Dear Steemit friends :
In today's edition of Miss. Delicious, we'll be visiting a long serving restaurant that not only provides some of the best views of the Bosphorus Strait, but also serves terrific Turkish cuisine to match. Indeed, we'll be taking a visit to a river side restaurant by the name of Hanedan.
Specialising in both traditional Turkish Meat and Fish dishes, Hanedan has established itself as a mainstay in the European side of Istanbul, although unknown to many a connoisseur, it has been serving traditional Turkish food from the same location since 1983. No doubt, the restaurant has seen the transformation Istanbul has undergone as it shifted from being a Sino-European gateway of trade, to it's present day modern metropolis.
The fact that Hanedan has survived the winds of change over 3 decades is a testament to it's core values: good traditional food, sublime panoramic views of Istanbul and amicable service.
Location wise, the restaurant is next to the Navy Museum, just a few kilometres south of the Bosphorus Bridge. From here, you can see the Beylerbeyi Palace, Uskudar Kiz Kulesi, Topkapi Palace as well as the Bosphorus Bridge.
Below, you can see one of the many Cannon's just outside the Navy Museum.
Across from the Navy Museum, we arrive at Hanedan!
As you can see, it occupies the first and second floor of the building. At the top, you have a panoramic view of the entire area!
When you enter, you are welcomed by a friendly member of staff who will ask you whether you intend to eat fish or meat. The restaurant is divided into two separate floors depending on your choice.
I opted for the meat section, mainly because I wanted to sit on the panoramic floor with the best views.
The interior design is very clean, uncluttered and isn't trying to position itself as a fine dining establishment. In that regard, it is a very welcoming atmosphere and I'm already feeling happy about my dining choice for this afternoon.
I wouldn't have thought the restaurant would feel quite as modern judging from the outside, but inside, the restaurant has a healthy mix of modern decor as well as pictures of some of the notable landmarks of Istanbul.
This handsome young man was our waiter. Because we came at neither lunch time or dinner time, he was able to give us almost undivided attention. Explaining in detail the menu as well as the large selection of mezes. A very welcome sentiment!
As you can see the restaurant has quite an impressive selection of wines. However, I wasn't feeling like alcohol on the day, so I didn't have the pleasure of tasting any. I do like the barrel design at the bottom of the wine cupboard though. Along with the variety of plants, the place almost felt tropical.
The restaurant has an out door area in addition to the larger indoor area. Perhaps by mistake, I decided to sit in the outside area where there is no air conditioning. Although in the shade, it felt like being in a sauna outside!
The first order of business, a iced soft drink to cool down!
From the balcony of the restaurant, you have a perfect view of the Bosphorus Strait as well as the Asian side of Istanbul. This area is also used as a docking place for boats which will ferry passengers to and from the other side of the strait as well as cruises along it.
The Menu
Growing accustomed to traditional Turkish cuisine, I was asked to choose from quite a large selection of Turkish Meze's. These are the Turkish equivalents of starters and most of them are served cold.
Zesty Salad with Lemon
Lavash Hollow Bread
Haydari
Salted Sardines
Pickled Olives
Spicy Salsa Salad
Lavash Hollow Bread
Tavuk Pirzola - Grilled Chicken. This is served with roasted tomato, roasted pepper, bulgur pilaf tomato rice and flat bread. The chicken has a distinctive barbecue taste to it and goes really well with the Haydari meze yogurt sauce. I was quite surprised by the sweet flavour of the rice but in retrospect, I think it goes very well with the savoury chicken and haydari.
Because the chicken is marinated with a special Turkish sauce, you can actually eat it on it's own and it's slightly spicy flavour will come through.
Bonfile - Beef Steaks. This is served with the same roasted tomato and roasted pepper as before, but instead of the bulgur pilaf tomato rice, we have french fries and brown rice.
The meat is rich in flavour owing to the herbal spices which have been added whilst being grilled. One thing I noticed was the size of the servings. You get a lot of meat, but also a lot of rice and french fries. It's actually quite difficult to finish both.
The steaks tasted a bit like burger meat except with a very strong herbal essence. I often look at Turkish food and assume that it will taste familiar because superficially, the steaks look like regular steaks. It's only after eating them do I notice the distinctive Turkish taste to them.
The restaurant seemed to have a lot of tables and I suspect the evening time would be much more lively and atmospheric. My personal recommendation would also be to visit during the evening and try get a table on the balcony. Night time panoramic views of the strait are serene.
Finally, I realised that these pictures on the wall are of places you can see if you look hard enough from the restaurant. Do you recognise what they are?
And that concludes today's Miss. Delicious! A very satisfying Turkish lunch/dinner, and extremely beautiful views to match. As I mentioned earlier, the most ideal time to visit would be during the evening when the temperatures are lower, and there are more people in the restaurant to fill the atmosphere.
However, if you're looking for some midday relaxing ambience, then you will find yourself very well looked after, and plenty of choices to sit. Just be ready to sweat!
As always, I appreciate your upvote if you liked my post, a follow if you want to stay up to date with my adventures, and a comment to let me know what you think!
又到了甜心和大家一起享受美食的时间了，在伊斯坦布尔的午后时光是美好的，迎着阳光沿着河岸，欣赏着身边过往的景色。不知不觉就走到了这家河岸餐厅Hanedan restaurant，这是一家正宗的土耳其海鲜餐厅。最让人无法拒绝的大概是餐厅的露台，可以俯瞰伊斯坦布尔海峡，这个海峡又叫作博斯普鲁斯海峡。这里其实就是人们常说的，将土耳其分割为欧洲和亚洲的海峡，把土耳其变成了一个神秘又奇妙的国度。这个海峡海水很蓝，长大概30公里，最宽处大约是3700米，最窄处只有700米。海岸边停了很多游船，和土耳其的公共交通工船，我们现在所处的地理位置是欧洲，如果想要过去对岸，还可以乘船过去，票价很便宜。河边除了白色的邮轮，还有很多土耳其标志的红顶屋子，虽然是午后时间，但是还是热闹极了。
现在就和我一起走进餐厅探索一下吧，这家餐厅有2层楼，最有趣的是这家餐厅通过食物种类来分配楼层的，如果你想吃鱼就上1楼，如果想吃肉为主食，就坐电梯去2楼吧。这家餐厅的装修以木质结构为主，比较有土耳其传统民俗的味道，墙上挂着伊斯坦布尔的风景照，金色的壁画灯，很美。虽然中午的气温很高，为了边吃饭边享受一下海峡的风景，我还是选择坐在了露台上。先来一杯冰饮料给身体降降温吧。再看看菜单，这家餐厅的菜单很精致，是双语菜单，分类很清楚，除了小菜汤类，这家最大的特色就是各种口味肉种的烤肉了。在土耳其吃传统午餐，服务员都会端上一大铁盘排放整齐的冷菜供你选择，这让我想起了在广东吃粤菜早茶，服务员推着点心车子来到每桌，介绍今天的特色点心和前菜。我很快挑选了几样我最喜欢的小菜，例如土耳其特制酸奶和salsa沙拉，这是我去每家餐厅必点的开胃菜。
绿油油的新鲜蔬菜沙拉，在酷暑天吃最解暑了。辣味的橄榄，腌制好的辣味沙丁鱼。这个搭配的面包好有意思，叫做皮塔饼，它是一种起源于中东和地中海地区的美食，最大的特点就是烤的时候面团会鼓起来，形成一个萌萌的中空面饼，好像一个口袋，所以我把喜欢的小料都放进口袋面包里一起吃，吃起来像饼干一样，脆脆的味道很不错呢。最后就是今天这一餐的主食，烤肉。鸡肉烤肉里有着丰富的配菜，颜色鲜艳极了，除了烤肉本身，还加了烤番茄，青椒和葱丝，搭配了小麦颗粒抓饭，和皮塔薄片作为主食，吃起来很香。烤牛肉的那一盘加进了烤土豆，搭配了糙米抓饭，味道也很不错。其实吃土耳其烤肉，不同的肉质，搭配不同的配菜和不同种类的炒饭，都很讲究呢。希望大家喜欢我们今天的美食分享，之后还有更多有趣的餐厅想和大家一起去尝试呢。