning, my girlfriend and I were the only females to be seen near the Ortaköy iskelesi.

We joined the dozen or so Turkish fishermen as they cast their lines into the Bosphorus. The glaring, but welcoming sun made picture taking more difficult, but we still got several good photos. 

I was getting tired of the rainy, gloomy days we’ve had lately; and they do not make for good sightseeing times with visitors.

Near the iskele, street cats and dogs were laying on wooden benches and the cold sidewalk soaking up the morning’s sunshine. I'm sure the animals also were waiting for some tasty bits to be tossed their way.

Three Turkish cats in Ortaköy enjoy the morning sun.

Autumn/winter mornings in Ortaköy are quite different from the bustling tourist season. Now, it’s quiet. There’s no one to disturb you if you want to do some “gezmek-ing.”

Since our friend from Düsseldorf only had a few hours to spare that morning, Ortaköy proved to be the perfect location for a relaxing stroll and breakfast. And as we found out, the seashore is nearly deserted of females early in the morning. Or at least, it was on this day. 

On the left, a Turkish man feeds the pigeons by hand in Ortaköy.

A lone street dog chased through the flock of pigeons in Ortaköy.

As I’ve mentioned before, Ortaköy is a charming neighborhood full of renovated old buildings that are home to cafés, restaurants, artist galleries and handicraft shops. You can have a beer with a view of the Bosphorus Bridge, Starbucks coffee (huge newly, renovated building), delicious Turkish ravioli (mantı) as well as a slightly fancy Turkish breakfast at The House Café (which is what we did).

The busy Bosphorus in the morning.

Ortaköy is just one of many great places in Istanbul where you can watch the world go by whether you are with a guest or by yourself.

A cute black cat surrounded by Turkish evil eyes in Ortaköy.

A rather plump street cat enjoying the sunshine and park bench in Ortaköy.

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Christmas in Istanbul’s Nişantaşı neighborhood

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere I go in Istanbul!

Now, I know it’s not actually Christmas. Turks do not celebrate Christmas. All the Christmas-y decorations are to celebrate the New Year.

But in my opinion, if it looks like Christmas and acts like Christmas, it’s definitely Christmas!

This is what Abdi İpekçi Caddesi in Nişantaşı looks like right now.

This year will be our first time EVER to celebrate Christmas in Turkey away from our friends and family members back home. We visited the U.S. in October and celebrated an early holiday with them. It seems like plenty of our friends also will be here in Istanbul so I think it’s still going to be a festive time.

I often walk from Beşiktaş up through Nişantaşı to get to the metro stop at Osmanbey. I started noticing all the Christmas decorations about two weeks ago. This week, I took a longer stroll through Nişantaşı and took photos of all the decorated storefront windows. You'll also find plenty of stores that are selling (often) overpriced, imported Christmas decorations.

Mudo Concept is by far the best location where you can buy Christmas decorations and trees. But again, these items come with a price tag. For example, a 5-foot tree was 275 tl!

Walking through Nişantaşı, you would never even know you are in Turkey! This wealthier neighborhood features all the fancy-pants stores of Cartier, Tiffany, Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. I swear you’d almost think you were on 5^th Avenue in my beloved NYC!

Nişantaşı is by far not your typical Turkish neighborhood. There are a couple places I like to frequent such as Kantin, a lokanta known for its incredible, seasonal food; Mama’s and Cento per Cento for decent Italian-style pizza; Şütte for its Italian domuz and imported cheeses and Bahar Pastanesi for its divine pastries.

But right now, Nişantaşı is a lovely place to stroll through and enjoy the Christmas lights, trees and decorations. 

It makes an expat like myself feel right at home in Istanbul.

All Happy Days is a cute store to wander through. I like to look but not buy!

Beymen is a fancy Turkish department-like store.

Damas - a jewelry store.

Another Christmas-y store window located on Şakayık Sokak.

At Lovells, located on Güzelbahçe Sokak, you can buy holiday chocolates.

This chocolate store is located directly across the street from Lovells.

Many of the Christmas items, like this one at Nezih Bookstore, are in English. This store actually has some cheap Christmas ornaments.

I thought this photo was funny with all the Efes beer kegs located outside the fancy restaurants and stores in Nişantaşı.

Red and green champagne glasses at Pasabahce. This is like a Crate & Barrell store. I love it!

Vakko's decorated storefront window.

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